Box Wines
A wine blog with news and reviews of affordable wines

Has Twitter jumped the shark before it has earned a penny of revenue? It seems the social network has diversified into the wine biz, albeit for charitable purposes. The new venture, Fledgling Wine, is chronicled by Maya Baratz, SFoodie blogger, in Twitter is Launching Its Own ‘Fledgling’ Wine Label.

Dogpatch-based Crushpad — a place that allows amateur vinophiles to make and sell their own wine, brand and label included — has more than a little in common with Silicon Valley. The business philosophy behind both calls for investing in the product and customer experience, with revenue naturally following.

The new venture is introducing a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay. They are also doing some crowdsourcing:

Not only can you buy the wine, you can pitch in a string of related events, ranging from what Dorrance said will be Crushpad’s biggest “virtual” barrel tasting to a possible label design contest.

Odd, but interesting. And, it’s all for a good cause. Buy some here.

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Price: $10
Maker: Vina Palo Alto Ltda., Santiago, Chile
Varietal: Red Blend - Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Syrah
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Palo Alto Reserve 2008 is a Chilean red blend. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere, Syrah grapes are all grown in the Maule River valley region. The flavor of this wine featured unusually intense berry flavors, along with oak and black pepper. The finish was long and peppery. The rather strong tannins gave the wine a sharp edge at the outset, but letting it breathe for a while rounded things out. Surpisingly, a small quantity improperly stored in the original bottle for a couple of days didn’t suffer the expected deterioration, and if anything was slightly fruitier.

This wine has received some interesting recognition. According to the Palo Alto Wines website, the 2008 Vintage took gold at the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2009. Palo Alto Reserve 2007 was scored at 89 points by Wine Spectator and named a “Best Value Red Wine.” It also earned a gold medal and “best value” designation while being scored at 91 points in the Wines of Chile Awards 2009.

Various wine bloggers have tasted Palo Alto Reserve, and have been favorable in their comments. Catchpeter scored it a 90 even though he found the wine confusing on his palate. In an unusual post that managed to discuss the credit crunch and Higgs Boson in addition to wine, Confessions of a Wino termed the wine, “Rich, full bodied and not for the feeble.” Drink What You Like found it to be the standout red at a local tasting. Vino Underground scored it an 89 despite finding it a bit tannic. Tim Dwight’s “Through the Grapevine” blog called it a “crowd pleasing bargain.” All in all, the blogosphere is in love with this wine - I don’t recall ever seeing such uniformly positive commentary on a wine in the $10 price range.

In case you wondered about the Palo Alto name, their site explains:

“Palo Alto” is the nickname for the thorny flowering trees that are dotted all over the rolling hillsides of the Maule Valley, the place where our wines are produced. These trees thrive in the dry, rocky, infertile soils. It’s no coincidence that where you see a “palo alto” you will often find vines. Vines planted in such soils tend to produce really high quality grapes, hence the name of our wines.

Overall, Palo Alto Reserve 2008 is a great value - I’m tempted to put a few bottles away to see what it’s like in a couple of years.

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Price: $12
Maker: Eos Estate Winery (Sapphire Brands), Paso Robles, California
Varietal: Red Blend - 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Petite Sirah, 18% Sangiovese
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Lost Angel Mischief Red Wine 2006 was a real surprise. A red blend with a funky name costing a little over ten bucks didn’t create much in the way of anticipation. The first surprise was a slightly floral note in the nose, in addition to the expected berry and spice notes. The second surprise was the overall enjoyability of this wine. On the palate, this is a juicy and robust red. Raspberry and cherry predominate, but there is nice structure and complexity. The finish is dry and long-lasting, with a spicy, earthy finish.

Lost Angel Mischief is a product of Eos Estate Wines, a winery that produces significantly more costly wines. The Lost Angel series is the lowest cost line, but it clearly benefits from its pricier siblings. Eos Estate’s winemaker is Nathan Carlson, who notes, “Eos has taken a bold step to become the first large winery in Paso Robles to commit to using only solar power. This fits nicely with my personal commitment to sustainability issues in agriculture, which is an important reason why I am involved in the wine industry.”

In short, Lost Angel Mischief is a tasty red blend that offers more flavor and sophistication than one might expect at first glance. It’s a great choice if you don’t mind a fun, non-snobby label and prefer a fruitier but still interesting New World red.

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Price: $7
Maker: Jose Maria da Fonseca Vinhos, Azeita-Setubal, Portugal
Varietal: Vinho Verde - White
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, screw cap
Alcohol: 10.0%
Our Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Despite its name, which translates as “green wine,” Twin Vines JM Fonseca Vinho Verde 2008 is a very pale straw color. The “green” refers to its youthful nature rather than its color, and the wine does indeed come across as young. In the glass, it appears to be slightly sparkling, although one barely notices the minimal bubbly character when drinking. It has a green apple flavor, and a slight sweetness is offset by pleasing acidity. There’s not a lot too this wine, but on a hot day by the pool its light character and low alcohol content might make it a perfect choice. The label suggests serving the wine well chilled, and I agree entirely with that advice.

This Vinho Verde is a product of José Maria da Fonseca, a Portuguese winery owned by the same family for nearly 200 years. The firm is best known in the U.S. for its iconic, if not always well-loved, Lancers brand Rosé. Wines desginated as Vinho Verde all come from the north of Portugal and are made from diverse grapes found in the region.

My timing for tasting this wine was nearly perfect - the culmination of a series of 100-degree days in Texas. That’s the ideal setting for a light, gulpable white with a hint of bubbliness and an acidic bite.

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Very inexpensive wines could be taxed out of existence in the UK, if proposed changes to alcohol taxation are implemented. Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson wants to cut down on binge drinking in the UK, which he feels has reached epidemic proportions.

His report said the new pricing strategy would set a minimum price of 4.50 pounds ($6.30) for a bottle of wine; a minimum of 14 pounds ($19.70) for a bottle of whiskey, and a base price of 6 pounds ($8.50) for a six-pack of beer. From Cheap booze blamed for British binge drinking

While no doubt there is some price elasticity for alcohol consumption, to me it seems unlikely that a nation’s drinking habits would be changed dramatically even by these Draconian changes. Instead, I’d expect other spending areas to be curtailed and the politicians who supported this concept to be voted from office at the electorate’s earliest opportunity.

In the US, $3 wines are common, if not extremely good, and sometimes prices can be in the $2 - $2.50 range for brands like Charles Shaw and Oak Leaf. As in the US, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are rarely the alcohol of choice for binge drinkers, but wine lovers will pay the price.

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I write from Indiana, which has laws which severely restrict direct shipping of wine. How do these laws get passed? It’s simple - distributors of alcoholic beverages have a vested interest in being the only way for wineries to get to consumers, and they contribute heavily to the politicians that pass such laws. Now, our neighbors in Illinois are picking up the gauntlet and organizing to pressure politicians to act in the interest of the consumer. They have formed the Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition (IWCC). From their press release:

Illinois wine consumers were stripped of their right to purchase wine from out-of-state wine retailers in 2008. The passage of HB 429 removed this right after Illinoisans had enjoyed full access to the American wine market for 15 years. The fact that consumers were never taken into account during deliberations over HB 429 helped give impetus to the creation of the IWCC…

“The recent restrictions on consumer access to wine in Illinois that resulted from HB 429 were clearly nothing more than payoff to the well-heeled Illinois alcohol distributors, the only group that benefits from restricting access to wine,” said XXXX. “In the past five years Illinois alcohol distributors have given more than $3.5 million dollars in political contributions in the past five years to help grease the wheel’s of anti-consumer wine legislation.”

I’m excited to see consumers organizing in this way, and I hope they can make some headway against the special interests that craft these bad laws. All too often, one hears the logic that, “minors will buy wine illegally if wineries can direct ship to consumers.” Do we really think teens will order up a $30 Pinot Noir so they can get high?

Visit the IWCC website and offer your support!

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Need to take a bottle of wine to a party and want to stand out from the rest of the bottles the host gets? Well, you could show up with a nicely aged bottle of Opus One, which should only set you back a few hundred bucks… or, you could grab a bottle something way more pedestrian and slap a $3.95 Cerebral Itch wine label on the bottle.

These labels will cover most original labels entirely, and their humorous designs will demonstrate that you are a guest with a wit. An added bonus is that the labels have a space to write who the bottle is from. As an occasional party-giver, I often find a bottle brought by a guest that was delivered with no card or got separated from its wine-bag. The Cerebral Itch wine labels will ensure that you get full credit for your hostess gift. Of course, if you used the label to cover up a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, letting the hosts know who brought it may not be at the top of your priority list.

Cerebral Itch offers dozens of designs to celebrate occasions ranging from birthdays to divorces. The labels can be removed without damaging the original label.

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Price: $19
Maker: Killer Juice Vineyards, Ripon, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 3-liter box, twist spigot
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Killer Juice Central Coast Merlot 2006 is another in one of my favorite series of box wines, the Killer Juice/Angel Juice lineup. This medium-bodied Merlot has a juicy flavor, mostly blackberries, with some vanilla and plum. Its finish is long, with black pepper and robust tannins.

Killer Juice now has a website, though at time of posting it consists of only a splash page.

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Price: $50
Maker: Franciscan Oakville Estate, Rutherford, California
Varietal: Red Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.1 %
Our Rating: 8.9 out of 10

We opened our bottle of Franciscan Oakville Estate Magnificat 2003 as a Christmas dinner treat to accompany a standing rib roast. This is a more costly wine than we usually comment on here, and we looked forward to experiencing a big red - this is a Meritage blend, ostensibly the best of the best, and it weighs in at a hefty 14.1% alcohol level, higher than a typical cab. While I wasn’t able to track down the blending proportions for the 2003 Magnificat, the 2005 vintage was almost three-quarters Cabernet Sauvignon with almost all of the rest Merlot; the Malbec and Petit Verdot were only a percent or two each.

This Meritage blend has a deep ruby color, and offers a bright and explosive berry aroma. On the palate, plum and black cherry notes combine with chocolate. There wasn’t a lot of pepper or spice in the finish, but the finish was long with plenty of chewy tannins. Although I uncorked the wine well in advance of the first pour, it wasn’t until the bottle was partially consumed and the wine had still more air that it really came into its own. I’d suggest ample breathing opportunity, or even decanting.

Around the Web, Grape Thoughts found the 2001 Franciscan Magnificat to be “magnificent.”

Overall, this wine didn’t disappoint - it offered good structure and complexity, and certainly held its own with flavorful prime rib. Would I run out and buy more at $50? Hard to say. Despite the fact that expensive wine tastes better, for my palate, at least, the Franciscan Magnificat 2003 wasn’t that much better than some wines costing half as much or less. (On the other hand, perhaps I need to spend more time drinking wines in this price range and higher to expand my appreciation for their presumed subtleties.) In any case, if the price isn’t off-putting, you’ll find this wine to be a solid choice.

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I’m catching up with Lost - Season 4 and DVD, and was surprised to find a wine box make a guest appearance. The Sawyer character (James Ford) pours a glass from what looks like a 5-liter box of Dharma Initiative Red Wine.

It’s a bit anachronistic - while all of the Dharma project imagery dates from some 1960-ish time period, the wine shown is a modern box with an even more contemporary push-button spigot. Still, it’s kind of fun to see box wines portrayed in a semi-positive way (the only wine available!) on a popular TV show. No details, though, on whether the generic-looking red wine is a merlot, a cabernet sauvignon, a so-called “hearty burgundy,” or perhaps a Dharma meritage…

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