The Myth of So-Called "Starter Wine"

How long will the wine industry persist with its damaging consumer fantasy of cheap, "entry-level" wine? Or, an essay in (slight) praise of wine "snobbery."

Fred Franzia in the vineyard (Photo: Stephen Osman/LA Times via Getty Images)

Fred Franzia, peddler of Two-Buck Chuck (aka Charles Shaw), died last month. There have been a plenty of obituaries and think pieces to commemorate the passing of this “larger than life” person who has been variously described as “iconoclastic” or a “convicted felon” and who ei…