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TONVILLE, ARK (AP) - Some Wal-Mart customers soon will be able
to sample a new discount item -- Wal-Mart's own brand of wine.
The world's largest retail chain is teaming up with E&J Gallo
Winery of Modesto, CA, to produce the spirits at an affordable
price, in the $2-$3 range.

While some wine connoisseurs may not be inclined to throw a
bottle of Wal-Mart brand wine into their shopping carts, there
is a market for cheap wine, said Mary Jane LuAnn McCoy,
professor of marketing at Roger Williams University in Bristol,
R.I. She said: "The right name is important."

The top 12 suggested names for Wal-Mart Wine:

12. Chateau Traileur Parc
11. White Trashfindel
10. Big Red Gulp
9. Grape Expectations
8. Domaine Wal-Mart "Merde du Pays"
7. NASCARbernet
6. Chef Boyardeaux
5. Peanut Noir
4. Chateau des Moines
3. I Can't Believe It's Not Vinegar!
2. World Championship Riesling
And the number 1 name for Wal-Mart Wine...
1. Nasti Spumante

I wonder what kinds of corners are cut to result in such cheap wine?

Claudius wrote:I wonder what kinds of corners are cut to result in such cheap wine?

Even though they're the most popular superstore, their items are so cheap and low-grade quality they qualified for a Bailout, and got it.

Now that they have this new cheap wine, they're catering to the fiscally irresponsible redneck lottery players (who, considering are the majority, power the economy), and now we have fiscally irresponsible redneck lottery players who just became alcoholics. They get pulled over, get tickets, arrests and so forth, putting money back into the government all over the nation....

And then Walmart gets another bailout by exclaiming their 3 dollar wine bottle was "too high grade and ultimately ended in disaster," and with the help of the greatest Redneck of the world, Chuck Norris, gets it.

It's a vicious cycle.


~Disclaimer: This was my attempt to be funny at 2AM after a 12 hour shift at Long John Silvers.

dragon wench wrote:5. Peanut Noir

My personal favorite :laugh:
Junky Juice anyone?

Claudius wrote:I wonder what kinds of corners are cut to result in such cheap wine?

Good question. I was thinkin something along the lines of mass production with little or no quality control at all to save costs... Conclusion, steer well clear.

"Wal-Mart" Wine?!

Jay Leno and the rest have been "joking" about it for awhile now. Does this post mean they haven't put it out yet?

To me, alcoholic beverages are nothing more than splashy targets as I am not a drinker. Although some bottles are nice to look at as art.

As a non-drinker I didn't want to be employed at a place that sold alcoholic beverages, but I did. Primarily at the West Side Supercenter in Norman and than I was loaned for awhile to a Neighborhood Market in Oklahoma City.

Norman also had an East Side one closer to the O.U. campus, while ours was by I-35.

Rednecks aren't the only shoppers! Okies aren't either! Nor were the terrorists that shopped there when not attending classes at the flight school.

There were also college students, including foreign exhange students that referred to the shopping carts as "trollies", thus confusing the locals, as Norman and OU have a trolley service. So when they'd ask a "trolly" question, they'd get directions on where to board one. Good thing for those British girls that I was there to help them!

When "Christy's Toy Box" was closed, we'd get girls seeking improvised bondage gear from the hardware department. Or Asian couplse wondering if the baby swings could hold up their weight as well, and then I'd have to refer them to "Christy's Toy Box" where the actual adult swings are sold.

We also got lots of Interstate users, pulling in to use our 24/7 facilities, parking overnight, especially if they drove motor homes.

We also had people in BMW's and Mercedes-Benz's shopping there.

The Supercenter's General Manager earned over $100,000.00 a year plus bonuses, because of the Norman location.

During prom nights, teens would come in and change from their formal wear to their casual wear, sometimes not even in a restroom or changing room.

There's a habit or whatever, of teens sneaking into the nearby hotel's swimming pool for swimming clandestinely, in either their swimwear, undies, or nothing, and then coming over to the store to get dry clothes.

Sometimes they tried to steal the clothes!

I don't miss the manual labor of working there, but I do miss the socializing if my dreams mean anything.

But anyway, 02:00 A.M. was the shut-off time for buying beer and such, and it wasn't allowed to be sold on Sunday, all 24 hours of it.

I wonder if the introduction of wine affects those hours.

I worked from late 2000 to middle 2003, so things may have changed since then. I barely go to the local one now as just a shopper or a visitor of my friends and semi-relatives, as for the most part, I only leave the house on Saturdays now.

Our town got a new vinyard and some see it as a step up, while I see it as a step down, but not for religious beliefs though.

It was bad enough dealing with the people drunk on beer and wine coolers, and the like. Now I wonder how it will be to see wine sippers there, should they show up drunk and want more wine.

I'm just guessing the wine isn't entirely made from grapes juice...maybe from sugar and grape flavoring??

lol

What gets me is that they think this kind of business is even important.

They are like bored children trying to win monopoly by any means necessary, completely forgetting the fact that "game over" will present far more problems than 1 in 1,000 customers choosing a different shopping location due to a $1 difference in the price of wine.

Executives justifying $ridiculous$ while performing zero physical work. Let's try and make the cheapest wine in the world. Oh, horay. My life is so improved.

As if they arne't already causing enough problems by trying to bring me grapes from Brazil that I wont buy and will be mainly binned as out of date.

Like my life really needed all that effort for hundreds of people and tones of resources to bring me a grape I wont even eat.

So, their next great plan is to sell cheap wine to the French and Italians?

Whatever next? Freezers to...

Claudius wrote:I wonder what kinds of corners are cut to result in such cheap wine?

Oh I don't know... The wine part?

Picture this: hundreds of illegal Mexican immigrants are stomping grapes... barefoot...

Seriously though, here is another opinion:

Oak Leaf Vineyards (Ripon, Calif.) does not really exist as such; instead it is a production facility of The Wine Group, Inc. Oak Leaf wine is the private label non-vintage wine marketed by The Wine Group (the box wine people) only to Wal-Mart stores. (Not E&J Gallo as some reviews contend.) Headquartered in San Francisco (about 70 miles west of Ripon), The Wine Group’s labels include such well known brands as Corbett Canyon, Inglenook, Mogen David, Franzia, Almaden and Glen Ellen wines. The firm recently relocated their operations center from San Francisco to Livermore, Calif., about mid-way between San Francisco and Ripon. Privately held, The Wine Group was once part of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York. And being privately held, its operation and products are kept pretty much secret. It doesn’t even have a corporate website, although it does have brand-related sites. Strange for the second largest wine producer in California (more than 40 million cases produced annually), second only to Gallo. Oak Leaf wines are very similar to Bronco’s Charles Shaw wines (affectionately nicknamed “Two Buck Chuck”) which sells for $1.99 at Trader Joe’s stores. Headquartered in Monrovia, Calif., Trader Joe’s 300 stores has sold millions of cases of what the trade calls “extreme value wines.” Due to transportation charges to outlying states, the price can be a dollar more. The Charles Shaw label is a brand of the Bronco Wine Company (Ceres, Calif.) owned by John and Fred Franzia (formerly of Franzia Brothers wines.) The Franzias (nephews of Ernest Gallo) sold the Franzia brand name to The Wine Group and started Bronco Wines and they are competitors. The Franzia family, which now has no relationship to Franzia brand boxed wine, has made wine in California for over 100 years. Bronco is California’s third largest wine producer. Oak Leaf Vineyards (which doesn’t even have its own telephone number) is one of hundreds of wine brands bottled by The Wine Group in Ripon. It does not release the private labels of the wines it makes but there are many. Oak Leaf wines come in five varietals: Cabenet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay and White Zinfandel. The standard 750-ml bottles with an artificial cork have an elegant label that shows four seasonal oak trees, one for Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. We are not one to place a lot of importance on awards since it seems all wineries get them. But Oak Leaf Vineyards did win a gold medal at the prestigious Florida State International Wine Competition and Silver and Bronze at the 2008 San Francisco Wine Competition. Incredible for a $3 wine! And the Summer-2008 edition of “O at Home” magazine (an Oprah Winfrey publication) featured Oak Leaf wine on its cover with the tag line: “The $3 bottle of wine that will blow you away.” On page 19, they picture Oak Leaf Chardonnay and call it “The steal of the season.” I like the Cabernet Sauvignon best myself. It is a full favored, medium body wine with a fruity aroma of berry, spice, vanilla and oak …pretty smooth and no unpleasant aftertaste. This is not a sophisticated wine but a terrific value at $2.97. Wine snobs won’t like it because it is inexpensive and comes from Wal-Mart. But the fact is that it is better than one would expect. I certainly have had $10-$15 French wine far worse. Wal-Mart sells out of it fast, so I buy several bottles whenever they have it. So far, it has been consistently good …a problem with low price wines. (One bottle may be good, the next not so good.) The Oak Leaf brand is perfect for an everyday wine to compliment dine-in dinner and snacks on the patio. Goes with almost anything. I rate it an “80″ out of 100.

lol !

However, I think that when it comes to reasonably-priced yet high-quality wines... I'll stick with Argentine Malbecs.... (and I refuse to go anywhere near Walmart just on principle alone... so)

...And Jerry Springer endorses my cheese whip.

The whole point of wine is that every batch is different.

I like the taste of cheap processed cheese, doesn't mean I'd rate any of it anything decent in competition. Just means I'm ok with the product.

And even on this level I prefer to buy the smaller slightly more expensive version than the big bulk-buy from the mega mart.

I just don't eat much and have no need for a 1 and a half sized portion for 10c less.

With food & drink it is always quality over quantity. Even in the bargain bins.

Unless your a (politically incorrect statement about a human's waist size) who can't say no to anything on the shelf, 8 times a day.

DW, did you come up with those names (top 12) or was that part of the news clip?

Claudius wrote:DW, did you come up with those names (top 12) or was that part of the news clip?

lol! I would love to take credit for those, but alas they are not mine

I received this via email, and I have the sneaking suspicion that at some point somebody tacked those names on as a joke..

I don't know what the hub-bub is about. This has been around for years....its just up until now it was called Mad Dog 20/20.

rmemmett84 wrote:I don't know what the hub-bub is about. This has been around for years....its just up until now it was called Mad Dog 20/20.

mad dog?! i thought it was boones farm?! lol

now i am a wine drinker and have been testing out various selections... i tend to find that the middle of the road priced wines are not too shabby and have decent flavor and body.... without putting a dent in the wallet. but when i am strapped for cash and still want my weekend wine and need to go cheap.... i just stick with arbor mist, lol. its cheap... tastes cheap but good... and gets the job relatively done, lol.

now the ultimate would be to go to the store and be able to sample the wares before buying one day i literally stood around in the wine section for an hour trying to figure out what i wanted to try but didn't want to waste money on something i would not like...... especially when it comes to red wines.

For the ultimate cheap wine get a 7.5 gallon bucket fill with 6 gallons of grape juice and some wine brewers yeast. Check back in a month later. (works with a gallon at a time too).

Claudius wrote:For the ultimate cheap wine get a 7.5 gallon bucket fill with 6 gallons of grape juice and some wine brewers yeast. Check back in a month later. (works with a gallon at a time too).

Philistine!!!

Actually, my father used to make kit wine, some of it wasn't too bad. I'm not sure I'd drink it now though....

Claudius wrote:I'm just guessing the wine isn't entirely made from grapes juice...maybe from sugar and grape flavoring??

Don't forget the horse piss and the grizzly testicles... never forget the grizzly testicles...

hi

hi i like following dragen wench.it is very nice.


1Chateau Traileur Parc
2. White Trashfindel
3. Big Red Gulp

rajagiri wrote:hi i like following dragen wench.it is very nice.

Yes, she's followed quite a lot, but thus far, has escaped the mobs with torches. (Not that I'm particularly safe in that respect...) Go, Dragon wench!

1Chateau Traileur Parc
2. White Trashfindel

Great names. Can't say I've heard of them or would ever want to meet such a bottle in a dark alley, but hey, they raised a laughter to my lips, and put a song in my heart.