There is a difference between a cheap wine and a bargain wine; the word bargain implies receiving more than the price of the wine would suggest. The two wines I'm about to write about are in the "cheap" category. I've been mulling over the difference for quite some time, and these two wines, a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 2006 Syrah (also known as Shiraz) from Grand Cru Vineyards both qualify. I purchased them, on a whim, at the local RiteAid on a two for $7.00 special.

The bottles are not at all informative; they bear the name Grand Cru, the varietal name, and a date, with California as the source. The ABV for both wines is 12. 5%. Elsewhere, the bottle offers "Sonoma, California." There's not much other than a business address in Sonoma to be found for Grand Cru Vineyards on the Web, either—though I did find a listing for their 2000 California Chardonnay as a "good value" in a 2003 Wines and Spirits Magazine article.

The Grand Cru 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon wasn't terrible, but it was rather bland. Not so bland that it wasn't clearly Cabernet Sauvignon, but bland enough that the alcohol was the most noticeable flavor, over a general impression of grape. Oddly, until I looked at the label, I was quite sure it had a higher alcohol content than the Marlargo Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia.

The Grand Cru 2006 Syrah was pleasant enough, but almost without any distinctive Shiraz/Syrah quality at all. It was vaguely raspberry-ish, but mostly, it was like slightly alcoholic grape juice.

Both these wines left me wondering why anyone would bother drinking them. They weren't horrible, by any means. In fact, bother were better than the Charles Shaw "two buck Chuck" wines I've tried in the past. But neither had any real individuality or "presence." There wasn't much point in drinking, from the perspective of someone interested in the flavors and aromas of wine. For slightly less money on the same rack at RiteAid, I could have purchased a 1.5 liter bottle of Sutter Home's White Zinfandel, which while a very ordinary table wine, is predictably enjoyable. Or even a bottle of the Meridian Cabernet Sauvignon, which would have left me with roughly a dollar in change, and a far more enjoyable experience than both bottles of the Grand Cru provided.

And ultimately, that's the difference between a cheap wine, and a bargain wine; with a bargain wine, you actually enjoy the wine.