Peller mostly makes high-end wines (>$10/bottle), and does have their own vineyards in Niagara for those. The box wines are labeled "cellared by" which normally allows 70% non-Ontario wines in the blend, but in 2005 there was an emergency allowance of 99% imported wine due to a shortage of grapes in Ontario. So I'm sure the majority of the wine came from the California central valley grape glut. It is a nice soft red, like a beaujolais (zero aging potential).

Different wine (deliberately so). I hate this practice by some of the larger companies, using the same brand name and labeling for a deliberately different tasting product. Part of their global brand strategy. The theory is to cater to local tastes but have a global brand. Just tastes different wherever you go.

It could be that the wines are made in such great volumes that they're made in several different batches and hence taste different. A few years ago, my friend was raving about a Wynns entry-level cabernet sauvignon that he had in Sydney. I managed to acquire a bottle of the same vintage that was purchased in Perth. I tried the wine and was very disappointed. A few weeks later, he returned home to Perth and bought a local bottle and was similarly disappointed. I think he found out that that particular vintage and label were made in at least 4 batches.

They sell these wines in 1l bottles (advertised as a free 33% more) in B.C. but the bottles I've had are regrettably quite poor in quality.

Oh, I am quite aware of Peller (which also makes Okanagan wines, or wine with grapes from the Okanagan). I was curious if they make boxed Niagara wines (which isn't really available in B.C.). There is one vineyard in B.C. that sells (or used to sell) Okanagan wines in boxes. They couldn't labelled VQA (vintners quality assurance) as the wines weren't bottled but would be VQA-eligible otherwise.

They don't box any of their premium wines -- which is a shame. And they only sell their premium wines on the internet (disavow all knowledge of the box wines on the web site). I guess there is still stigma to the box, even in the enlightened markets. This is slowly changing. In NZ I came across a screw-top wine selling for USD 40 per bottle (putting it into the top 0.0001% price range for NZ wines, which are excellent but cheap). In the US it is hard to find any screw-top wines (in bottles, just no cork), and the few that exist are punished in the marketplace.

Didn't some segment of the NZ wine industry mandate a move to screwtop/Stelvin tops (a la Clare Valley/South Australia rieslings)? I bought a couple of Stelvin bottles of Frankland (Western Australia riesling) a few years back and it was the top-rated (by James Halliday) Aussie riesling that year. Maybe not too difficult as riesling is not widely grown in Australia.

I guess the U.S. consumers are too new to wine and not sensitive to cork taint or other cork-related spoilage. It does seem a good many consumers like the ritual of the wine being uncorked.

Screwtops are fortunately becoming quite common with B.C. wines.

raises hand

Guilty as charged. I guess I have too many memories of Thunderbird, Boone's Farm, Spanada, and MD 20/20 being screw-capped to give a really serious wine-maker a shot if they use it.

But, I'm willing to try one out to expand my horizons. :D

Any specific recommendations?

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

Tin Roof Wines make several with screw-cap (maybe all their wines are packaged this way?). Their Sauvignon Blanc from Napa is pretty good (not Montana/Brancott good, but those don't come in a screw-cap). However Tin Roof wines are in the USD 10 per bottle range. That might be the easiest to find in the US, and worth drinking if you do find it.

As far as boxed wines go, I like the "Three Thieves" brand from California. ^

I find their boxes are easier to place in a cooler or backpack for picnics and hiking trips.

Enjoy!

I buy NZ screw-top wines in the US all the time at price points that aren't that cheap. ??

Had my first NZ wine this week - a 2005 Pinot Noir from Oyster Bay. I was a little surprised to find a $20 screw top wine, but it was good enough that I could get used to it.

Best price-performance amongst NZ imports is Montana, sold in the US as Brancott. Also no longer a screw-top in the US (and screw-top in NZ). They seem to have decided that a cork was needed to boost their sales. Even though Montana is famous for their Sauvignon Blanc (and rightly so), the best of their US imports is the Brancott Chardonnay (and a nice contrast to California chards).

Last week my friend Ian took me to Vinomania, which calls itself "the
first location in France dedicated to bib wines" - we tasted over a
dozen wines, several of which I thought worthy of buying. The
folks behind the operation negotiate with some pretty decent
makers to make wines according to their bag-in-box specifications
(assuring that the wines will be stable for at least 4 months after
opening); they have a line called "Selection verre apres verre,"
about which you can read at www.vinomania-brive.fr - it's an
interesting concept, and what you lose with aging ability and the
mystique of the bottle with a cork you gain with reliability and the
chance to keep several types of wine going at a time.

They´re just saving cork...there are plenty of great screw tops out there!

At the risk of driving this thread further OT from the box category, I second the comment above.

Check out the "Twin Fin" varietals from California.
Good, inexpensively priced reds and whites and not a single cork in sight anywhere.^

juice box shortage!
 

so, i'm wondering if anyone's target still has the boxed wine in juice boxes? ours is out and has been for a few weeks (i check every time i'm in there) and they've now put some of the regular wine boxes in that spot.

i'm hoping that it's just that so many people have discovered them that they're temporarily sold out; not that my prediction about lawsuits and eventual pulling of the product have come to pass.

anyone?

target juice box update!
 

not sure anyone is as enamored of these wine juiceboxes as i am, but thought i'd give an update anyway...turns out any remaining product was pulled from the shelves and destroyed. still haven't learned yet why, but i'm guessing we won't be seeing those nifty little boxes at target again in the near (or far) future. :(

Aww... :(

Sued by Hi C?

I'm far from a wine aficionado, but isn't just a rule that the only good wine is the one YOU like?

I'm not surprised it was pulled...last week, I drank a 1.5L box of the Cab-Shiraz and felt awfully sick the next day :mad:

Must have been something wrong with the wine

:D

Any updates on this? I'm in the market for a quaffable boxed wine.

I've tried the "Black Box Cabernet" from my grocery store (it was that or Franzia). It was OK I suppose...kind of like what I'd expect from a generic bottle that just was labeled "Wine". What other boxed wines (red or white) do people recommend?

When I'm drinking good wine, I tend to prefer pinot noir. But I'm open to new things now!

Oh, and I live in Chicago, so I'm looking for something I could buy here, at the grocery store, Target, or Binny's preferably.

Was served Black Box recently in a restaurant, when I inquired what the house wine was. I was underwhelmed.

Mrs BV has me buy the octagonal box of Pinot Evil. I think it's rather bland, but so are most cheap Pinot Noirs. I suppose bland is way better than harsh. I pay around $20 for 3L.

I just got back from Binny's, where the wine guy very unjudgmentally pointed me to the Cuvee de Pena. It's one of the more expensive boxed wines ($30 for 3 liters) but it's rather nice for a boxed wine.

It's a French vin de pays, a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah and Mourvedre. So far, I'm liking it quite a lot for what it is.

http://manoavino.typepad.com/mano_a_...-de-pena-.html

Back in May, Wine Spectator had an article about a research study done by the Australian Wine Research Institute on wine closures and aging. The study indicated that screw-caps were the most reliable and the wines aged in a more predictable fashion. They also resisted oxidation the most. The wine they tested was 1999 Clare Sémillon.

They only tested whites and it was only for 10 years, I'm not sure if the study is ongoing for another decade or not. As far as synthetic corks are concerned, I tend to favor the Supreme Corq. Wines in my collection that use it seem to age a little better than the other synthetic corks.

I haven't thought of buying any boxed wines and storing them in the refrigerator to use with cooking, that's a good idea. ^

Since I'm back in schol and on schoolboy's budget, I reluctantly switched to box wine on a good friend's (and wine purveyor's) rec.

I've gone through a few boxes of the Bota Malbec. I can say this - I don't hate it. When I get it on sale for ~$15/box, it's something I can afford and lasts me weeks at a glass or two a night, if that. They typically don't say where the grapes are from, but I'm pretty sure it's Cali.

I plan to try a few others they make.

Really? Been to Cali a few times - there's really no wine industry there, and especially nothing that would be exported to the U.S.

How did you know I meant Caledonia? After all, it is French...

I always keep a box of what I call CRW in the pantry - Cheap Red Wine. :D

Anyone tried Hardys boxed wine?
 

Has anyone tried Hardy's riesling? I keep passing the bright green 3L box at the liquor store, and I'm getting ready to breakdown and try it.

A pretty good white wine is the Black Box pinot grigio.

One of the best box wines I've tasted is Verdhello by Di Bertolli; costs AUD 4/l and comparable to $10/bottle wines. Hard to find (limited distribution in Oz and not exported). In the US "two buck chuck" dominates box wines (a shame as I prefer the airless enclosure, but TJ knows its market).

What? :confused:

It's all a matter of personal taste, but for me Peter Vella Chard works for an everyday wine. Similar to two buck chuck, it's a bit inconsistent, but never terrible, and sometimes pretty good.

We haven't found a reliable red wine in a box, but the Livingston Chianti in the 1.5L bottles is pretty good.

I'll restate my plug for the Cuvee de Pena, a French vin de pays. I'll also put in a plug for the Big House Red, available in bottles and a 3 L box. It's a California red table wine made by a company that's owned by Gallo.

A few months ago I had the lucky privilege to enjoy a barrel tasting with the winemakers of a very well-regarded boutique winery (Wines routinely rated >90, selling for 50-100$).

We were discussing packaging, and things like boxed wine and screwcaps,
the head winemaker said that for his own use he actually packages his wine in large tetrapack so he can just keep it in a cabinet and extract a glass at a time. He said its better for the wine, but the market expectation for "high end" wine is that it comes in bottles with corks, so that's how they sell it.

Do tell - which winery? Sounds like a winemaker I'd like to support.