Are you a wine snob?

Now that I work at Trader Joe's, I find myself doing all sorts of bizarre things, like using a box knife to cut and stack and display insane amounts of Two Buck Chuck. We have so many cases of wine out on the floor at one time that we actually use them to build a little room, a room that houses wine tasting on the weekends. Naturally! You might be more familiar with its proper name, Charles Shaw. It's the super cheap wine that sells for two dollars per bottle in California, usually a dollar more in states that slap more tax on wine. It is exclusive to Trader Joe's. And that's the only thing that's exclusive about it.

While J and I have graduated to boxed wine as overwhelmed parents, there is still a very special place in my heart for Charles Shaw, or Two Buck Chuck if that's what you call it. We just so happened to serve it at our wedding.

Yes, bartender, man. You're reading that label right. TWO BUCK CHUCK. At a wedding in the art museum. Let's just laugh out loud for a minute now, shall we?

Here's what I am insanely grateful for: before we got married, J and I didn't know the first thing about wine. Not the first thing! Since living in Zurich, we can appreciate a good wine, but we don't need to drink them all the time, obviously. (Hello, box!) In Zurich, we found our beloved El Flamenco at just 3.50 CHF per bottle and drank that most of the time. No shame. None at all.

Champagne is another story all together. At this point, we definitely can no longer tolerate the cheap stuff. That's one of the many ways that living in Zurich ruins you for life. But, when we got married, we were none the wiser. That right there is cheap, cheap, cheap German (ouch!) sparkling wine. Schloss Biebrich, from none other than Trader Joe's. When you mostly pay for your wedding yourself, it's really a gift to have a bad palate. Typically, a champagne pyramid wastes around a full bottle. When that bottle is less than $10, no biggie! No biggie at all. Pour away!

So, while we enjoy wine tastings and fine champagne now and then, I am so happy to be content with not-so-fine wines the rest of the time. Once our kids are in bed, we happily flock to the boxed wine on the kitchen counter. :) What about you? Wine snob or boxed wine devotée?

Also, Our Favorite Wine Glasses and the best ever wine post from Cup of Jo: Wine Etiquette.

(Boxed wine GIF from Gemma Correll's Tumblr, photos by Amy Sinisterra)