Trinchero to purchase Folie à Deux

[Carolyn Tillie]

I have images of a Doré woodcut from Dante's Inferno of the giant monster, ingesting sinners with no care or thought while those being chewed and swallowed try and wrest themselves from his clutches and mouth, writhing in pain...

Trinchero Family Estates vice-chairman and CEO Roger Trinchero announced that Trinchero Family Estates, the Napa Valley wine company which owns Trinchero, Montevina, Sutter Home, Trinity Oaks, Fre and imports Reynolds Vineyards wines of Australia, is in negotiation to purchase Folie à Deux Winery in St. Helena.

I used to really like Folie à Deux's zinfandel selections. At one point, they made a lovely late-harvest Gewurztraminer that got a little too sweet in the past few years. It will still be a shame...

[Craig Camp]

Folie a Deux had an impact when they started, but then quickly fell into the nameless ranks of people making pleasant, average wine. A sure fire way to go out of business in Napa.

Now it is Trinchero's folie a deux million or 10 or 20 million - whatever they paid for it. I see it as a brand name with no value anymore.

[Phil Ward]

Sad to see Dick Peterson, famed CA wine maker and on-line friend, was unable to rescue this once fine winery.

I guess he is finally ready to semi-retire and continue to consult.

Phil

[Craig Camp]

Sad to see Dick Peterson, famed CA wine maker and on-line friend, was unable to rescue this once fine winery.

I guess he is finally ready to semi-retire and continue to consult.

Phil

Sometimes, no matter how talented you are, it is too late to save a wine brand. Consumers have long memories for great wines and poor wines, but no memory at all for average wines. Folie a Deux was average (and at high prices) for too long. Why try it again - even if the wines improved - when there are so many good wines to choose from? A tough situation for a new winemaker to overcome no matter how famous they are.

[WineMiles]

I've tasted quite a few wines from the current release. For the price they are pretty darn good. I couldn't stand the Menage a Trois white. But found the red version to be rather nice and the Zinfandels from the Sierra foothills are equal to some of the better examples from that region.

It is unfortunate that another small winery is being gobbled up by one of the many faceless, heartless corporate juggernaut holding companies that call themselves wineries.