Cracked open a nice box of wine

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

DW on a lark picked up a box of Black Box cabernet from the Central Valley (Paso Robles). We'd heard that some of these boxed wines were not bad.

For about $20 you get 3 liters (4 bottles) in a compact box with a collapsing plastic bag holding the wine. Theoretically, the bag collapses as wine is removed from a spigot near the bottom of the box, reducing oxidation so you can continue to partake for 4 weeks or more. We just stuck it in the pantry, unrefrigerated. Figured it would be perfect for table wine, a glass with dinner without opening and re-corking a bottle.

Pour 1 was iffy for some reason but smoothed out a little in the glass. After that, we found it to be a pretty decent table wine comparing to some $8-$12 bottles we've had of similar style. I won't get into wine adjectives here...

Might be worth a try if you're not in an upscale mood but still want a glass of wine.

[RetiredGypsy]

A friend of mine was a teacher who loved boxed wine. Even a $6 bottle of Black Swan beat the best of what she got. It's good to know there apparently are better to choose from.

[SC]

I'll second the recommendation. DW prefers to store the box in the fridge, and the Black Box cabernet has been consistently good for us. The boxes are also convenient if you just want a single glass with dinner.

Costco recently had a sign over the stack of boxes noting that the cabernet was ranked an 87 out of 100 by (some important-sounding wine rating thing whose name escapes me), which places it, I think, in the same range as the $8-12 bottles you mentioned. For the price, that's hard to beat.

[Moemg]

My So has kidded me that I need a wine rack that holds boxes so yes I'm a fan of certain box wines . Target has a Pinot Grigio in a box that's pretty good .

[pksublime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg My So has kidded me that I need a wine rack that holds boxes so yes I'm a fan of certain box wines . Target has a Pinot Grigio in a box that's pretty good .

Target sells wine! Since when?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pksublime Target sells wine! Since when?

Since they began opening Superstores a few years back.

[Marquette]

To pass on a protip from Jeff Yeager... save your nice wine bottles and "recant" them with boxed wine. Even your most spendthrift dinner guests will be impressed that you're serving the expensive stuff.

[kevink]

During our extensive travels in France and Italy (back when the dollar was a real currency.....) we visited many wine makers in the Rhone valley and Piedmont, and found that the wine-in-a-box format is very popular, with many quite serious wines offered in that form. Historically people in wine growing areas would just fill up a big plastic or other container for their daily "vin ordinaire" but the bag-in-box format gives you serious quanitity without oxidation.

It's a case of guilt-by-association in that so much bad wine is sold in that format in the U.S., but it's actually the very best container for wine: keeps it fresh for 4-6 weeks once opened, zero danger of cork taint, extremely efficient to ship (virtually unbreakable cube vs. bulky, heavy, fragile bottles).

Depending on where you live you may find European wine in a box of perhaps greater interest than the CA stuff. La Vielle Ferme is one brand to look for (Rhone valley); you may also find the occasional Bordeaux or Spanish red.

Kevin

[TromboneAl]

I've tried about 6 times, and I just can't get the taste to last. That is, after a few days, it doesn't seem as good. It goes from bad to worse. I can tolerate bad.

Currently, as a bad/cheap wine conno-sewer, I've found that Forestville is the least bad.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marquette To pass on a protip from Jeff Yeager... save your nice wine bottles and "recant" them with boxed wine. Even your most spendthrift dinner guests will be impressed that you're serving the expensive stuff.

Hopefully that was 'tongue-in-cheek' humor from Jeff. Frugal and dishonest should be separate terms.

We have some inexpensive wine for some of our non-discriminating friends/relatives. Why waste the 'good stuff' on people who really cannot tell the diff, and don't care to. I've given them samples of better stuff, and they like their ug white zinf better. :confused:

My SIL helped herself to some cheap jug 'cabernet' wine my wife bought for some recipe. I said, ewwww, don't drink that, let me get you some good wine, and she was ' no, this is fine'... oh well.

And we serve the stuff that we drink for our friends who have some appreciation for decent wine. But if they're looking for $100 bottles of wine, well they know better than that

-ERD50

[Marquette]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Hopefully that was 'tongue-in-cheek' humor from Jeff. Frugal and dishonest should be separate terms.

I think that would be an interesting study. I don't want to interpret his intentions or motivations too much, but I believe he was making the point that there are a lot of people that get hung up on cost and wouldn't know good from bad anyway. Then again, if I were a wine fan and knew my stuff, as a guest I wouldn't complain about the taste even if it didn't match the bottle.... so, if it was an actual test on his part, he may be discounting the manners of his guests.

[Jay_Gatsby]

Couple of interesting articles on box wine:

Box wine is getting better all the time

On Wine: Premium wines from a box? Tasting is believing

Top 5 Box Wines at Epicurious.com

There's even a blog on box wines:

Wines

[pksublime]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Since they began opening Superstores a few years back.

That only got them equal to grocery stores which is only weak wine coolers and week beer. Not wine and such.

[Moemg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pksublime That only got them equal to grocery stores which is only weak wine coolers and week beer. Not wine and such.

In our Target ( Florida ) they have a great selection of wines . Maybe It depends on the state ?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg In our Target ( Florida ) they have a great selection of wines . Maybe It depends on the state ?

Yep. In TX Target sells the Real McCoy*...

*From Wikipedia, one of several theories as to the source of this well-known phrase - and the one most applicable in this useage:

"During the U.S. Prohibition era, it was common for rum-runner captains to add water to bottles to stretch their profits, or to re-label it as better goods. One American rum-runner captain and boat builder, William S. McCoy, became famous for never watering his booze, and selling only real top-quality products. Because of this, some accounts place McCoy as the source of the term "the Real McCoy." "

[bright eyed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Since they began opening Superstores a few years back.

it's one of the few things in their grocery section that aren't cheaper there than other places...i find the prices on par with standard grocery and more expensive than trader joe's....

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl I've tried about 6 times, and I just can't get the taste to last. That is, after a few days, it doesn't seem as good. It goes from bad to worse.

Drink it faster.

Some solutions are just so dang simple!

The hardy's and black box are indeed pretty good. I even occasionally grab a box of the franzia vintner select chardonnay if I'm making a big white wine punch or sangria. Its also perfectly fine for cooking with.

In doing my own taste tests on top of Alton Browns suggestion to buy the bottle with the skull and cross bones on it for $1 for cooking purposes, I can find very little difference between a cooked cup of box wine and a cooked cup of expensive wine.

For all non-boxed purposes, you cant go wrong with a bottle of yellow tail of any type.

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Drink it faster. Some solutions are just so dang simple! The hardy's and black box are indeed pretty good. I even occasionally grab a box of the franzia vintner select chardonnay if I'm making a big white wine punch or sangria. Its also perfectly fine for cooking with. In doing my own taste tests on top of Alton Browns suggestion to buy the bottle with the skull and cross bones on it for $1 for cooking purposes, I can find very little difference between a cooked cup of box wine and a cooked cup of expensive wine. For all non-boxed purposes, you cant go wrong with a bottle of yellow tail of any type.

Can you give me a rating of Bolack Box Shiraz?

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I havent had the shiraz, just the chard, cab and pinot grigio. All were very competitive with a typical $6-8 or so bottle. I think the yellow tail is better and competitively priced when bought in the 1.5l sizes, but if you arent going to drink a shitload of it the boxes seem to me to keep the quality up.

I'm not sure what Al is doing, but its hard to figure out how a plastic bag of wine thats untouched by air or light degrades over a few days.

As another interesting aside, I've found some of the cheap box whites taste better over ice, as though they're made for that purpose. They can be a little bit chewy without it. I know, horror of horrors...wine with ice in it.

Hey, who are all those guys on my lawn with torches and pitchforks and..........

AIYEEE!

[Yipee-Ki-O]

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....