Fred Franzia
Fred Franzia offered up a challenge I couldn’t refuse. The man who invented Two Buck Chuck and sold a record-breaking 440 million bottles said: “We challenge any Napa Valley winery to a blind wine tasting with consumers and we’ll win more than a majority of the time.”
Our 1-hour tasting is now set for Monday afternoon, Oct. 6th A specific time has not yet been set. Those who previously expressed interest in sitting on the consumer panel failed to leave their email address. So this time out, please let me know how I can reach you. And remember, we’re looking for everyday consumers – no sommeliers, no wine critics. Naturally, we also want to make our Monday, Oct. 6th tasting date works for you.
I’ll be paring the potential panelists down to three but those who respond will still be able to play a role with subsequent interviews. I have already narrowed down the professional panel, and that round will follow the consumer tasting.
The line-up in the flight will include some of Franzia’s bottlings interspersed with some Napa labels.
Why is the tasting drawing interest? Because Franzia is a hero or a villain, depending on who you ask. Because no one else in America would have the audacity to create a $2 brand. Because Franzia rankles Napa vintners when he chides them for producing high-priced wines. All of the above.
Franzia is the CEO of Bronco Wine Company based in Ceres, California. The fourth largest producer of wine in the United States, Bronco owns over 35,000 acres of vineyards, most of which are located in California’s Central Valley.
