Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Box (of Wine)?

So hopefully at this point, you have embraced the beauty of screwcap wine. It is no longer a sign of cheap wine, but rather incredibly convenient and offers assurance against insidious cork taint.

The new wave in wine packaging is even more difficult for some consumers to get their head around, but I promise that the benefits outweigh any silly snobbery. Folks, it’s time to stop thinking outside the box and simply drink what’s inside of it.

First made popular in Australia and synonomous with Franzia in the United States, box wine is now moving from plonk to posh. (For any of you uber-traditionalists shaking your heads, might I remind you that at one time wine was stored in goat skins and I don’t think any of us would eagerly return to those glory days!)

This is a topic that has intrigued me for many years, to the extent that I wrote my Master’s thesis on premium box wine. Needless to say, it has been incredibly exciting to finally see the vision become a reality.

This year we have seen the explosion of high quality wine in 1-liter Tetrapaks, like you see for soymilk or stock, as well as 3-liter bag in boxes from around the glob

Why is this a good thing? Please allow me to explain. A standard 12-bottle, 9-liter case of wine weighs about 45 pounds, half of which is packaging. A case of Tetrapaks, however, is only 26 pounds and contains 3 extra liters of wine. Think about all the fuel wasted on transporting those heavy bottles around the globe. In addition to the environmental friendliness, box wines are also friendly to your pocketbook and your lifestyle. We have seen wines that would retail for $12 a bottle sell for $30 a box (the equivalent of 4 bottles), so basically an $18 discount. For boating, backpacking, and other outdoor activities, box wines offer a safer and stable alternative to fragile glass.

Saving the best for last, the bag in box wines stay fresh for up to a month and a half after opening! The bag collapses as the wine is poured and the spout prohibits the ingress of oxygen. This means if you just feel like having one glass of wine with dinner, you don’t have to worry about wasting the rest of the bottle.

Need a cup of wine for a recipe? Box wine should be a pantry staple. Throw some in your soup or sautée and enjoy a glass while you cook. I assure you that we are talking about great quality, artisan wines, not mass produced industrial alcohol. Many of our customers were skeptical when we first started offering an array box wines, but the rave reviews and repeat sales speak for themselves. So, what are you waiting for?