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

Price: $9
Maker: Juno Wine Company, Paarl, South Africa
Varietal: Cabernet, Shiraz, Merlot blend
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Juno Cabernet Shiraz Merlot 2005 features another of Juno’s gorgeous labels - the call these wines their “Cape Maidens” series. The wine itself is what one might expect from a blend of these grapes. The composition is Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Shiraz (30%), and Merlot (20%). This blend has a ripe berry nose, a medium body, and a nicely rounded blackberry and plum flavor with a bit of spice in the finish. We like this wine both for its attractive package and its accessible flavor. It would be nice for entertaining or a $10-range hostess gift.

The Cape Maiden illustrations are the work of artist Tertia du Toit. According to the Juno Wine website,

She paints a picture of the atmosphere of the wine, the taste and the aroma. The girls are part of exhibitions, a collection of paintings that dance around the idea of womanhood. Her paintings focuses on the female figure, milkmaids and Madonna’s, an abundance of life’s pleasures. With the strong colours and dramatic poses she invites whoever dares, ‘to indulge’.

The aim with the labels is to create an integrated visual meeting between the predominantly male winemaking traditions and the sensual nature of the wine itself. The eventual idea with the usage of the Maidens is not to objectify them but rather to turn them into super heroines

An Art in South Africa website comments on du Toit’s work, “‘ One need not be a detective or a Freudian or Jungian analyst, to be aware of a strong element of eroticism in these works.” Well, I suppose wine has always been related to harvests, fertility, and the like… However you interpret the labels, they are indeed lush and enticing on the shelf. Juno made a good choice in signing du Toit if they want to gain a bit of extra attention as wine buyers scan rows of mostly boring bottles.

Price: $4
Maker: Purple Moon Winery, Manteca, California
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, artificial cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Purple Moon Shiraz 2005 was the least expensive wine we picked up during our recent Trader Joe’s visit. It’s attractively labeled, and a glance at the bottle would suggest a more expensive wine. The nose, too, was promising - nice juicy berries with spice and a hint of licorice. On the palate, though, this Shiraz is all fruit, all the time. The label calls the wine “fruit forward,” which in this case is an understatement. The flavor is full of sweet cherries, plums, and raspberries - there’s just not much else. Even for a low-end Shiraz, we’d like a peppery finish and a bit more complexity. Having said that, this wine isn’t unpleasant - it’s fruity character, smooth nature, and relative sweetness go down easily enough, and it’s far more drinkable than some wines in that price range that have unpleasant off-notes. We waffled on our own rating - this Shiraz isn’t the best wine we’ve scored an 8, but it’s more to our taste than those we’ve scored lower.

This wine is apparently only sold by Trader Joe’s. We found slightly mixed reactions on the Web, perhaps reflecting differences between vintages. Cheap Wine Reviews liked it a lot, and said, “Would buy again, without doubt.” In the 2006 San Diego International Wine Competition, Purple Moon Shiraz 2004 scored only a bronze. World Wine Weblog considered the 2003 version “great bang for the buck.”

Price: $8
Maker: d’Arenberg, McLaren Vale, Australia
Varietal: Grenache, Shiraz, and Mourvedre blend
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, screw cap
Alcohol: 14.5%
Our Rating: 9 out of 10

d’Arenberg The Stump Jump Red 2005 was another find on my Trader Joe’s expedition, and the second winner in a row. This is a big, bold, spicy red wine that Shiraz and Zinfandel lovers will enjoy. The nose is a powerful mix of spice and licorice. On the palate, this wine starts with juicy currant and plum, and finishes with chewy tannins and long-lasting pepper. It’s well-balanced and moderately complex. I admit to favoring bold reds, and this one hit my sweet spot.

The Stump Jump Red is a blend of Grenache (46%), Shiraz (34%), and Mourvedre (20%), all from South Australia. It won a “blue-gold” medal in the 2007 Sydney International Wine Competition, meaning it finished in the top 10% of wines tasted. Gourmet Traveller Wine named it a “Best Buy Under $15.” In the blogosphere, Dr. Debs at WineWaves said, “Enjoy small batch wine at a big batch price… always a winner.” The Rake found it drinkable and ultra-smooth. Mouthwatering recommends the wine to accompany their Chicken and Chorizo Cassoulet recipe. The Screwcap thought, “This is a round and earthy Australian wine with a nice long finish. Shows sweet characteristics of shiraz/grenache tempered nicely by the gamier mouvedre. Good stuff.” Tastes of Life liked Stump Jump’s fruity character and proclaimed it a “nice wine for the price.” Scriven Stuff declared it, “My newest favorite wine under $15.” It’s not that common to see such a high percentage of accolades; usually, a wine will be called “undrinkable plonk” by at least one or two bloggers. Give The Stump Jump Red a try and see if you agree.

Price: $8
Maker: Jake’s Fault Winery, Geyserville, California
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

We found Jake’s Fault Shiraz 2004 at Trader Joe’s, and we’re glad we did. If you enjoy a spicy Shiraz, then you should seek it out, too. The nose is full of berry, clove, and black pepper. On the palate, this Shiraz starts off with plenty of juicy blackberry and blueberry notes, easing into a peppery finish with moderately prominent tannins. It’s reasonably well balanced, and reasonably complex for an under-$10 Shiraz.

Bloggers have been mostly very positive about Jake’s Fault Shiraz. Just Robb thought, “The taste had hints of blackberry, a bit jam-like with a hint of oak and really easy on the tannin. Very smooth… this wine was excellent in its smoothness. ” VinoForLess.com called it a “treasure find.” LizKitchen raved, “This is a perfect Shiraz for me. It has a good body, lots of fruit, a lovely nose, and is heavy enough to be a substantial wine, but not so much that it’s overwhelming.” Liz likes it as a party wine, and has yet to find a guest who didn’t enjoy it. Alexis and Andrew at UrbanVino scored the wine as 87 and 83, respectively. Visit JakesFault.com to learn more about the wine and winery.

Price: $12
Maker: Concannon Vineyard, Livermore & San Luis Obispo, California
Varietal: Merlot
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 9 out of 10

Concannon Stampmaker’s Syrah 2004 makes a great first impression - the bottle has a raised image of the vineyard gates, the label is foil imprinted and is further graced by an embossed grapevine. Fortunately, this wine isn’t all show. The nose is a powerful and exotic blend of licorice, clove, vanilla, and black pepper, with juicy berry notes in the background. On the palate, this Syrah is full-bodied and well balanced. The fruity blackberry and black cherry notes are well matched with toasty oak, and the finish is a long-lasting blend of spice and mild acidity. We liked this wine quite a lot.

So far, we haven’t gone wrong with a choice from Concannon - we also enjoyed their slightly less expensive Concannon Central Coast Merlot 2003 - although not a typical merlot, that was an interesting and flavorful wine. This wine is part of their “Limited Release” series, which features wines bottled in somewhat smaller quantities. We note that the 2003 vintage of Concannon Stampmaker’s Syrah took a “Best in Class” award at the California State Fair. We’re looking forward to trying other wines from this maker.

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

A new arrival in several local wine shops was the non-vintage Box Star Shiraz. The first wine that we’ve tried from this brand - they have a Chardonnay, a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon in the series. The nose has spice, licorice, and weak berry notes. The flavor starts with juicy cherries and currants, chocolate, and slides smoothly into a spicy finish with a tannin bite. All in all, this is a respectable enough wine for everyday drinking or low-key party use.

We weren’t able to learn much about the background of this wine. It’s imported by International Cellars of Madera, CA. The wine itself is from Australia. There’s no website listed on the packaging, and none of the International Cellars we located on the Web seemed to be the one offering Box Star wines. Distribution for the product seems to be ramping up, though, so we expect to see more of this brand in the future. It’s nice to see a new brand of box wine pop up from nowhere, and we’ll report on some of the other wines from Box Star soon.

Price: $8
Maker: Domaine de la Brune
Varietal: 80% Syrah, 10% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

We picked up Les Hauts de la Brune Coteaux du Languedoc 2004 as an alternate choice for WBW #33 - its inexpensive price disqualified it from the $15 - $30 price range, but we thought we’d give a sub-$10 wine from the Languedoc-Roussillon region a try. At that price, and with its 80% Syrah composition, this wine would compete directly with a broad range of Shiraz/Syrah wines from Australian and California. The nose was very mild, with spicy berry aromas predominating. Our initial take on this wine was that it was rather thin and very dry. Even an hour or two of breathing didn’t alter our feelings much. Oddly, after being stored for a day (with argon) and another hour or two of air, the wine smoothed out considerably. We found mainly cherry, currant, and black pepper notes, with slightly sharp tannins. We’re not crazy about this wine, but ultimately it was fairly drinkable.

We’re not sure if this is the winery’s official site, but it indicates that this wine earned an impressive 90 points from Wine Spectator. Based on that, it’s an incredible value, though I can’t say I’d rate what I tasted at nearly that exalted a level. Feel free to give this one a try, though if you are into a fruitier Syrah/Shiraz I’d suggest one of the many decent Australian Shiraz choices that are in the $5 to $10 range. If you do pick up a bottle, plan on plenty of time, or decanting (maybe an aquarium bubbler?) to bring out the flavor and balance in this wine.

Price: $17
Maker: Domaine La Tour Boisée
Varietal: 30% Syrah, 30% Grenache, 30% Carignan, 10% Cinsaut
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.8%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

We tried Chateau Tour Boisée Minervois 1999 (Marie Claude) as part of WBW #33. From the beginning, this wine makes its presence known. It had a prominent nose, with berry, anise, spice, and caramel notes. Its flavor was a mix of juicy cranberry and plum with peppery notes, with a mineral character. Overall it was quite astringent and puckery, though the bold flavors and complexity balanced the wine to the point where the astringency wasn’t unpleasant. Extra breathing time rounded out the flavor to a degree, but some bite remained in the wine’s sustained finish. Our personal tastes lean toward the slightly fruitier, less dry offerings of California and Australia vineyards, but it was interesting to try the more European Chateau Tour Boisée Minervois. After this intriguing experience, I might have to seek out some other reds from similar regions to compare.

The wine is imported by Wine Adventures, and according to the commentary on this wine, “Jean-Louis Poudou represents the fifth generation of the Poudou family to produce wine on this domaine in the Languedoc region of southern France. The wine is a blend of 30% Syrah 30% Grenache 30% Carignan and 10% Cinsaut, with the average age of the vines about 60 years old. The wine is unfiltered and aged in steel tanks. Full bodied, the wine has the taste of dark fruits and spice. A wonderful finish adds to the enjoyment of drinking this wine. Food and Wine Magazine rated this wine a “best buy” in September 2001.” Wine Adventures has been around since 1999, and was originally founded to bring good French wines to Iowa. The firm now claims distribution in 11 states.

Interestingly, Domaine La Tour Boisée practices biodynamic farming - who knew? I should have hunted this one down for the earlier WBW #29, when I had difficulty finding a biodynamic entry and ended up with a pedestrian (but apparently fully organic) Fetzer Valley Oaks Gewurztraminer. Chateau Tour Boisée Minervois 1999 would have been a far more interesting choice.

Price: $8
Maker: Rock Rabbit Winery, Graton, Sonoma County, California
Varietal: Syrah
Packaging: 750 ml bottle, natural cork
Alcohol: 13.8%
Our Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Rock Rabbit Syrah 2003 shows that the Aussies don’t have a complete lock on the low price but very drinkable Syrah/Shiraz. It’s actually a bit of a blend - 87% Syrah, 12% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Petite Syrah. Its nose is full of spice and dark berries, with a hint of licorice. On the palate, it’s fruit-forward but nicely structured. Black cherry predominates, with plum and chocolate notes leading into a spicy finish. The tannins have just enough bite to balance out this wine.

The reaction to this wine across the blogosphere has been almost uniformly positive. WineWaves notes, “Here’s a reason to not automatically go to the Australian aisle for an under $10 Shiraz.” Vinspiration admired the complexity of this Shiraz: “Complex flavors, with one flavor coming into focus, just as another one works out of the background.” Benito calls it one of his “favorite bargain wines.” Red Wine Haiku muses,

I’m diggin’ this grape
When it swings a west coast vibe
Cool vanilla groove

Can all these wine tasters be wrong? Rock Rabbit Syrah 2003 is clearly a wine blogger favorite for a $10 or below Syrah - it’s certainly one of mine.

Price: $17
Maker: Delicato Family Vineyards
Varietal: Shiraz
Packaging: 3 liter box, pushbutton spigot
Alcohol: 13.5%
Our Rating: 8 out of 10

Delicato likes to brag about their many gold medals, and one honor for Delicato Shiraz 2005 is that the wine received a “Best Buy” designation from Wine Enthusiast magazine. Our experience with Delicato Shiraz 2004 wasn’t bad, so we looked forward to the 2005 Shiraz. We found the nose to be filled with dark berries, plums, and spice. The flavor is quite plummy, with blackberry notes and a tiny bit of spice in the finish. It’s a bit sweet, although I hasten to add that it’s not a sweet wine by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, it’s a bit less dry and less complex than I’d like in a Shiraz. On the plus side, it’s a smooth, gulpable wine with a moderately spicy finish.

Delicato seems to be on a roll… Delicato Family Vineyards was named the International Wine and Spirits Competition USA Producer of the Year for the third time in 2006.

In Wine Blogging Wednesday #31, Wannabe Wino tried it as part of our box and non-traditional package theme, and sort of liked it, noting, “It’s smooth and easy to drink and I have to keep in mind that averaging it out, it costs less than $5 a bottle. The wine is not complex, but I wouldn’t really expect that at the price point.” And that’s the key point - at a price of about $4 per bottle-equivalent, it’s a real value.