N/V Carlo Rossi Chianti

Look, the economy is in the toilet and if you're not scared, you're not paying attention. Is it so bad we need to resort to jug wine? Perhaps not yet – but who knows what tomorrow will bring? This four liter behemoth was $8. That's a buck fifty a bottle.

First things first, this isn't Chianti. These guys also make wines they called Burgundy and Chablis – neither are actually those wines, the US just doesn't recognize European wine rules and this company doesn't export these wines so it doesn't matter. This is “100% grape wine” which, you know, is kind of a red flag. That being said, I give everything we drink respect and we're consuming this out of Riedel glasses and at what I'd call slightly below cellar temperature.

You know, I don't know if this is a compliment to this or an insult to BN, but this smells vaguely like Beaujolais Nouveau. A funky strawberry and raspberry blend with a hint of banana.

While there's no tannins, there's a nice acidic zing and though it is sweet and somewhat grape juicy, it's not like as sickly as Concord grape wine. A bit grapey with some strawberry and maybe just a slight bit of banana as well – really, this is very much like a soft Beaujolis Nouveau. If you want something that somewhat resembles real Chianti, don't even look at this. The more air this wine sees, the more unpleasant it gets – some bitter harshness comes through and the rotten banana begins to dominatre.

I simply don't understand this. I understand White Zinfandel – it's simple, sweet, you can drink it by the magnum and forget it. This simply isn't pleasant. If I want cheap booze, I'd rather spend the money on Schlitz.

Wine: 3
Value: Terrible.