Wine: Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon

Just about undrinkable, actually. An artificial cork, never a good sign. Never a sign of good wine, or even decent table wine, which is what I'm after.

This stuff was unpleasantly tight and overly aggressive. I ended up cutting it (is that a street drug term? oh my.) with some Two-Buck Chuck Cab (my favorite). Otherwise it was headed down the drain, it was that bad. I guess I'd tried Yellow Tail Shiraz in the past and thought it was ok. This was not ok. This proved to be a wine to avoid.

Wine: Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon

This is the Two-Buck Chuck from Trader Joe's you've probably heard about. IT'S DRINKABLE, and not in a my-god-I-cannot-believe-I'm-drinking-this-swill way like a shit wine like "Delicato" might make you feel.

I'm not wild (or even mildly enthusiastic) about the other Charles Shaw wines I've tried, but their Cab isn't bad at all -- and at TWO DOLLARS A BOTTLE I don't feel guilty about drinking it.

This is far from the best Cab I've ever tasted -- then again, it doesn't have that heavy British-beer sensation. It's more along the lines of a wine-like beverage.

I swear by this stuff. Cheap, decent table wine. No complaints. Worth at least six bucks a bottle. I've had far worse for thirty bucks a bottle. Highly recommended.

Wine: Down Under Shiraz

How bad could it be for three bucks? Pretty bad. This is a Shiraz, I usually drink Cabs, so that was a bad start, but what the heck? How bad could it be? My notes on a Post-It say "Small. Tight. Decent flavor. Thin like a ridgetop trail. Sour. Overpriced @ 2.99" And so it was. I'd had worse. But not by much. A wine to avoid. Seriously avoid.

Wine: Mad Housewife Cabernet Sauvignon

This wine has a clever name and that's about all it has going for it... tight, unpleasant, un-fun... really not much to recommend it. Overpriced at five bucks.