box wine

While I was at the SF Chronicle Wine Competition Tasting, I was lucky enough to try Le Cask wine. I was drawn to it because it was one of the few boxes of wine at the tasting. I tasted their Old Vine Zinfandel and was pleasantly surprised by how it tasted. It was well balanced and a bit peppery, a little sweet with notes of cherry and plum, but very drinkable.

The best part about Le Cask is that for about $25, you get the equivalent amount of wine as four bottles. Definitely worth the price, considering the quality of the wine is much higher than that. Also, unlike bottles, their patent-pending box stays fresh for 4-6 weeks after opening. And bonus, Le Cask is eco friendly. The box is recyclable, takes up 98 percent landfill space and by eliminating glass, they've reduced their carbon footprint up to 50 percent.

The winery is based out of Lodi, CA, and while it's available throughout the Bay Area, they're still looking for a larger distribution. If you do happen to see it, definitely pick yourself up a cask or two.

By now, we're all familiar with box wine, screw top wine, and regular wine, but have you heard of canned wine?

Well, if Argentinean company Iron Wine has their way, you will soon. The Buenos Aires based company has just released two wines — a chenin blanc and a malbec and cabernet blend — in either eight and half or twelve ounce cans. The cans look just like soda cans, and the company defends their packaging by saying that they are perfect since they effectively block out light and air. Unfortunately the Associated Press is reporting that the wine is not yet available in the US, but I plan on trying it as soon as it is.

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Imagine this scenario: You're out camping and you're ready to unwind for the night with a glass of your favorite wine. You find your best camping glasses/plastic cups and are ready to pour when you realize... there's no bottle opener!!! Sure you can go all MacGyver and find ways to open the bottle, but just think, if only you had brought a box of wine instead...

That's right, a box of wine. These days boxes of wine don't carry the same sort of stigma that they used to. In fact in scenarios like the one above they're actually quite handy. They're easy to transport and have a low-risk of being damaged, you usually get more for your money, they can be sealed back up and will therefore last longer.

So now that you're keen to the idea of box wines, let me introduce you to the Wine Cube. Available in both 3 liter (4 bottles) and 1.5 liter (2 bottles) sizes, the Wine Cube is a Target exclusive and costs between $10-$16. There are twelve varieties to choose from — including Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio, Shiraz, and Sangria — but it is the Pinot Grigio that took home the Double Gold Award at the 2007 San Francisco International Wine Competition. In fact, it was the only boxed wine to win a Double Gold Award that year.

Last weekend I picked up a 4 pack of Bandit Pinot Grigio by Three Thieves. I must admit, I bought them on a whim, and I mostly bought them because they're packaged in individually portioned "juice box" containers - plus it was under $10. Each box looks an awful lot like a regular juice box (don't give this one to the kids on accident) and has a foil tab that can be removed for pouring, drinking or placing a straw.

So how did it taste? Pretty decent, nice for a hot day and the perfect companion for a picnic. I decided to drink it three ways. First I drank it directly out of the carton - I wanted to see what it would be like if you brought it on a picnic and didn't have a straw or a glass. It was surprisingly nice and light - perfect for a hot day - with slight apple and lemon flavors, however it also had that plastic "waxy carton" taste. Since that taste was not exactly a bonus flavor, I decided to try it through a straw. The flavor was about the same, only without the waxy carton taste, and I must admit, it was a lot of fun to drink wine out of a straw. Finally I poured the remainder into a glass. It was pale in color and the smell was a bit lemony and it actually tasted much nicer in the glass.

Overall, I'd say it was far from the best glass of pinot grigio, but it was also pretty far from the worst. Besides, each box is 250ml and you get 4 boxes for the price of a 750ml bottle of wine, so there is a great value/quality ratio going on. Plus, it gets more points in my book because wine in a juice box made me feel like a kid, a naughty wine drinking kid.