NAPA, Calif. (AP) — First came Two Buck Chuck. Now, there’s Four Buck Fred.
Fred Franzia, the maker of the famously inexpensive wine sold at Trader Joe’s supermarkets nationwide, is releasing two new wines under his Napa Creek label, both selling for $3.99 a bottle.
The twist: This time the wines actually are made with grapes from California’s Napa Valley.
“This shows that you can put Napa Valley wine in there for the price that we’re doing,” Mr. Franzia said. “People want to buy things at a reasonable price that are good value. It’s not new. It’s America.”
In Napa, where wine is more likely to cost $40 than $4 a bottle, the release was a shocker.
An enormously successful California vintner, Mr. Franzia has been fighting with Napa winemakers — so far unsuccessfully — over a state law requiring that wines with “Napa” on the label be made from grapes grown in that region.
The Napa Valley, about 65 miles northeast of San Francisco, is relatively small, producing only about 4 percent of California’s wine by volume, according to the Napa Valley Vintners association. But the region packs a big financial punch, accounting for 21 percent of the wine industry’s $45 billion economic affect on the state’s economy — including revenue from winemaking, tourism and other allied businesses — according to the association’s numbers.
Along with prestige comes high prices. Napa Valley vineyard land can easily reach six figures an acre and the average price for cabernet sauvignon grapes here is $4,000 a ton, compared with a statewide red grape average of about $600.
Napa vintners argue that putting the “Napa” name on a bottle of wine made with less-expensive grapes grown elsewhere in the state undermines their image and undercuts their hard work in building up the valley’s reputation.
Mr. Franzia’s Bronco Wine Co. has argued that state law doesn’t trump similar federal regulations, which exempt brands established before 1986. Over the years, Bronco has purchased three such brands — Napa Ridge, Napa Creek Winery and Rutherford Vintners.
The California Supreme Court has upheld the labeling law and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal. Meanwhile, a state appellate court in May ruled against arguments that the law impinges on Bronco’s free-speech rights, hampers interstate commerce and unconstitutionally deprives Bronco of income without compensation. Bronco may ask a higher court to review that ruling.
Napa Creek was announced days after the appellate court ruling, but Mr. Franzia says that was a coincidence and Bronco spokesman Harvey Posert notes it takes months to get a new wine in stores.
The new Napa Creek wines — a chardonnay and a merlot — stem from Bronco’s practice of buying some Napa Valley wine to blend into various brands. This year, Mr. Franzia found himself with enough for a separate release.
The wines carry the Napa Valley appellation, which means they must be made 85 percent from grapes grown in that region. They sell only at Trader Joe’s, as does Two Buck Chuck, officially called Charles Shaw, which sells for $1.99 in California and up to $3.39 elsewhere.
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