Think outside the box, at least when it comes to wine

Published 6:57 pm Monday, November 24, 2008

By DEE HITCH

The holidays left you with a flattened wallet. And April 15 is just around the corner. Never fear. Not only do you not have to scrimp on wine, you don’t even have to compromise quality.

Enter boxed wine.

“Oh no,” you exclaim. “First, screwtops, now box wine? What is the world coming to?”

There’s been a quiet revolution in boxed wine. Formerly, only the poorest wine was in boxes. But now, boxed wine is going upscale. Producers are using smaller cartons — three liter, rather than five — and they are even vintaged. A group of wineries is boxing the same wine that is in their bottles but at a lower price. And they like to call it a “cask” rather than a box.

Actually, the United States is playing follow-the-leader. According to Britain’s “Decanter” magazine, Norwegians buy more than 40 percent of their wine in boxes; Sweden, 22 percent and Australia, 52 percent.

“While traveling in Europe I discovered boxed wine and grew to love the many conveniences it offered,” said Ryan Sproule, wine maker for Black Box wines. “When I returned to the U.S., I was surprised that no one was making fine wine in a box! I started Black Box wines on the belief that aficionados of fine wine are more concerned with the quality of the wine than the cosmetics of the bottle.”

Obviously, the unbreakable box makes box wine a natural for boating, skiing, picnics and tail-gating. Additionally, since the wine is in a soft plastic air-tight bag which collapses as the wine is dispensed, no air reaches the wine and it can stay fresh for at least a month, maybe longer. Here in the Northwest, you can keep your chardonnay box out on the deck or in the carport, which keeps it chilled. While the three-liter box, which is the equivalent of four bottles (24 glasses), is perfect for a crowd, the ability to stay fresh for a month makes it handy even for a single person. And when you are cooking and need a half cup of wine, you don’t need to open a whole bottle.

The Hardy Wine Company decided to make the move to three-liter boxes because of a worldwide decline in sales of nonvarietal wines: ubiquitous chablis, burgundy, white; the success of boxed wine throughout the United Kingdom and the generally sad selection in existing bag-in-box wines.

“What we saw in Australia was that there was a rapid rise in the last eight years of varietal wine sales,” said David Hayman, head of Hardy Wine Company in the United States. “And the box offers the consumer a saving. Glass is such a large financial commitment. So are corks, capsules and labels.”

Bottles, corks, capsules, labels and other packaging items cost between $1 and $3 dollars per bottle, while the cost of a box is around 70 cents.

So take a second look at box wine. There’s quality there that wasn’t there before.

A few Box suggestions:

Tefft cabernet/merlot blend (Washington state): Four liters for $20. A runaway favorite. Delicious blend. Layers of flavor with a lingering finish.

Black Box (California): Three liters for $18. Chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot. While the chardonnay is a blend of grapes bought in the bulk market, it is entirely Napa Valley. Awards and medals for all three.

The following boxes have the same wine that is in the bottle:

X Winery (California): Three liters for $40. Chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc, merlot.

Hardy’s Stamps (Australia): Three liters for $16. Chardonnay, cabernet, merlot, shiraz. I personally recommend the chardonnay and shiraz.

Carmenet (California): Three liters for $15. Part of Beringer. Chardonnay, cabernet, merlot

Washington Hills (Washington): Three liters for $18. Chardonnay and merlot.

Delicato (California): Three liters for $16. Shiraz, merlot, chardonnay. Awards and medals for all three, especially the shiraz.

Corbett Canyon (California): Three liters for $10. Merlot, white zinfandel, pinot grigio and chardonnay.

Banrock Station (Australia): Three liters for $18. Chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz.

With such high quality wine available in boxes, I recommend ignoring Franzia, Almaden, Peter Vella and Inglenook.

Dee Hitch can be reached at rockypointlane@aol.com