- We asked a sommelier what food she would pair with Trader Joe’s budget Charles Shaw organic wines.
- These wines cost $3.99.
Trader Joe’s is famous for its Charles Shaw wines, which it first started selling in 2002 for $2. These wines later became known as “Two-Buck Chuck.” To date, it has sold nearly a billion bottles.
Read more: THE REAL ‘2-BUCK CHUCK’: The true story of Charles Shaw, a Napa wine pioneer who started the brand but never earned a penny from the Trader Joe’s phenomenon
Last summer, Trader Joe’s launched a new organic Charles Shaw collection, which costs $3.99 per bottle.
We asked a sommelier who also specializes in wine education and food pairing to taste three of these Charles Shaw organic wines – a cabernet sauvignon, a pinot grigio, and a rosé – and give her recommendations of food to pair with them.
Here's what she recommended:
First, meet our sommelier, Sara Lehman, a wine expert and teacher who also specializes in pairing food with wine.
Charles Shaw organic cabernet sauvignon
Lehman found this to be lighter than a typical cabernet sauvignon so recommended pairing it with something "tangy," or a heavier dish such as roasted pork shoulder, pulled pork, or barbecued meat to bring out the flavor.
Charles Shaw organic pinot grigio
Lehman said that the Charles Shaw pinot grigio tasted a bit like apple juice.
"Stick a straw in it and I think it would be really good," she said.
While there was some acidity at first, this faded out to have a creamier taste.
With this in mind, she recommended pairing it with grilled fish topped with lemon and dill and a side of sweet potato fries.
Charles Shaw organic rosé
Lehman was impressed with the acidity and overall taste of this wine but said she felt the finish fell short. Because of this, she recommended pairing it with light bites or appetizers.
"I wouldn't put too many flavors with this wine because you would lose the wine completely," she said.