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When you think of the professionals running the world’s wine businesses, filthy mouths and public urination are probably not the first character traits to come to mind. But Fred Franzia is no ordinary vintner. CEO of Bronco Wine, now the fourth-largest wine maker in the country, Franzia hasn’t let success affect his head … or his manners.

Joel Stein of Business 2.0 magazine recently had the “pleasure” of profiling Franzia in a lengthy piece that describes the brusque Franzia relieving himself against the side of his Jeep, cursing out the competition, and claiming “We can grow [grapes] on asphalt.”

Bronco Wine was put on the map with the Charles Shaw brand of wine, affectionately known as “Two Buck Chuck” and available exclusively at privately-held Trader Joe’s. The Chardonnay varietal of this bargain-basement-priced beverage recently nabbed a top prize at the 2007 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. The label, which was first available at Trader Joe’s in 2002, is now one of the fastest-growing brands in America, selling 5 million cases per year.

Continue reading Grapes on asphalt: How Bronco Wine’s Fred Franzia made ‘Two Buck Chuck’ possible

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 at 11:18 pm and is filed under Stocks Money News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.