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{{Short description|Wine brand (founded 1906)}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2015}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Franzia
| logo = File:Franzia logo.png
| image = File:Box of Wine Paraders, New Orleans Mardi Gras 2015 01.jpg
| image_size =
| image_caption = Mardi Gras Revelers Dressed As Franzia Box Wine
| type =
| industry = [[Wine]]
| fate =
| predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = -->
| successor = <!-- or: | successors = -->
| founded = 1906
| founder = Teresa Franzia
| defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| hq_location_city =
| hq_location_country =
| area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = -->
| key_people =
| products =
| owner = The Wine Group
| num_employees =
| num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) -->
| parent = [[The Wine Group]]
| website = {{URL|http://franzia.com/}}
}}
'''Franzia''' is a brand of [[wine]] produced by [[The Wine Group]], known for its [[box wine]]s sold in 3 and 5-liter cartons.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cuff|first1=Denis|title=Livermore's Concannon Winery to pay water pollution fine|url=http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/01/26/livermores-concannon-winery-to-pay-big-nitrate-pollution-fine/|accessdate=8 June 2017|publisher=East Bay Times|date=26 January 2017}}</ref> Franzia wines, throughout their history, were known as affordable table wines, popular in the 1960s and 1970s as "jug wine", and now as "box wine". The Wine Group is the third largest wine company in the world, behind [[Constellation Brands]] and the [[E&J Gallo Winery]].  The Franzia brand today has no business relationship with Fred Franzia of the [[Bronco Wine Company]], known for its low-cost [[Charles Shaw wine]]s.  The Franzia family sold the brand to [[Coca-Cola]] in 1973 when Fred Franzia was in his early adult years; and it was sold to [[The Wine Group]] in 1981.
Teresa Franzia (born Teresa Carrara, 1879–1949) founded the Franzia Wine Company in 1906. Teresa's daughter, [[Amelia Franzia Gallo]], was the wife of winemaker [[Ernest Gallo]].  Teresa loaned Ernest the money to start his company.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MW |first=Liz Thach |title=Meet The Immigrant Woman Who Launched Franzia, The World's Largest-Volume Wine Brand |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizthach/2022/03/03/the-immigrant-woman-who-launched-the-worlds-largest-volume-wine-brand--franzia/ |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>
==History==
The brand was originally named  after the Franzia family, who began growing grapes in California in 1892 and making wine in 1933 after the repeal of prohibition,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB110902677306360253|title=In Napa Valley, Winemaker's Brands Divide an Industry|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=22 February 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/pg79wy/the-history-of-franzia|title=The History of Franzia}}</ref> later operating as the Franzia Brothers Winery, a Central Valley winery in [[Ripon, California]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/18/drink-up|title=Drink up| magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=11 May 2009}}</ref>
In 1973, Coca-Cola agreed to acquire the Franzia Brothers Winery for stock valued at about $49.3 million.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/13/archives/cocacola-resets-a-deal-to-acquire-franzia-winery.html|title=Coca‐Cola Resets a Deal to Acquire Franzia Winery|newspaper=The New York Times|date=13 September 1973}}</ref> As part of the acquisition, the Franzias were prohibited from using their name in future winemaking businesses—The Franzia Brand, prominent on the boxed wines, is today unconnected to the family, who have subsequently opened a business called the [[Bronco Wine Company]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB110902677306360253|title=In Napa Valley, Winemaker's Brands Divide an Industry|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=22 February 2005}}</ref> In 1981, the Coca-Cola Company agreed to sell the wine business of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York (which included the Franzia Brothers Winery alongside the Mogen David Wine Corporation and Tribuno Wines Inc.), in a management buyout involving the top-level managers of the bottler's wine business and the First Boston Corporation. <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/16/business/coca-cola-to-sell-3-wine-concerns.html|title=Coca-Cola to Sell 3 Wine Concerns|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 July 1981}}</ref>
==Vineyard==
Franzia is produced by The Wine Group, which is based at [[Concannon Vineyard]] in San Francisco's East Bay, but operates 13 wineries in California, New York and Australia. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/article/industry-news/the-wine-group-ceo-talks-expansion-to-premium-plus-brands-to-reach-millen/|title = The Wine Group CEO talks 'premiumization' and millennials|date = 17 April 2018}}</ref>
==Wines==
===Red Wines===
* Bold and Jammy Cab
* Burgundy
* Cabernet Sauvignon
* Chianti
* Chillable Red
* Dark Red Blend
* Fruity Red Sangria
* Merlot
* Pinot Noir/Carmenere
===White Wines===
* Chablis
* Chardonnay
* Crisp White
* Moscato
* Pinot Grigio/Colombard
* Refreshing White
* Rich & Buttery
* Sauvignon Blanc
===Blush Wines===
* Pink Moscato
* Rosé
* Sunset Blush
* White Merlot
* White Zinfandel
==In popular culture==
[[Oregon State University]] students organize the Tour de Franzia, a costumed bike parade inspired by the brand's namesake. The parade attracts students, local residents, and out-of-towners and occurs every term.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bluemountaineagle.com/news/tour-de-franzia-parades-with-little-interference/article_d03833ef-814b-550d-9f1c-51c327aca903.html|title=Tour de Franzia parades with little interference}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orangemedianetwork.com/daily_barometer/news/franzia-tourers-plan-to-file-for-permit-pedal-on/article_999268de-87aa-52ea-8718-d9eb5d043ba4.html|title=Franzia tourers plan to file for permit, pedal on|access-date=2021-06-26|archive-date=2021-06-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210626054915/http://www.orangemedianetwork.com/daily_barometer/news/franzia-tourers-plan-to-file-for-permit-pedal-on/article_999268de-87aa-52ea-8718-d9eb5d043ba4.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Similarly, students at [[Wesleyan University]] organize an unofficial campus scavenger hunt involving boxed wine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jezebel.com/wesleyans-tour-de-franzia-meltdown-reaches-ridiculous-493142791|title=Wesleyan's Tour de Franzia Meltdown Reaches Ridiculous New Levels|date=6 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patch.com/connecticut/middletown-ct/jezebel-terms-wesleyan-admins-tour-de-franzia-tactics-ridiculous|title=Jezebel Terms Wesleyan Admin's Tour de Franzia Tactics 'Ridiculous'|date=6 May 2013}}</ref>
==Controversies==
In 1993, Franzia and [[Bronco Wine Company]] were indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to defraud by misrepresenting cheaper grapes as premium [[Zinfandel]] and [[Cabernet Sauvignon]]. Bronco pleaded [[Nolo contendere|no contest]] and paid a $2.5 million fine. Franzia also pleaded guilty to his involvement, paid a $500,000 fine, stepped down as Bronco's president and member of the company's board of directors, and agreed to refrain from involvement with grape purchasing for five years in lieu of prison time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-30-fi-18304-story.html|title=Archives |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=30 January 1994 }}</ref>
Franzia has also been at odds with California's premium winemakers for several years over his inclusion of ''Napa'' and other related [[appellation]] terms on the labels of his wines. Franzia sued the state of California over the implementation of a 2000 law that tightened federal labeling laws. His lawsuit was unsuccessful initially and up through the appeals process as well; he eventually sought [[certiorari]] in the [[United States Supreme Court]], but the Court declined to take the case.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15013 |title=First Amendment Center |accessdate=2007-11-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209063049/http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15013 |archivedate=February 9, 2010 }}"...Napa vintners yesterday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision that let stand a ruling that wine with the "Napa" name on the bottle must be made with grapes grown in that famous region."</ref>
==See also==
* [[Bronco Wine Company]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Official|https://www.franzia.com}}
{{Portal bar|Food|Wine}}
[[Category:Wine brands]]
[[Category:American wine]]