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

Price: $10
Maker: Lindemans Wines, Australia
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, screw cap
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.2 out of 10

I’ve enjoyed other Lindemans wines, and I looked forward to the Lindemans Reserve Coonawara Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 with considerable anticipation, even though I had found the bottle on the clearance shelf for a fraction of its normal price. After a few sips, though, I found out why it might have ended up in the sale bin. The aroma was fruity, with slightly musty berry notes. The flavor, though, was all oak and sharp-elbowed tannins. Things improved slightly after letting the wine sit overnight - some spice emerged in the nose, and the flavor finally showed some blackberry fruit.

I find it hard to recommend this wine, even though it’s inexpensive for any wine flagged as a “reserve.” For my taste, at least, one of Lindemans’ lesser wines, like their Bin 45 Cabernet Sauvignon, might actually be a better choice.

Price: $10
Maker: Folie à Deux Winery, St. Helena, Napa County, California
Varietal: Blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: Bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Folie à Deux Ménage à Trois Red 2006 is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon that most heavily favors the Zin side of its heritage. It has a nice aroma of spicy berries. It’s flavor is jammy, with strawberries, raspberries, and chocolate notes, and the finish is slightly peppery. This red wine leans toward the sweet side a bit.

We found a few other wine bloggers who have tried Menage a Trois Red. Budget Vino said, “This wine is overly sweet- so much so that I questioned whether I would be able to finish the glass I poured and salvage my $10 investment.” The Wine Cask Blog liked it a bit more, saying, “It delivers easy drinkability and simple, fruity tastes and smells. Structurally it is unsophisticated but not poor. A good every-day value wine.” Yoav thought it “went down nicely.” And, G&D’s mother-in-law recommended she try Menage a Trois, much to G&D’s delight.

The last vintage of this wine we tried was Folie à Deux Ménage à Trois Red 2003.

Price: $10
Maker: Tin Roof Cellars, Santa Rosa, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5 %
Our Rating: 8.7 out of 10

Tin Roof Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 starts with an attractive contemporary label design, which notes that “making wines at Tin Roof is a blast - especially when it’s raining!” The closure is a silver and black artificial cork. It has a pleasant aroma of leather, licorice, and spice. The flavor is equally pleasant, with cherry and blackberry fruit, and a long oaky finish. We found this Cab to be very accessible and easy to enjoy alone or with food.

The Tin Roof website isn’t overly elaborate, but it’s nicely designed and has good descriptions of each wine. There’s even a store locator that (for once) worked and produced some accurate local listings.

This Cabernet has been tasted by several bloggers. From Reason to Freedom gave it a B-, suggesting that it might be “better suited for dinner than perhaps drinking on its own.” In contrast, Daily Wine Tasting scored it 91 points, calling it a “delicous, gentle, easy sipper.” Three Sweet Ounces called it “very tasty and quite drinkable.”

Wine Enthusiast scored Tin Roof Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 at 86 points, describing it as “A nice glass of Cab… It’s bone dry, with a scour of sandpapery tannins, and hints of cherries, blackberries, plums, cola and cedar. Shows real class…” We might not have described it as “bone dry,” but we heartily endorse the “nice glass of Cab” part.

Price: $19
Maker: Killer Juice Vineyards, Ripon, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 3-liter box, twist spigot
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

It’s been two years since we tried Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2006 vintage of this boxed Cab is a more than worthy successor. The nose was mild, with ripe berry and woody notes. This Cab had a big, rounded cherry flavor with oak and black pepper in the finish. Crisp tannins contributed to a nice balance overall.

At the 2008 Twin Cities Food and Wine Experience, Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 took the “Best Value Cabernet Sauvignon” award. That may be a bigger accomplishment that it might seem to be at first glance - the other varietal winners of value awards were all bottled wines. I’m sure the Killer Juice makers were very pleased by this result.

This wine hasn’t received a lot of blog attention, but How I Eat gave it high marks for everyday drinkability. The Wineauxs declared the 2005 vintage “simple and inoffensive - great for burgers and pizza.” We go along with these reviews - if you are looking for a very drinkable boxed red wine that you can put on your counter and enjoy every day, Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is a fine choice.

(Our previous tasting: Killer Juice Cabernet Sauvignon 2003.)

Price: $3
Maker: Winking Owl Vineyards, Modesto, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 12.0 %
Our Rating: 6 out of 10

Winking Owl Cabernet Sauvignon is a non-vintage offering aimed at the market niche popularized by Two Buck Chuck from Charles Shaw Wines. Unfortunately, it matches the price but misses the mark on quality. The bottle of Winking Owl Cab I tried was thin in color and flavor; in general, it was one big earthy off-note, and most of it went down the drain.

I’m hoping that I just got a bad bottle - others have reported more success with this inexpensive brand. The Drank Tank says, “And if there is one thing we are missing in the USA that they do have in Europe, it’s CHEAP wine that doesn’t make you ralph. Thank you Aldi for this piece of Europe. WINKING OWL is absolutely the best value wine I’ve ever had.” Perhaps Winking Owl can use “Doesn’t Make You Ralph” as their new tag line. Crumbs to mark the path comments, “super great value red… excellent & smooth…maybe new favorite.” I saw some favorable forum postings, too. I like inexpensive reds as much as the next blogger, and I find it hard to reconcile the plonk I tasted with what everyone else seems to be saying about this Cab. I guess for $3, I can afford to try another bottle.

I did find one review that was closer to my own assessment, posted by Kathleen Purvis of McClatchy Newspapers:

Awful aroma, nasty flavor. “I’d say it’s corked, but it had a plastic cork.”

Winking Owl Vineyards seems to be an exclusive brand of the Aldi supermarket chain, which seems to be trying to stage a small-scale emulation of Trader Joe’s with their inexpensive house brand wines. If you are looking for an ultra-low priced wine, we’d suggest Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon as a somewhat better alternative.

Price: $8
Maker: R.H. Phillips Vineyards, Woodbridge, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 is our kind of wine. Its ripe berry nose is tinged with smoky oak. On the palate, it’s ripe and fruity, with strong cherry and plum notes. The finish is long and spicy with nicely balanced tannins. This is a very pleasant and drinkable wine.

According to the Night Harvest Website, they really do harvest the grapes at night: “Today, night harvesting remains a magical time for our winemaking team and the linchpin of our winemaking process, as we continue to harvest all our estate fruit under the stars during the cool hours between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m.”

A few bloggers have tried this wine and liked it. The Hedonist notes, “this wine is a keeper… the best-value red wine that Lord Bacchus has tasted in some time.” The Liquid Grape raves, “For under $10, you will have a hard time finding another Cab Sauv as well balanced as this one.” Psydr Short and to the Point Wine Reviews gave the Night Harvest Cab four out of five stars and commented, “A darn good wine for the money. Very smooth with a hint of berry.”

If your tastes lean toward fruity, well-balanced reds, give Night Harvest Cabernet Sauvignon a try.

Price: $3
Maker: Oak Leaf Vineyards, Ripon, California
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 12.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

We’ve been hoping for a Two Buck Chuck beater to emerge, and it looks like Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon may be it. This non-vintage offering is sold by Wal-Mart, and seems to be aimed squarely at the Charles Shaw wines sold through the much smaller Trader Joe’s chain. The nose is a rather unprepossessing mix of oak and vanilla. The flavor has lots of cherries and raspberries, along with vanilla. The finish is oaky with prominent tannins. Overall, this Cab is simple and juicy. It has a nice finish for a cheap non-vintage wine. There’s an unusual residual berry flavor, almost perfumy, that lingered on the tongue.

Overall, Oak Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon beats its $3-range competition like Two Buck Chuck and Tisdale. It’s all relative, of course. None of these are great wines, but to my taste this is the most drinkable one of the bunch. Plus, it has the advantage of widespread distribution via Wal-Mart.

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

Lindemans Bin 55 Shiraz Cabernet 2006 is another bargain blend from this major Australian winemaker. It has blackberry, plum, and cocoa notes with a slightly peppery finish. It isn’t overly complex, but is pleasant and very drinkable.

Tom & Melody said of this blend, “It’s very fruit forward. It’s luscious if one’s taste leans toward fruit dominance. It’s too much if one’s taste leans toward dryness and acidity.”

When it comes to Lindemans blends, we probably slightly prefer their Cab-Merlot. Still, for the price, Lindemans Bin 55 Shiraz Cabernet 2006 is hard to beat.

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.