Trader Joe's “Charles Shaw” family of wines, fondly known as “Two Buck Chuck,” probably represents the best value in wine in the United States. If you pay anything less than ten dollars for wine you can usually expect to get something that tastes like alcoholic vinegar, but you can sometimes pay four or five times that much and still be disappointed.
As of this writing, a bottle of Two Buck Chuck retails for $2.59, but it honestly tastes better than most twenty-dollar bottles I've ever tasted. I'm not saying a true wine connoisseur would be likely to appreciate it, but considering how hit-or-miss wine can be at almost any price point, Two Buck Chuck is almost a miracle. No vinegar sourness, no sickly sweetness, no weird aftertaste- but it's not just a case of avoiding the negatives. The stuff actually tastes good, and keeps tasting good no matter how many glasses of it you drink- believe me, I know!
I've seen people come into Trader Joe's without a shopping list and walk out with boxes of Two Buck Chuck, stocking up for a party perhaps- or just a long, long weekend! They offer all of the standard varieties, but my personal favorite is the Shiraz, probably just because I'm a fan of the more challenging flavors when it comes to almost anything. Whether you're into Shiraz or not, you can't possibly do better than Two Buck Chuck without actually stealing bottles of wine- and maybe not even then.