Whenever I am home in San Francisco and need to make a quick stop at the supermarket, I always see box red wine on the shelves. And I always wonder, what is the real deal about wine in a box? Why do people resist box wine? Is it just the familiarity of wine in a bottle or is it the belief that boxed wine is not the same quality as bottled wine?
Let’s discover the real deal about box red wine.
Wine in a box is nothing but wine packaged in a bag, which is contained in a box. The arrangement is such that the there is a plastic bladder which contains the wine. This bladder in turn is kept in a box. The box generally is made up of corrugated fiberboard.
First and foremost question which comes to mind is that why is wine kept in a box? The answer is because of the longevity. Box wine supposedly last longer once opened. The packaging of wine is done in such a way that the bag containing it is vacuum sealed. The freshness of the wine is thus preserved. Usually the bottled wine is oxidized even though we try hard to pull the air out of the bottle before re-corking it.
More box wine can be sold at one time. The casks are usually three liters, so more of a sale is done whenever box wine is sold. Another advantage is that transportation of these kinds of wines is easy. Box wine is the clear favorite for all types of outdoor get togethers. There is no tension about breaking the bottles and also there is no need to carry bottle openers. These kinds of wines are becoming popular in the Unites States while they are already well known in Europe and Australia.
Wine in a box is cheaper, environment friendly and lighter than bottled wine. One drawback of box wine is that, the unopened box wines have a shorter shelf life than the bottled ones. So the boxed wines come with the expiration date. It must be consumed within the prescribed date of expiry. The box wine is environment friendly because of the reason that more wine is packed in one shot so the packaging mask, which is required will be less. The material used is very light and hence the transportation cost is far less as compared to the bottled wine, which are heavy.
Again the bottom line is that packaging of wine has no impact of how the wine tastes. So at the end of the day it depends on the consumer to select from different brands of wine irrespective of whether is packed in a box or in bottle.
Here are a few box red wines that are getting positive reviews. If you see them on the shelves why don’t you give one a try and let us know what you think!
Cotes du Rhone, 2007
Domaine d’Estezargues
Domaine Grand Veneur
Duca del Frassino
French Rabbit Pinot Noir Vin de Pays d’Oc, 2006
Hardys Shiraz South Eastern Australia, 2006
Le Bord’Eaux Merlot, 2005
Tank Cotes du Rhone, 2007
Yellow + Blue
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