He outwardly criticized the famous California wine region for its unaffordability, pushing forward an alternative: cheap wine marked lower than a case of water. Through it all, Franzia stood out for his anti-snob spirit around wine, a trait that often put him at odds with mainstream Napa culture. The Highs and Woes of Alcohol’s Three-Tier System Today, Bronco Wine is considered one of the largest vineyard owners in the U.S., producing wine under more than 100 labels for a global market. This gave Franzia a deep level of control over the company’s products and translated to huge success. It relied on vertical integration, which is the practice of overseeing every stage of production rather than outsourcing them to other companies. The company’s approach to creating best-selling wines involved more than simply choosing the right grapes. In 1973, Franzia co-founded the Bronco Wine Company in Ceres, California, with his brother Joseph and cousin John. But do a person’s successes forgive their missteps? In all, Franzia’s place in wine history is… well, complicated. In his time, Franzia grabbed headlines as much for his innovations as his questionable business practices, the latter which landed him in courtrooms more than once. However, the man behind iconic brands like Charles Shaw wine-affectionately known as “Two-Buck Chuck”-had his fair share of critics. A prominent figure in the California wine scene, Franzia built his legacy around increasing American consumers’ access to bottles at bargain prices. Wine industry icon Fred Franzia died earlier this month at the age of 79.
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