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

A key hurdle that box wine must overcome is that it is cheap plonk - many consumers will assume this until proven otherwise. Boxed wine makers who think, “Wait until they taste it - THAT will convince them!” are, unfortunately, hoping for too much. We’ve written about experiments which have shown that people subconsciously prefer wine that is more expensive, or that comes from a better region (see Neuromarketing for Why Expensive Wine Tastes Better and Wine: The Spillover Effect. In each case, wine that was actually identical produced different reactions in the wine drinker’s brain and/or unconscious behavior. It’s not a big stretch to assume that boxed wine, long a beverage of choice for hard-up college students and thrifty party-givers, would carry the same mental stigma as cheap bottled wine or wine from a region of uncertain quality.

The New York Times has picked up on this theme with My Cortex Made Me Buy It by M. P. Dunleavey. In that article, the author wrestles with the question of how much the perception of the wine was influenced by the fact that it was poured from a box:

When [the subjects] sampled the wines with lower prices, however, the subjects not only liked them less, their brains registered less pleasure from the experience. It seems that what these subjects really liked was the price tag, not the product.

APPARENTLY my brain had a similar reaction at the thought of drinking Blue Nun from a box, which costs about $20 for a container that packs the equivalent of four 750-milliliter bottles of wine. But why? Does the brain fire up at the sight of a higher price tag in any context?

A good question indeed, and one that box wine producers will have to address as they strive for greater acceptance of their products.

A Neuromarketing post, Wine Tasting Trickery, explains why wine tasters (even the Box Wines blog) don’t just follow their taste buds.

This illustrates the challenges that box wines have to overcome - even if they taste exactly the same as a wine in a bottle with a natural cork, they are likely to be downgraded if the tasting isn’t blind.

Price: $9
Maker: Heath Wines, Bowden, South Australia
Variety: Shiraz
Packaging: 1-liter Tetra Pak
Alcohol: 14%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Lizard Flat Shiraz 2004 comes in one of those 1-liter Tetra Pak that seems way too small to hold a third more wine than a 750 ml bottle. It has the typical screw cap closure, making it easy to open and reseal. This Shiraz has some licorice and vanilla in the nose, and is very juicy on the palate. Cherries and blackberries are the main notes, with some oak and rather light pepper. The wine isn’t too complex, but the finish lasts suprisingly well. At 14%, this Shiraz is at the high end of alcohol content for a Shiraz. Overall, Lizard Flat Shiraz is an accessible, fun wine that is well suited to its informal and convenient packaging. It’s a nice choice for picnics, outdoor entertaining, and home consumption.

Oddly, the Heath Wines website suggests, “Drink now or be rewarded by cellaring for up to 5 years.” We’ve got to admit that the idea of cellaring Tetra Paks is a bit foreign, but maybe we’re just old-fashioned. This is the first Heath wine that we’ve knowingly tasted, and we’re glad we tried it. We note they also offer several wines from “100 year old vines” which sound quite interesting, but haven’t appeared in the local market.

Price: $10
Maker: Peter Vella Wines, Modesto, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 5 liter box, push-button spigot
Alcohol: 11%
Our Rating: 6 out of 10

Peter Vella Cabernet Sauvignon is an ultra-cheap box wine - we found a 5-liter box on sale for less than ten bucks. We have studiously avoided these offerings from Vella and Franzia because we’ve invariable been disappointed. But, it was on sale, and this box proudly exhibited a gold medal from Chef’s Best - the coveted (?) “Best Taste” award for 2007. Before we knew it, a box had somehow found its way into the shopping cart. As it turns out, we could have saved the trouble of lugging this box home. This wine is light-bodied for a Cab - it weighs in at a mere 11% alcohol, and the color is a rather light ruby shade. The flavor, unfortunately, was mostly oaked prunes. Pouring a glass and letting it breathe for a while slightly improved the flavor, but we’d consider this acceptable only for starving college students looking to buy massive quantities of wine for not much money.

So what’s up with the Chef’s Best medal? We checked out the website, and it is stated that the tests are conducted in a blind tasting process. What isn’t clear is exactly how products are chosen to be tasted, or what percent end up earning the “Chef’s Best” designation. The site says that “we judge all qualifying leading national brands.” Was this Peter Vella Cabernet Sauvignon judged against just, say, Franzia and Almaden (who offer similar package sizes), or did it include other cabs in smaller boxes or bottles? It’s hard to imagine this wine beating out, say, a Killer Juice or Black Box Cab, but of course those cost more and might have been excluded. And a cheap $5 bottle is far more costly than the Vella wine. Even Two Buck Chuck Cabernet Sauvignon looks expensive by comparison. If the Chef’s Best tried to compare only equivalently priced wines, the would have been hard-pressed to find more than one or two wines in the same range as the Vella.

Wine Cube Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 2006Price: $10
Maker: Wine Cube
Variety: Shiraz
Packaging: 1.5 liter box
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

is the first wine in Target’s WineCube series we have tried in a while. We did try Wine Cube Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz 2004, and we commented, “The aroma is mild, with berry and oak notes. The flavor is straightforward and juicy, with just a bit of oak and spice to add interest. This wine doesn’t have a lot of structure, but it’s the kind of red that pleases crowds. It’s easy to drink, and would be a fine cookout wine.” The 2006 fits that description fairly well. We found a bit of leather in the nose, and the tannins seemed slightly more prominent. Otherwise, the 2006 was quite similar.

The 1.5 liter cube is a great packaging concept. It seems impossible that this compact box could hold two full bottles, but it does. And, at only 1.5 liters, glass-a-day drinkers won’t get bored by having to consume 3 liters of the same stuff one glass at a time.

Health Magazine ran an article in their October issue, “The best vino to go.” The subtitle was, “New boxed wines are honestly worth drinking.” The article doesn’t say much other than giving an explanation of how the bag-in-box concept works and extolling the longevity of box wines. They mention Black Box Wines and FreeRange Wines as a couple of good alternatives.

There’s nothing too spectacular about this article, but it’s nice to see mainstream media making the point that today’s boxed wines aren’t the plonk of a decade or two ago. In particular, Health should reach a large group of consumers who want to take the “glass a day” approach to red wine for heart health.

Price: $14
Maker: Imported by International Cellars, Madera, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 3 liter box, push-button spigot
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Box Star Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is a relatively new mass-market offering, and it’s not bad. This Cab has a licorice and berry nose, and a flavor with cherries, chocolate, and a bit of clove. The finish has some oak and soft tannins. Don’t expect a lot of complexity, but it’s certainly drinkable.

This boxed wine fared reasonably well in a blind tasting organized by the Austin Chronicle. We couldn’t learn much about the Box Star brand, other than the fact that its wines are from Australia. There’s no website listed, which in our opinion is a strategic error. People want to know more about the wines they buy, and in particular about a box wine they’ll be living with for the better part of a month (if they are moderate drinkers and don’t have any parties planned).

Price: $15
Maker: Hardy’s
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 3 liter box, push-button spigot
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Hardy’s Shiraz 2006 is an adequate if unspectacular boxed wine. It has a nice aroma of spice and licorice. The flavor is rounded and fruity, but not all that complex. The fruit has an unusual prune character along with some cherries; there’s oak and faint pepper in the finish. This wine isn’t offensive, but it kind of fails to excite.

This is part of Hardy’s Stamp of Australia series:

Hardys Stamp of Australia offers one of Australia’s most popular, easy to drink range of wines. Stamp of Australia continues the tradition of fine winemaking that Hardys have become recognised for throughout the world, by offering great wine at an affordable price. The Stamp range is identified by the original Australian postage stamp, dating back to 1937, which is featured on all Stamp of Australia wines.

Would we serve this Shiraz with a fine dinner? Probably not. Would we use it for party fare, or glass-of-red-wine-a-day drinking? Sure.

Price: $9
Maker: Corbett Canyon Vineyards
Varietal: Chardonnay
Packaging: 3 liter box, twist spigot
Alcohol: 12.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Corbett Canyon Chardonnay 2005 was a favorite in Wine Blogging Wednesday #31. Despite its modest price - ounce for ounce, it’s cheaper than Two Buck Chuck from Charles Shaw except in California (where Two Buck Chuck really costs $2 a bottle) - Citizen Wine’s blind tasting event picked the Corbett Canyon Chardonnay as one of the best whites. We’re not big Chardonnay drinkers, but we finally decided to sample this wine. The nose wasn’t overwhelming, but had cut grass and tart apple notes. On the palate, this wine was crisp and refreshing, with Granny Smith apple and mild pear notes leading into a slightly acidic finish.

Corbett Canyon may not be the finest or most complex Chardonnay available, but for under $10 for a 3-liter cask it’s a steal. It’s fine for party use or for glass-a-day drinkers who can’t put much of a dent in a 750 ml bottle and hate to see wine spoil. I suppose the fact that a cheap Chardonnay can be fairly decent shouldn’t be much of a surprise after Charles Shaw Chardonnay took top honors at the California State Fair wine competition.

Price: $16
Maker: Vinalia SA, Mendoza, Argentina
Varietal: Malbec
Packaging: 3 liter box, pushbutton spigot
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Vaca Morada Malbec is the first new boxed red wine we’ve found in a while, and we’re glad we did. This non-vintage wine (termed a 2006 by the importer) from Argentina has a leathery nose backed up with raspberries and spice. The flavor is juicy and well balanced, with dark berry notes combining with chocolate and light pepper. Light acidity perks up the finish and balances the fruit. Vaca Morada Malbec is a pleasant and accessible wine that will please a variety of red wine drinkers.

“Vaca Morada” is Spanish for “purple cow” - an apt name for this reddish purple wine. Oddly for a “critter” name, there’s no cow image on the American import box - that would seem to limit its marketing impact when stacked against competition like Funky Llama, Yellow Tail, and the rest of the critter crew. The Vinalia website seems to be mostly under construction. One thing we find encouraging about this wine is that it’s the first boxed wine not from the U.S. or Australia that we’ve seen in our local market (which is admittedly limited). It’s great to see both a less common varietal like Malbec as well as a less common wine exporter like Argentina showing up on the neighborhood shelves, and even better to have it be a fine wine for parties or glass-a-day dinner companion.