The darling of the discount wine world is back.
“Two-Buck Chuck” has returned to the shelves of Trader Joe’s at the $1.99 price that inspired the nickname.
Chuck, aka Charles Shaw, actually never left — but the price for the wines, available in both red and white, had risen to $2.99 over the years.
According to the Los Angeles Business Journal, the roll-back occurred last week and applies to all California stores.
“We’ve been able to work with the producer of Charles Shaw to make some improvements packaging-wise so that it uses less glass and the cork is a little bit different,” Matt Sloan, vice president of marketing and product at Trader Joe’s, told the Business Journal. “These cost savings have put us into a position where we can pass a lot of that savings right onto customers.”
According to Mercury News archives, the wine was introduced in 2002 when the slow economy prompted many vintners to cut prices. “Chuck” remained at the iconic $1.99 level for 11 years. During that time, Trader Joe’s was selling 5 million a cases a year of the wine.
Then the price rose to $2.49, and it’s most recently been $2.99.
The wine, made from California grapes, is produced by Fred Franzia’s Bronco Wine Co. in Ceres near Modesto.
Will the price reduction result in more sales?
Even at $2.99, Shaw wines haven been such a bargain that they always do well, according to Bay Area store employees. “But people are pretty excited,” one said.
