Can you say ish?

Oak Leaf Cabernet

Oak Leaf Chardonnay

As a common man, a regular guy, a mensch even, the last thing I want to be is a snob. I might like drinking wine, but I might drink it while eating a frozen pizza (cooked of course) while watching "Tommy Boy" -- for the sixth time.

Take that into consideration when I say Oak Leaf wine, available exclusively at Wal-Mart, is not good. If it were good, like "Tommy Boy," I would say so.

I bought some because I used to get Two Buck Chuck, which is to say wines by Charles Wilson and not some dude, and I thought Oak Leaf might offer the same promise for $3 a bottle.

It does not.

The cab starts with a strong vinegar taste that stays throughout. You can detect some fruit, maybe a mineral -- particularly if poured over real rocks -- but it's not a good wine. I wouldn't even use it for cooking because that strong vinegar taste would be compounded in cooking.

The chardonnay isn't as bad but it also has a vinegar taste that cannot overcome any fruit flavors that might be there.

I've found some $6 bottles, which I will recommend later, that are worth the extra three bucks. If you're like me, I can get four glasses from a bottle. In this case, the few extra quarters per bottle are worth it.