Jug Wines

17 years ago

My husband and I usually always drink "Cabs", Fetzer, Mondavi, Silver Oak, Silverado, etc.

We just recently decided, because experts are saying it is very good for your health, to drink a glass of wine everyday. So we started and we are going through bottles of wine like crazy.

I would like to ask everyone if they can give me some suggestions on a fairly decent "jug" wine. Something that won't give us headaches, if that's at all possible.

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Comments (6)

oltex
17 years ago
Hi cactuscatie! I've found that most commercial red wines contain enough sulfites to cause a headache if you drink more than a glass or two, especially if you're sensitive to them as is my wife. Carlo Rossi isn't terribly bad in gallon size, sometimes pretty decent. We make our own wines and if you read the thread below, (my cheap 45 day wine recipe, actually it's not too bad!) you can make economical wines that are decent using 100% juice concentrates or 100% pure juice from the supermarket. We've made some really nice wines using similar recipes.
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
17 years ago
If you have a Trader Joes store close to you, Two Buck Chuck aka Charles Shaw is great! $2.00 a bottle and The Chardonnay and the Merlot are awesome. Also, Walmart sells some under $2.00 that we have tried. They are good also. Oak Leaf is the brand, I think.
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I found you can get by with just pouring the jugs carefully if you're only doing one gallon batches, but really a siphon is best. They call it a "wine racking cane". I got some wine yeast on e-bay, they were selling equipment too like that, so you could get one delivered if you wanted one. Also, the juice is just the frozen kind at the grocery store. Welch's white grape peach is just as good as the Aldi's, it just costs more. For some reason, the white grape mixes seem to make a better finished wine than the regular purple grape juices. The purple ones have a stronger, jelly-like taste that doesn't work as well as a wine. I've heard that the unfrozen kind of juice has preservatives in it and doesn't ferment well. But I didn't try any to find out. So far all I've got finished is the white grape peach, but I think the red raspberry/white grape is almost finished. Maybe one more week. There is a free wine label website that my hubby found www.freelabelmaker.com that has quite a few nice labels on there. I just started a new batch with 1 and 1/2 cups pineapple (fresh) and a can of orange juice concentrate(12 oz) and 2.5 cups of sugar. Someone told me that orange wine is good, and I had the stuff to do it with, so why not?
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randy427
17 years ago
Now 'they' are saying that a glass of wine a day will cause an 'elevated' chance of certain cancers in women.

Similar to the 'Two-Buck-Chuck' Charles Shaw wine, which is about $4.57 around here, I've found Tisdale wine for about the same price and also good for a daily glass or two.
rosesinny
17 years ago
Cactuscatie - you said you want to find a wine that won't give you a headache. Basically, what gives people headaches is the alcohol. Sulfur compounds, that sometimes get blamed, are not likely to cause headaches. At least, I am aware of no scientific evidence to that effect. If anyone knows of such, I would hope that they please post the information and sources.

I generally taste a few thousand wines a year. I truly wanted to like the Charles Shaw wines like Two Buck Chuck, but found them undrinkable. They seem to have a bit of sugar either added or left during fermentation. Not much of interest going on in the wine otherwise.

However, you can find plenty of good "jug" or inexpensive wine, if you look to Argentina, Australia, southern France, southern Spain, southern Italy. You might pay a little more than $2, but the increase in cost is worth it. The dif is like buying a hamburger from White Castle or a place where they actually form the patties with their hands from decent beef. Wine need not cost a fortune to be worth a few dollars. At the same time, I don't want to be promoting the wines I sell on this forum, so I encourage you to look around. Go to tastings in stores, etc., and keep tasting until you find some stuff that you like for prices you consider reasonable.
ramona
17 years ago
Chemicals are added to cheap wines to alter the taste and to prevent
oxidation. Cheap wines are harvested by machine. Sulpher dioxide
is added to prevent oxidation. (Sulphe dioxide occurs naturally but
in a very slight amount.) Chemicals are also added in cheap wine to make it stable.

What gives you the headache from wine is what is added to it that does
not come from the grapes. It is an absolute disgrace that the USDA
does not enforce regulations to show what is in the wine on labels.

If you drink good wine, you do not get a headache and I have
drank a great deal of it at one sitting. (Of course, if you drink a gallon
you might have a problem.)

Cheap wine is never a good economy. What is several hours of your
time worth the next day?
winer
17 years ago
I can't say I enjoy jug wines too much. If you want to go for a low priced wine with a somewhat pleasant taste Barefoot ($9 for a 1.5 L) works. If you can spend a little more Beringer Founder's Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($18 for a 1.5) or Georges Debouef ($14 for 1.5) are good.

Jug Wines

Comments (6)

oltex

Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b

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