The Big Daddy of Wine
Some call him a genius, some call him names we cannot print, but no one can deny that Fred Franzia is the biggest winemaker in the country. With 42,000 acres of vineyards, Franzia’s Bronco Wine Company’s top seller is none other than Charles Shaw – better known as Two Buck Chuck.
The Two Buck Chuck story, has become an industry legend. In 1995, Franzia bought the Charles Shaw label from a Napa Valley winery that had gone into bankruptcy. The label sat in a drawer with dozens of others until 2002, when the wine market was flooded by excess inventory. Grape prices plunged and many wineries sold bulk wines at a loss. Bronco became one of the few success stories of the year when it struck a deal with the Trader Joe’s chain to sell an ultravalue wine for $1.99. (It’s generally $3.99 outside California.) With its own bottling facilities and distribution system, and with the market awash in cheap, decent wines, Bronco could produce an ultravalue wine and still make money. Bronco resurrected the Charles Shaw label, which soon picked up the nickname Two Buck Chuck. Critics pronounced it surprisingly drinkable; the editors of the trade publication Wines & Vines picked a Two Buck Chuck over a $67 Chardonnay. Two Buck Chuck became the fastest-growing wine label ever and Bronco now sells five million to six million cases of it annually in five varietals.
When anyone suggests that his wines are low-priced, Franzia quickly informs them that his wines are right-priced. Everyone else’s wine is overpriced. He believes that no bottle of wine should cost more than ten dollars.
What is Fred up to these days? He’s taking on the Australian wine industry by going head on with Australia’s popular Yellow Tail. Last week, Bronco Wine’s released the first Down Under wine, a chardonnay, which will sell for $2.99 in California. The wine is being marketed under the slogan ‘Three dollar koala’.
Asked if Down Under would compete with Charles Shaw Wines (Two-Buck Chuck), Franzia quipped, “Everything competes with Two Buck Chuck.”
“This is targeted against Australian wines, showing that the consumer has been charged too much money for Australian wines all these years,” he said. “If we can sell it at that price, the Australians can too.”
Note: I haven’t been able to find Down Under in San Diego yet. Will have a review as soon as it arrives.
-C
Tags: australia, chardonnay, franzia
