Walmart Oak Leaf Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon NV
February 28, 2008
Oak Leaf Vineyard:
At the prestigious Florida State International Wine Competition this month, a new brand, Oak Leaf Vineyards from California, has won gold. With 84 wineries competing in Chardonnay category, only four received gold medals and Oak Leaf was the biggest bargain by far, at $1.97 suggested retail price in California and $2.97 in most other states.Great Cheap Wine:
If you have come this far than I am guessing you have indulged in this great opportunity. There are other cheap wines that are out there that are exclusive to supermarkets. These are a couple of examples from Food Lion. Please comment on them if you can.Braidenwood Estates Cabernet Sauvignon
Braidenwood Estates Chardonnay
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15 Responses to “Walmart Oak Leaf Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon NV”
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[…] The questions now are, “How many more major retailers who sell wine will be looking for an inexpensive brand to feature,” and “Will the present glut of wine grapes eventually run out and send prices skyrocketing?” We are sure that there must be many retailers who will wish to capitalize on this trend. No matter, it looks like for the time being, the public will be the real winners in this one. From News-Leader.com Over all it seems that Charles Shaw “Two Buck Chuck” Finally has some competition. Leave a comment for: Oak Leaf Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon […]
When I first saw the display at our local WalMart, I had misgivings about buying a $2.97 bottle of wine. But after a friend strongly suggested I try Oak Leaf, I bought bottles of Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvingnon. My wife and I were astounded that such an inexpensive wine could taste so well.
We’ve bought more since.
The wines sell here in AZ for $1.97 - and the Chardonnay is pretty good - passes the #1 criterion for cheap white wine: no aftertaste!
When I first saw the display of the wine for $1.96 I didn’t know if I wanted to take a chance on buying a bad wine,but I decided to buy a case of Chardonnay. When my mother and Ishared the first bottle we really were impressed with the full bodied flavor. The next evening I went back to WalMart and bought four different varieties. It has been the best bargain in quite a while.
I tried the Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay and it is a good bargain and I will try the other types and buy this again. It is hard to beat “Two-Buck Chuck”, but the drive is closer for the Wal-Mart in my area and I think this is very nice for Summer table wine. At this price it will fun to see what the others are like.
[…] like me I start breaking it down to how many hours I worked to buy a 720ml bottle of wine! Oak Leaf Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Oak Leaf Vineyards Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay and Charles Shaw “Two Buck Chuck” all […]
I bought the Cabernet and liked it very much; I returned to Wal Mart
to purchase it again, unfortunately there was no more I have been
to several stores to no avail. Please let me know if I can purchase
Oak Leaf Wines directly from the wholesaler. Thanks in advance.
Always on the lookout for value wines we found this at the local WalMart. For the price we weren’t concerned if we didn’t like the wine.
The aroma was the best part. It was a simple dark fruit (berry/cherry), but not offputting.
The flavor was just a jammy fruit flavor which diappeared after it hit the taste buds.
Overall this wine rates very poorly against other $2 Chucks that we have tasted and certainly can’t be compared to actual value wines. This is simply a cheap wine that has little flavor and will not offend by having any outstanding qualities.
my friend and I must have liked it … they don’t carry it at our walmart any longer!! Off to buy Crane Lake - it’s another inexpensive Chard that’s good.
I’m certainly not what you would call a wine expert, but the Oak Leaf Zinfindel is wonderful! Was surprised to find it at Wlmart in Florida and Georgia for $2.97. Bought several bottles and ejoyed every one of them. Hope to be able to find when ever I want from now on. Thanks so much
We got the Oak Leaf wine at Warlmart in Brunswick, Maine on vacation–now we’re trying to find it in the tri-state area NY/NJ/CT—to no avail!! Anybody been to a Walmart around this area that sells Oak Leaf?!!
Hope so! Thanks!
A SUPRISINGLY GOOD CHEAP WINE!! My husband and I have enjoyed both the Cabernet and the Merlot more than some of the more expensive wines we’ve had. I would buy a case of it if only I could find it. It is rarely on the shelves at Walmart. Can we not call the vinyard and order it ourselves? Any suggestions…anyone?
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.
Can’t be beat for the price
I’ve been enjoying this wine since it first landed on Walley World shelves. Very, very wonderful Merlot…… sometimes. HOWEVER, use cation, I did find recently that there are certain batches of Oak Leaf Merlot that are absolutely horrible. Since there’s no way to identify one batch from another…. this presents a challenge. It’s a little bit like playing the lottery now, question becomes…… do you feel lucky?