Cracked open a nice box of wine

[Rustic23]

... "Hold my beer and watch this!"

Including the steering wheel!

 

[pksublime]

Sheesh, TX liquor laws are crazy and convoluted...

 

[brewer12345]

Sheesh, TX liquor laws are crazy and convoluted...

How about Ohio? Used to be state run liquor stores. Then they decided to get out of the booze business. But legislatures being what they are, they compromised. Last I was there, the liquor stores were privately run, but the state technically owned the actual booze, set the prices, and gave the store owner a small cut. Bear in mind, this is also a state where drive through liquor stores (!) are pretty common.

 

[Marquette]

Michigan... grocery stores sell everything. Beer, wine, hard stuff, no problem. In my county, the high schools let out for November 15th (first day of rifle season for deer hunters). I was a bag boy at the local supermarket... most orders for the days before the 15th were $600-$1000. Biggest one I bagged was $1900 and it included 5 carts of beer and quite a few steaks. Basically, deer season is a 1-2 week vacation for the guys up there. Actually bagging a buck is secondary.

Oh, and you couldn't buy before noon on Sunday. Always a treat explaining to the winos that they had to wait another 15 minutes or we'd get in trouble. Also, you had to be 21 (don't think it was 18) to ring an alcohol sale. Made it absurd at times... cashier would have to call someone over just to swipe the whiskey over the barcode reader.

Minnesota. We have city-run liquor stores. The grocery stores sell 3.2 beer (3.2% alcohol). There's a big push here by the grocery stores to be able to sell wine.

 

[Moemg]

In Florida ,the grocery stores sell wine and beer . You have to go to a liquor store to by the hard stuff .

 

[brewer12345]

Minnesota. We have city-run liquor stores. The grocery stores sell 3.2 beer (3.2% alcohol). There's a big push here by the grocery stores to be able to sell wine.

Here in NJ, a liquor store can sell anything. AFAIK, nobody else can sell anything, and it is tough for the restaurants to get a license (leading to many BYO places). There is even a rule that keeps any individual or corporation from having more than a few liquor licenses, so chains are pretty much a non-starter. So we have weird things going on, like Whole Foods registering a couple of their entire stores as liquor stores just so they can sell wine, but not able to get licenses for the rest of their outlets in the state because they can't have that many licenses.

 

[Yipee-Ki-O]

Heh, I picked up a cube of Box Star Chardonnay yesterday for our camping trip this weekend. I am sure it will taste a lot better if it rains a lot and we get stuck in the trailer with the kids...

I'm sure it will be delicious...and of great medicinal value should you wind up in that predicament!

 

[Notmuchlonger]

The problem with screw top and box wine was sealing them properly. Now they have the method worked out properly. Quite a few European wines have screw tops verse cork . They taste the same to me.

 

[pksublime]

Minnesota. We have city-run liquor stores. The grocery stores sell 3.2 beer (3.2% alcohol). There's a big push here by the grocery stores to be able to sell wine.

Only some municipalities are city run (Edina and Eden Prairie as far as I know).

On drive-through stores...
Do they put it in your trunk for you? Since alcohol can't be in the cabin of the vehicle, they would have to or they would be liable for your crime. Similar to serving a drunk at a bar.

 

[Walt34]

Nothing like walking a few miles to enhance the taste of a wine...it was easily a 90+ points wine when far enough back in the woods....

I would submit that in that environment, anything wet with alcohol in it will taste good....

WV also has the Sunday "not before 1:00" law. What a PITA to have to delay my grocery run if it falls on that day. Beer & wine only, hard stuff only at the liquor stores.

 

[MikeD]

I stuck a box of Black Box cabernet (sans the box) in the bottom of my backpack on a recent trip. A little heavy to begin with, but the load got lighter every day! Nothing like walking a few miles to enhance the taste of a wine...it was easily a 90+ points wine when far enough back in the woods....

Hey, I used to drink wine in the woods too! Of course, I was 16 at the time...

Mike D.

 

[segfault]

Since alcohol can't be in the cabin of the vehicle, they would have to or they would be liable for your crime.

In my state, it's legal to have alcohol in the cabin, so long as the container isn't open.

 

[ERD50]

What a coincidence to see this thread updated!

I bought a Bota Box 2005 Shiraz a while back. We had some on a week night, hmmmm, OK, not great, but not bad. IIRC, I paid $16 for a 3 liter box = four 750mL bottles, so equiv to a $4 bottle of wine. I thought it was better than a $4 bottle, so a good value, but nothing to get excited about.

Had some more tonight, probably 3 weeks after first opening, and we actually thought it was much better. The danger of having wine 'on tap' is that you go back for more, so plz escuze hte sssssplelink airours .

So my informal survey is - not bad, a good value, nice to have on hand. You can do better if you find a good value on an $8-$12 Shiraz, but this will fit the bill for a week night, or for less discriminating company. OTOH, the lamb chops DW cooked up were soooooo good, they deserved a good $12 Aussie Shiraz. JMH (and slightly tipsy) O.

-ERD50

PS/edit/add: this is one reason I am resistant to get into kegging for my home-brew beer. It is sooooo tempting to go for 'just a little more'... I'm certain I'd gain 50 lbs in a year.

 

[crazy connie]

Can you give me a rating of Bolack Box Shiraz?

I am a fan of Shiraz. Box is usually just fine thanks. I have a wine cooler/fridge that holds 90 bottles and am debating what I can use it for once I crack the corks on the last case of Silver Oak...

 

[crazy connie]

In AZ any store that wants to can get a license to sell. Every Circle K, AM/PM, and 7-11 convenience store can sell beer, wine and alcohol. All of the grocery stores as well. No Sunday sales before 10am I think it is.

 

[Max Power]

I have a box of Burgundy that is super. And it gets even better after the 3rd glassful.

 

[ERD50]

I am a fan of Shiraz. Box is usually just fine thanks. I have a wine cooler/fridge that holds 90 bottles and am debating what I can use it for once I crack the corks on the last case of Silver Oak...

If the boxed Shiraz is OK by you, keep it in your wine fridge. Just because it is in a box/bag doesn't mean you don't need to keep it in a controlled environment. The bag just keeps the oxygen out once opened. Cool temps will still keep it in good shape until you drink it.

Our basement generally stays under 70F , and low 60's in winter. Not bad for wine, but not ideal.

-ERD500

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

If the boxed Shiraz is OK by you, keep it in your wine fridge. Just because it is in a box/bag doesn't mean you don't need to keep it in a controlled environment. The bag just keeps the oxygen out once opened. Cool temps will still keep it in good shape until you drink it.

Our basement generally stays under 70F , and low 60's in winter. Not bad for wine, but not ideal.

We had our black box cabernet at room temperature for almost 3 weeks (entertaining, no room in the fridge or small wine cooler). No problem - in fact it mellowed a bit. Perhaps it's because the amount of air left in the "bladder" is so minimal between uses.

 

[ERD50]

We had our black box cabernet at room temperature for almost 3 weeks (entertaining, no room in the fridge or small wine cooler). No problem - in fact it mellowed a bit. Perhaps it's because the amount of air left in the "bladder" is so minimal between uses.

The effects of O2 on wine/beer are definitely a matter of both time and temperature.

Some negative effects are a function of temperature, so keeping the wine/beer cool is generally a good thing. But the bag limiting the amount of O2 will help minimize some of the temperature issues.

If we are talking just a few weeks, it is probably more important that it just never saw temperature extremes. A few weeks at room temp, might be a bit like a few months at cellar temps - it could mellow a bit.

I'll have to try the Black Box Cabernet. DW is not a big fan of the bigger wines, so it would take a while for me to work through 3L of cabernet on my own. But it won't be long and stew and roast season will come to Northern, IL, but I need to get started on some beers for winter. Beef roast and a Porter, or beef roast and Cabernet? Decisions, decisions, decisions...

-ERD50

 

[laurence]

Back to the OP, I was recommended the black box by a certain bunny about a year ago, and I've found consistently that the first pour is somehow harsh - maybe all the sulfites are in the spout or collected on the bottom, and 4 bottles of sulfites is enough to make a good collection? I'm going to try inverting the box a few times to see if it makes a difference. But yes, big fans of the Cab and Chard, love the fact that it lasts for weeks - but rarely lasts for more than two.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Shake it first. Might be some sediment in the bottom.

The box reds really dont get any exposure to any air, light or short term heat (cardboard is a good insulator). I've found that putting about a foot of air between the glass and the spout helps with a little aeration.

Still remembering the newspaper guy who wanted to test the 'law' about keeping bottles from excess heat who loaded his trunk up with a few cases and then drove around with them for a week or two. He claimed the results were far improved over the kept-cool test 'control' bottles.

I think all he did was a little rapid aging on the wine. Had he left them in there a month he'd have had different results.

So, fast turnover in the box wine, low heat, no light, no air at all...aging from the 'bottler' (boxer?) to the glass is far less than the average bottle...which you pour from the top...

 

[kcowan]

We have one of those rubber corks that you can suck the air out of the opened bottle. With screw tops, are people resorting to the inert gas spray? Never liked that as much.