Charles Shaw Nouveau Valdiguie 2007
Price: $3
Maker: Charles Shaw Winery, Napa County, California
Varietal: Valdiguié
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 12.5%
Our Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Charles Shaw Nouveau Valdiguié 2007 is a novel offering from the Charles Shaw Winery, the Two Buck Chuck folks. Departing from the typical Merlot and Cab, this wine incorporates the rarely seen Valdiguié grape. This wine was apparently well regarded more than a century ago, but fell out of favor as grapes which produced higher quality wines became more widely adopted. Some vineyards labeled wines of this varietal “Gamay Noir” for many years. I assume that this Valdiguie is the newly relabeled Charles Shaw Nouveau Gamay Beaujolais offered in 2006.
This wine is fairly light in color, an attractive ruby red. The aroma is mostly cherries, and the flavor is simple and fruity as well. Cherries and raspberries are the main things notes, with a very light acidic bite at the end. While not really sweet, this wine seems closer to fruit juice than most reds.
Of the Charles Shaw red wines, I’d probably opt for the Two Buck Chuck Cab. I didn’t care for the 2003 much, rating it a 7, but the 2005 was a bit more balanced. That’s not to say that Charles Shaw Nouveau Valdiguie 2007 won’t appeal to anyone - if you are looking for a soft, simple, very fruity red this wine might appeal.
We couldn’t find much love for this wine in the blogosphere. Vinicultured thought it was, “watery and cheap, off-balance, and ‘out of whack’”, while Adventures in Hippietown termed it “gross.” We might not go quite that far, but it’s safe to say that this wine would be preferred by wine drinkers at the fruity and fun end of the spectrum.
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December 24th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
There is a time and a place for Charles Shaw. The time is large parties, and the place is in both hands–as in double fisting. This leads to hilarity or regret, often both.
The valdiguie is not bad at all. To clarify, my description of “watery and cheap, off-balance, and ‘out of whack’” applies to Charles Shaw in general; specifically, the valdiguie is surprisingly quaffable. It is probably the best $1.99 wine in the market!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Keep dissing on Charles Shaw Joon S.! Keep it cheap for those of us that know good wine does not need to be expensive. No one should be allowed to offer an opinion on wines unless they have spent enough time in France to understand how immature is the American observation on wine.
My father was a French sommalier and a completely unpretentious wine drinker.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:32 am
gobytrain
Nobody who’s spent time in France should be allowed to offer an opinion on wine! Their wines are second best and have been for quite some time… :p
That said, we like Two Buck Chuck quite a lot, and tried the Valdiguié tonight for the first time. It’s quite fruity and (to me) way too sweet, but in the tradition of Charles Shaw, a darn good table wine for $2.