Four Buck Fred

[Brad Ballinger]

Fred Franzia had been fighting the law which required wines with "Napa Valley" on the label actually be made with grapes from Napa Valley. His latest venture, Napa Creek, does that. And he's selling it for $3.99 a bottle.

"We challenge anyone to have a blind tasting and see where our wines come out," he says. "We think we can run with the top dogs at $100-plus. There's no wine worth more than 10 bucks a bottle."

Article here.

[Ted Task]

Four buck wines from Napa make a lot of sense to me. Great appelation, wonderful

recognition, and I'll bet they are damm good drinking, especially when one applies a cost/benefit ratio.

My only problem, and I've not had the opportunity to taste yet, will be continutiy.

This would appear to be juice bought on the market from who knows which winery

overload, Once THIS batch is gone, the next might not be as well made.

For those folks that are not as concerned with continuity, it's JUST THE RIGHT THING.

It will bring more consumers to the fold, as we are always questioning.

eg: "if I like this at $4. what can the one priced at $8 do for me that's different."

Frankly I'm looking for a whole lot more price reductions, as the world of wine

continues to grow. What most don't realize is that we are drinking MUCH better

wine today than we drank ten years ago, extraordinarily better than twenty years

ago and (unless one is old enough to remember) so much better than thirty years ago it's just not in the same league. We've really got it good, so when you see

Napa juice for $4.give it a try. You might even like it.

OK, that's my ramble for the day. Got to out and see if I can find the $4 bottle.

Ted Task

[jsolomon]

There's way too much alliteration in this thread. Four-buck Fred. Brad Ballinger. Ted Task.

This is turning into something from Who's Line Is It, Anyway?

[Lori_Russo]

I'm reading this, drinking a glass of 2001 Two Buck BLECH Cabernet. I'm sorry. This stuff is great in a pinch (like right now, when I just want to drink for drinking's sake and don't want to waste a real bottle of wine), but no way it stands up to a decent "regular" California Cab like Montelena or Cakebread (or pick any other of the dozens of options).

Would anyone liken Two Buck Chuck and Four Buck Fred to the Lancers and Cold Duck of 20 years ago? Just curious, as that was just a bit before my wine drinking days.

(*hiccup*)

[Dave the Cook]

It's much, much better, which is not to say that it's objectively good.

I wouldn't call Cakebread or Montelena "regular" Cab. You're talking about something that costs ten or twelve times what Franzia is proposing.

[Really Nice!]

I'm reading this, drinking a glass of 2001 Two Buck BLECH Cabernet.

←

How's it ageing?

[Lori_Russo]

[Phil Ward]

Brad says: <<Fred Franzia had been fighting the law which required wines with "Napa Valley" on the label actually be made with grapes from Napa Valley. His latest venture, Napa Creek, does that. And he's selling it for $3.99 a bottle.

>>

Brad not in NJ. We wholesale this and SRP is $9.99 or a bit less, maybe $7.99 to $8.99 with discounts.

Phil

[Brad Ballinger]

Brad says: <<Fred Franzia had been fighting the law which required wines with "Napa Valley" on the label actually be made with grapes from Napa Valley. His latest venture, Napa Creek, does that. And he's selling it for $3.99 a bottle.

>>

Brad not in NJ. We wholesale this and SRP is $9.99 or a bit less, maybe $7.99 to $8.99 with discounts.

Phil

←

Well, Brad doesn't say. Brad only quotes the price mentioned in the article from MSN. I wonder if it is $3.99 at one main source -- such as 2BC was the price at Trader Joe's, but cost a bit more elsewhere.

[Chris Cognac]

I saw that article in the paper today...I think my wine panel might have to take him up on that challenge.....but, in the groups last tasting of merlot's the 2 buck chuck I slipped in rated very high....one of the highest out of 8 wines....We also liked a PKNT from Chile

[JohnL]

This "marketing" works both ways!

I remember when Biondi Santi released their Brunello at $100/bottle.

This was the first wine to cross that threshold (I believe).

Got lots of hoo ha in the press and sold out quickly.

These two buck this and four buck thats are in essence jug wines.

(not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Mass produced from grapes of only slightly more than anonymous locations.

Often these appear with catchy labels --I remember a wine "Clos Robert" that was carried by a prestigious store (Morells) here in NY. It was pretty good and cost around ten bucks. It was good for a couple of years then the price rose and the quality fell off.

(looking back--I wonder if this was produced by Mondavi given the name "Robert".)

Currently, Purple Mountain has emerged as a lower mid priced wine that is pretty decent--the marketing hype is that it is made by a large prestigious winery who must remain a secret.

Charles Shaw and Fred Franzia are taking another tack: the anti snob wine at an anti snob price that appeals to folks who find that appealing!

In the end--this stuff has been around forever but the marketing changes--they gotta stay ahead of us to survive!!!

Remember--white Zinfandel--can you say "rose"!

In the end it always comes down to what's in the glass!

(by the way--just what grape varietals are used in Gallo Hardy Burgundy?)

[Phil Ward]

John L writes: <<I remember a wine "Clos Robert" that was carried by a prestigious store (Morells) here in NY. It was pretty good and cost around ten bucks. It was good for a couple of years then the price rose and the quality fell off.

(looking back--I wonder if this was produced by Mondavi given the name "Robert".)

>>

Nope not RM but Bob Shack a marketer of wines in NYC for Remy Amerique who named it for his then boss, Robert..... It still exists although I have not had it in years. Used to be a good value.

Phil

[JohnL]

Thanks for the info Phil!

I always wondered about that Clos Robert!

Do you know who is producing "Purple Mountain"?

Seems that these wines do well for a while and then either the price rises as they gain some success (Purple Mt was a ten dollar chardonnay now it is approaching the fifteen dollar mark) or the quality drops off (could be the consistancy problems in grape sourcing?).