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?