Let’s start with a sad story. Two Buck Chuck, Trader Joe’s famous wine, is heading to auction. The family patriarch has died, the matriarch is 90 years old, and relatives are spread out beyond California, making it increasingly difficult to manage the winery. The 42-acre St. Helena property failed to find a buyer at a $28M list price. Before that, the price tag was $35M.
Now let’s go to happier moments: the ability to buy decent wines for as low as $1.99 a bottle.
When and How Did Two Buck Chuck Start?
We learn from Wikipedia, Charles Shaw wines were introduced at Trader Joe’s in California in 2002 at a price of $1.99 per bottle, earning the wines the nickname “Two Buck Chuck.” The company sold 800 million bottles between 2002 and 2013!
Charles Shaw filed for bankruptcy in 1995 and was bought by for $27,000 by Bronco Wine Company, co-owned by Fred Franzia, formerly of Franzia Brothers wines.
“A 2006 Los Angeles Times story said the company could fill 60,000 bottles of the Charles Shaw brand in two to three days.”
“At the 28th Annual International Eastern Wine Competition, Shaw’s 2002 Shiraz received the double gold medal, beating approximately 2,300 other wines in the competition. Shaw’s 2005 California Chardonnay was judged Best Chardonnay from California at the Commercial Wine Competition of the 2007 California Exposition and State Fair. The chardonnay received 98 points, a double gold, with accolades of ‘Best of California’ and ‘Best of Class’.”
About Charles Shaw
TastingTable tells us that, in the 1970s, Charles Shaw, a native of Michigan, “was working in Houston for the oil and gas division of a Texas bank when he accepted a transfer to the company’s Paris branch where, in a twist of fate, his office was located right behind Steven Spurrier’s Académie du Vin. He fell in love with French wine, particularly Beaujolais, and proceeded to convince his wife, Lucy, an heiress, to fund a wine-making venture in Napa Valley (via Business Insider). In 1979, the Shaws debuted their first vintage, a Beaujolais-like varietal known as Gamay.
“In a perfect world, that would be the start of a grand success story. In the real world, it was the beginning of Shaw’s relatively short-lived career in the California wine industry.
“The Shaws produced award-winning varietals for several years — their Gamay was front and center at three White House state dinners — but the American public hadn’t yet discovered the world of wine (via Business Insider). With a surplus on his hands, Charles Shaw, who had attended Stanford University, turned to fellow Stanford alum Joe Colom, the founder of Trader Joe’s, for help. Colom relabeled the wine and sold off the excess inventory for $2 a bottle.
“Problem solved, right? Not quite. Shaw’s troubles were just beginning. Following a series of unfortunate incidents, including a less-than-amicable divorce and a bankruptcy filing, Bronco Wine Company swooped in and bought Shaw’s business for $25,000 in 1995, according to USA Today. Bronco Wine Company founder, Fred Franzia – whose grandparents, Teresa and Giuseppe Franzia, established Franzia Wine Company in the early 1900s — founded Bronco Wine Company in 1973 along with his brother and cousin to produce quality wines at affordable prices, according to The Washington Post. That was about a decade before the 1983 debut of Franzia’s iconic box wines (via Forbes).
“In 2002, Franzia partnered with Trader Joe’s to distribute Charles Shaw wines at about $2 a bottle, leading to the nickname Two Buck Chuck. Since then, the brand has continued to be successful. In fact, in 2021, Wine Spectator ranked Bronco Wine Company the 13th largest winemaker in the United States.”
What Will Happen Next?
According to MSN, bidding on the vineyards in St. Helena will run May 13-28, with bids expected to start as low as $8 million.
