Fred Franzia, the inventor of Two Buck Chuck (a.k.a. Charles Shaw) wine, died Tuesday in Denair, Calif. at age 79.

Franzia, whose parents invented the boxed Franzia wine beloved by college students across the country, personified the noble American tradition of taking the high brow and making it low.

The Franzia family literally boxed the refinement of Napa Valley and delivered it to the quantity-minded American drinker — an act that true oenophiles undoubtedly consider deeply profane. But those types never concerned Franzia, who insisted throughout his life that no bottle of wine should cost more than ten dollars.

“Take that and shove it, Napa,” he once said in an interview.

Like many popularizers before him, Franzia was also steeped in the rich American tradition of corner-cutting, pleading guilty to fraud in 1994 for mislabeling the grape varieties on his wine. (He had instructed workers to scatter a few zinfandel grapes atop a truck load of cheaper grapes in order to sell the resulting wines as zinfandel). He also campaigned unsuccessfully to have state regulations changed so that he’d be able to label his Central Valley–grown wines as having been grown in Napa.

What McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc did for dining out and Conrad Hilton did for hotel lodging, Fred Franzia and his parents before him did for California wine.

Bronco Wine Company, the brand Fred founded with his brother after their parents sold Franzia to Coca-Cola in 1973, now boasts a portfolio of more than 100 brands ranging from wine to spirits and ready-to-drink cocktails.

Asked how he could sell his wine for less than a bottle of water, Franzia responded “They’re overcharging for the water — don’t you get it?”

Pour out some Sunset Blush for Fred.