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

NBC’s Today Show did a frothy piece on the increasing quality and acceptance of boxed wines today. Much of the segment involved a couple of the hosts trying to guess whether they were drinking box or bottle wine. They actually guessed correctly most of the time, but it was hardly scientific. Here’s the video:

Price: $12
Maker: McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate, New South Wales, Australia
Varietal: Zinfandel
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.1%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Baron Herzog Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel 2004 is the first kosher wine that we’ve tried, at least knowingly, and we liked it. It has aromas of berries and smoky leather. The wine is medium to full-bodied and nicely structured. Flavor notes include cherries, dark berries, chocolate, and toasted oak.

The Baron Herzog website says, “These old-vine Zinfandel grapes are taken entirely from gnarly, head-trained vines in the Watts Vineyard. The wine is aged in 30% new and 70% one year old American barrels for six months.”

This isn’t the biggest and boldest Zin we’ve tasted, but it has a lot to offer with its pleasantly complex flavors.

Price: $6
Maker: Lindemans Wines, Australia
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon 60%, Merlot 40%
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Lindemans Bin 80 Cabernet Merlot 2007 is a youthful but nice addition to this Australian winemaker’s lineup. We’ve been partial to their products in the past, notably Lindemans Cawarra Shiraz Cabernet 2004 and Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz 2005. This red wine is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. It has an earthy cherry and spice nose. It’s well-structured, with plum and cherry notes dominating its fruit forward flavor.

Perhaps it’s the minimal age of this wine, but we found it needed plenty of breathing time to bring out the nice balance between fruit and tannins.

As seems to be typical for Lindemans, their Bin 80 Cabernet Merlot 2007 is a true bargain - a very drinkable red at a great price.

Price: $19
Maker: Black Box Wines, Madera, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 3-liter box
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

The last time we tried Black Box Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon (the 2005), we didn’t care for it much. Rating it only 7.5, we speculated that perhaps we had a bad box. Happily, the 2006 we tried is back to the level we saw in the 2004 version. Oaky berries feature in the mild aroma of this wine. It is medium-bodied and quite juicy, with plums and currants blending with cocoa notes and well-structured tannins.

This wine has restored our faith in Black Box as a purveyor of decent wines. Black Box Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 isn’t a great wine, but it’s pleasant and drinkable. One oddity we found was some sediment in the bottom of this box. That’s something we haven’t encountered in many box wines, which are usually young and clear. It didn’t affect the flavor at all, and we probably wouldn’t have notice had we not gone to extreme measures to drain the last glass from the box. The other oddity was that the usually reliable push-button spigot had a “dribble” problem. Twist spigots often show that issue, but this is one of the first push-buttons I’ve encountered that let go an extra drop or two after the glass was poured.

Price: $12
Maker: McWilliams Hanwood Estate, New South Wales, Australia
Variety: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate Merlot 2006 is another example of the inexpensive but tasty red in McWilliams’ Hanwood Estate Line. We found it on sale for a mere $8, and it was difficult to pass up. Its nose is licorice and berry, and it has plum, clove, vanilla, and oak notes on the palate. The wine is well balanced, and the finish is relatively complex.

We last tried the 2003 version of McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate Merlot, and scored it a rare “9″ - either our standards have gradually shifted, or the 2003 was an exceptional year for this wine.

The McWilliams Wines indicates that McWilliam’s Hanwood Estate Merlot 2006 has already won a couple of silver medals - one at the 2008 Monterey Wine Competition and one at the 2008 Florida State Fair. Of the McWilliams wines we’ve tasted lately, our favorite remains the 2005 Shiraz. This Merlot might be a close second, though.

Price: $17
Maker: Souverain, Napa Valley, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.9%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Souverain Alexander Valley Merlot 2005 is a very pleasant red. It has a spicy berry aroma, with black cherry, plum, and chocolate notes on the palate. The finish has spice and oak with mild tannins. We liked the balance of this wine, and are looking forward to sampling some of their other wines.

Souverain has an interesting history:

The history of Souverain began in the Napa Valley in 1944 when J. Leland “Lee” Stewart harvested his first crop of wine grapes from his Howell Mountain property in the northern part of the valley. At the suggestion of his young daughter, Stewart named his winery “Souverain” (taken from the French word for “sovereign” or “supreme”), and his Cabernet Sauvignon bottlings from the 1960s were considered by many to be just that.

In the years that followed, Stewart used innovation and a natural gift for winemaking to establish Souverain as one of the great California wineries. The winery moved to the Alexander Valley when Stewart eventually sold it in 1973.

Price: $5
Maker: Viña San Pedro S. A., Molina, Chile
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Gato Negro Merlot 2007 was an inexpensive find at a megastore wine shop. Its label reminded me of some of the great Trader Joe bargains I’d tried last year, but the wine itself didn’t quite measure up. It had an odd aroma that had woody licorice notes overpowering weak berry notes. The flavor was also a bit odd, with plum, herb, and chocolate notes. If this wine has a redeeming feature, it’s the long finish that brings out some spice, more pleasant berry notes, and robust tannins. Gato Negro Merlot wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but was lacking in typical Merlot characteristics.

We did find that this wine was helped by extensive breathing when half a bottle was accidentally left uncorked overnight. I was expecting the worst when I next tasted it, but the wine had actually improved a bit.

Viña San Pedro is a significant player:

Founded in 1865 by the Correa Albano brothers, Viña San Pedro is today the second largest Chilean wine exporter and the country’s third biggest winery. The winery and is located in Curicó Valley, where San Pedro owns one of the largest continuous area of vineyards in South America, with 1,200 hectares. In total San Pedro has over 2,500 hectares planted all along the Central Valley. Since 1990 the company has long term contracts and has been acquiring vineyards in Chile’s other main viticulture valleys, such as Leyda, Colchagua, Maipo, San Antonio, Casablanca, Elqui and Limarí. Today these vineyards provide perfect conditions for several varieties.

VSP is present in almost 80 markets on all five continents with its brands Cabo de Hornos, 1865, Castillo de Molina, 35°South, and GatoNegro. This wide brand portfolio allows it to target a great variety of consumers throughout the world.

Gato Negro Merlot won’t make our favorites list, but we look forward to tasting some other products from this Chilean winery.

Price: $12
Maker: Toad Hollow Cellars, Paso Robles, California
Varietal: Red Blend
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 14.5%
Our Rating: 9 out of 10

I’ve admired the Toad Hollow label for a while, and was finally induced to pick up a bottle of Toad Hollow Erik’s the Red when it went on sale for under $10 at the local shop. Wow! This is one big, tasty red wine. We found clover, raspberry, vanilla, and smoke in the nose. On the palate, Erik’s the Red is well structured, with black cherry, plum, and chocolate; the finish is long and spicy. This was a big wine when we first poured it, and additional breathing made it even bolder. As we often note, big, bold reds are our downfall… and Toad Hollow Erik’s the Red definitely qualifies. It’s a blend of an astounding eighteen varietals. I’m not sure how you keep track of that many grapes in a blend, but apparently Toad Hollow does. Their description states, “The majority of the blend (55%) is Petit Syrah and Syrah, with a modicum of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Grenache, Mourvedre, Refosco, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Primitivo, Cabernet Franc, and Rubired only to be polished at the end with Counoise, Dolcetto, Barbera, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Sangiovese.”

Wine bloggers mostly love Erik’s the Red. Commenting on the diverse makeup of this wine, Benito’s Wine Blog comments on an earier edition of this non-varietal red: “A fun wine to drink (and it would be hilarious to take one to a blind tasting), but I don’t know what food I’d match it with.” Deb of Key West declares that it “would be great for any celebration.” The Suburban Mom calls it “BIG” and “a favorite.” Bogus Gold says, “Complex, and full of almost too many red-wine flavors to keep track of all at once.” Boogieman thinks, “Toad Hollow does a very impressive job.” Mundivagant says it’s “wonderfully robust.” Mercy on My Day calls the wine, “Complex tasting, but really nice.” Metabatty says, “incredible blend. Get it now and open it equally as fast.” Our favorite comment comes from The Naked Vine, who summarizes, “A good, solid, kick-back-and drink wine.” We couldn’t agree more.

Price: $4
Maker: Fecovita, Mendoza, Argentina
Varietal: Malbec (70%), Cabernet Sauvignon (30%)
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 7.5 out of 10

I was really excited by the ridiculously low price of $4 for a Malbec/Cab blend from Argentina, but Toca Diamonte 2004 ended up being a disappointment. (A $4 wine that isn’t spectacular? Shocking, eh?) This blend has some cherry and spice notes, but comes across as thin. Sometimes various levels of breathing will let a red like this become a bit more robust and complex, but it didn’t happen this time. The finish isn’t bad, but overall this wine doesn’t have much to offer.

Wine Memoirs was a bit luckier than us, apparently, and comments,”acceptably-balanced blend, with a hint of black cherry, was pretty good stuff.” There wasn’t any info about the Diamonte wine on the Fecovita website, although I did catch a glimpse of a similar bottle on their splash page. Fecovita appears to be a well-established winery, and I suspect this rebranded product isn’t the finest they have to offer.

Price: $5
Maker: Wyalla Cove, Adelaide, South Australia
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5 %
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Wyalla Cove Shiraz 2004 has moved to near the top of my “bargain buy” list. I found it at a local supermarket, Aldi, that is otherwise known for its lack of shopping bags (you have to supply your own) and its inability to take credit cards. That’s perhaps not the most promising start for a wine shopping expedition, but the selection looked a bit like Trader Joe’s - a lot of mystery labels, all priced under $10. In any case, Wyalla Cove Shiraz is a fruity delight for its price. The nose is an enticing blend of leather, licorice, and spice. Cherry and plum dominate the fruity flavor, with some peppery spice in the finish. This Shiraz may not be the most complex wine - it’s a bit sweeter than typical, though hardly a “sweet” wine - but it’s very pleasant and drinkable.

Despite considerable effort,I couldn’t find out much about this winery. They show up as a supplier to the ubiquitous Prestige Wines. Whatever the origin, Wyalla Cove Shiraz 2004 is very drinkable, if not very sophisticated. Give it some air, as it improves with breathing. For the price, it’s hard to beat.