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Wine from Boxes???

post #1 of 21
8/19/08 at 12:02am
Thread Starter 
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/op...sA&oref=slogin
Quote:
ITALY’S Agriculture Ministry announced this month that some wines that receive the government’s quality assurance label may now be sold in boxes. That’s right, Italian wine is going green, and for some connoisseurs, the sky might as well be falling. But the sky isn’t falling. Wine in a box makes sense environmentally and economically. Indeed, vintners in the United States would be wise to embrace the trend that is slowly gaining acceptance worldwide. Wine in a box has been around for more than 30 years — though with varying quality. The Australians were among the first to popularize it. And hardly a fridge in the south of France, especially this time of year, is complete without a box of rosé. Here in America, by contrast, boxed wine has had trouble escaping a down-market image. But now that wine producers are talking about reducing their carbon footprint — that is, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the transportation of wine — selling the beverage in alternative, lighter packaging instead of heavier glass seems like the right thing to do.
I'm as 'green' as anyone, but do we have to give up everything that's good in life? I, for one, will never buy wine from a cardboard tube.
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post #2 of 21
8/19/08 at 12:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Augusto86 View Post
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/op...sA&oref=slogin



I'm as 'green' as anyone, but do we have to give up everything that's good in life?

I, for one, will never buy wine from a cardboard tube.

It actually keeps longer and you eliminate corkage and the light sensitivity of the bottle. It's really only an image thing. I don't really drink expensive aged wines, I have a few bottles that I've received over the years and I usually wind up regifting them. My sweet spot are Argentinian/Spanish/Italian wines that are usually around $20 or less. My weakness are German Rieslings and Champagne, but with those you can go really high quality for $40-$50. I would drink any of them from a box, not sure if you can do that with champagne though.
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post #3 of 21
8/19/08 at 12:34am
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Originally Posted by edmorel View Post
It actually keeps longer and you eliminate corkage and the light sensitivity of the bottle. It's really only an image thing. I don't really drink expensive aged wines, I have a few bottles that I've received over the years and I usually wind up regifting them. My sweet spot are Argentinian/Spanish/Italian wines that are usually around $20 or less. My weakness are German Rieslings and Champagne, but with those you can go really high quality for $40-$50. I would drink any of them from a box, not sure if you can do that with champagne though.
Franzia FTW! Boxed wine is great for removing college girls' clothing.
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post #4 of 21
8/19/08 at 1:37am
Not a massive fan of Italian wine varietals to begin with, but having a box of drinkable white in the fridge for the odd glass or cooking is great. I would never dream of showing up to a party with a cask though.. BTW we call them "goon bags" in Australia and popularized a party game called "goon of fortune", involving the bag (from inside the box) pegged to a rotating clothes line! http://www.tinyvices.com/goon_bag.html
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post #5 of 21
8/19/08 at 1:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Connemara View Post
Franzia FTW!

Boxed wine is great for removing college girls' clothing.

And you would be an expert on this subject because...?
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post #6 of 21
8/19/08 at 2:03am
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Originally Posted by redgrail View Post
And you would be an expert on this subject because...?
Because college is full of so much pussy that even a strike-out king like myself gets lucky every so often.
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post #7 of 21
8/19/08 at 2:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by m_wave View Post
Not a massive fan of Italian wine varietals to begin with, but having a box of drinkable white in the fridge for the odd glass or cooking is great.
with you there. I lived with my ex gf for like 3 yrs, love a glass of wine with dinner, but unfortunately she drank only white, I drank only red. Option A - dust a bottle each every night and end up shitfaced, or Option B - boxed wine that keeps better. The 'premium' boxed wines in Australia are pretty drinkable - on par with a cheapish bottle. Again - remember the market, a cheapish bottle in Australia is still more-than-decent. So, we always kept a red box and a white box for nightly quaffing, was perfectly adequate.
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post #8 of 21
8/19/08 at 2:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Connemara View Post
Because college is full of so much pussy that even a strike-out king like myself gets lucky every so often.

It's not pussy if there's only one hole.
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post #9 of 21
8/19/08 at 2:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by redgrail View Post
It's not pussy if there's only one hole.
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post #10 of 21
8/19/08 at 3:46am
Boxed wine is the worst kind of low-rent enterprise. One just has the image of all these individuals gathering at the formica dining table with their "glassware" and Cheez-Whiz, discussing the latest People magazine while enjoying their boxed wine. It's that frightening.
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post #11 of 21
8/19/08 at 7:54am
Not so long ago, Dominique Lafon was selling Macon in 3L tubes for $37. Never found one locally, but I'd bet it would be an excellent source for cooking, cocktails, or the odd Wednesday night when two glasses make much more sense than a whole bottle. Lafon doesn't sell crap.
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post #12 of 21
8/19/08 at 11:52am
I would be the first to grab a box of a nice daily drinker in the way of a Schloss or Loosen Riesling sub-$20 price point, or maybe a drinkable pinot around that price (which I've found only one or two, Siduri Sonoma Coast being one). Anything I plan to cellar though, no thanks.

As a side note, some premium Cali pinot makers have gone to screw caps. Loring pops to mind, as their mailer just arrived yesterday. Others are not putting a foil capsule on, Stefania Wines is an example of this.
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post #13 of 21
8/19/08 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by edmorel View Post
It actually keeps longer and you eliminate corkage and the light sensitivity of the bottle. It's really only an image thing. I don't really drink expensive aged wines, I have a few bottles that I've received over the years and I usually wind up regifting them. My sweet spot are Argentinian/Spanish/Italian wines that are usually around $20 or less. My weakness are German Rieslings and Champagne, but with those you can go really high quality for $40-$50. I would drink any of them from a box, not sure if you can do that with champagne though.
++

Everyone was up in arms over the screw on tops as well, but now they're becoming popular with many wineries.
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post #14 of 21
8/19/08 at 12:01pm
After suffering a rash of corked bottles recently--including a magnum that was a gift from a "celebrity" restaurateur/wine store owner--I'm far more open to the idea. The bottle and cork is obsolete technology that leads to all kinds of waste. It would be a shame to see it disappear, but I think the magnum poured down the drain might be worse.
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post #15 of 21
8/19/08 at 3:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by robin View Post
++

Everyone was up in arms over the screw on tops as well, but now they're becoming popular with many wineries.

+1. Enough of the self-important snobbery. Most box wine is nothing to write home about, but it has also come a long way from the Almenden/Franzia that was first in boxes. As M@T said-- it's a practical solution if you like to have say one or two glasses of wine a night. Obviously you can do the rubber suction re-cork business as well though.

There's no magic to wine being in a glass bottle. There is plenty of undrinkable shit that is in a glass bottle with a cork.
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