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Today we bust Broncos.
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On this day in 1995, O. J. Simpson was acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman. Sure, he was later found guilty in a civil trial brought by the Goldman family, but he never paid the $33 million dollar judgement against him. Of course, that would be tough repay now since he is currently serving time in a Nevada prison for multiple felonies, including armed robbery and kidnapping. Great guy, huh?
But who can forget the slow speed chase of O.J. Simpson with his buddy Al Cowlings on June 17th in his white Ford.
That vehicle brings us to our Wine Word of the Day: Bronco
More specifically, the Bronco Wine Company of Ceres, California; who is almost as famous in the wine business as O.J. is famous in the, uh, crime business. Or was he more famous for his football prowess? Clearly O.J. had a lot of range.
The Bronco Wine Co. is the fourth largest vintner in the United States. It owns over 35,000 acres of vineyards, most of which are in the San Joaquin Valley region of Central California. It produces around 20 million cases of wine annually.
CEO, Fred Franzia started Bronco in 1973. He is the nephew of wine legend, Ernest Gallo, but has no relationship to the Franzia winery of boxed wine fame. And like O.J. Simpson, he has seen his share of legal trouble.
In 1993, Franzia and Bronco wines were fined $3 million when they pled no contest on federal charges of fraud. Fred Franzia himself instructed employees to sprinkle Zinfandel leaves on top of containers of cheaper grapes that he sold to other wineries. He called this scam, “The blessing of the loads” (which was his take on the traditional blessing of the harvest each year).
Franzia also unsuccessfully appealed a case all the way to the US Supreme Court to allow his wines labels to say “Napa Valley” on the front, even though none of the grapes in his wine came from Napa. Which, as you might imagine, upset quite a few established and famous Napa Valley wineries.
Despite Franzia’s shenanigans, it’s hard to argue that Bronco wine isn’t a dominate force in wine retailing. They currently produce and sell over 50 brands. But you are probably most familiar with the well known label offered exclusively by Trader Joe’s: Charles Shaw, also known as, “Two Buck Chuck.”
And now you know the rest of the story. Sorry, I could resist saying that. Or in O. J.’s case, the “arrest” of the story.
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