Hollis Johnson There is no longer a connection between Charles Shaw, the man, and Charles Shaw, the wine sold at Trader Joe's.
- $4 "two-buck Chuck," its famously cheap private-label $4, has a complicated backstory.
- There is a real Charles Shaw, and he once sold wine at Trader Joe's, but he is not currently associated with the Charles Shaw brand wine sold at the retailer today.
- A businessman named Fred Franzia is behind two-buck Chuck, which sells for $2.99 at most Trader Joe's stores today.
- To hear the full story and an interview with the real Charles Shaw, $4 to Business Insider's new podcast, "$4."
Trader Joe's "two-buck Chuck" is much more than a cheap bottle of wine.
The Charles Shaw label, which sells cabernet, pinot grigio, and a variety of other wines, sells for $2.99 at most Trader Joe's locations.
But the famously inexpensive brand wasn't always so cheap and readily available. The original Charles Shaw label produced prestigious, award-winning wines at Charles Shaw's winery in Napa Valley.
That is quite unlike Trader Joe's current Charles Shaw wine, which is mass-produced by Bronco Wine Company and is entirely unrelated to the real Charles Shaw, who currently resides in Chicago and has nothing to do with the wine or business.
The name and label were acquired for the Bronco Wine Company by a savvy businessman named Fred Franzia, who made his fortune buying names and labels from bankrupt wineries.
Find out more about the famous two-buck Chuck wine, which is profiled in this week's episode of Business Insider's podcast "$4":