Boxed Wines Terrible Reputation
The downside is that boxed wines have a terrible reputation with most consumers who associate the product with low quality wines that no one should drink. First things first, there are a lot of boxed wines available that are of despairingly low quality. There are also a lot of bottled wines of low quality too.
A recent study found that approximately half of box wine purchasers tried the wine in a bottle first before buying the large package. They also tend to be regular drinkers, and regular drinkers that go to liquor stores more often. Maybe they are big entertainers, too, as the most common reason cited for buying boxed wines is for a social gathering such as a barbecue followed by a party and finally as a way to have a day-to-day supply of wine on hand at home.
Best Organic: Badger Mountain Red
Courtesy of Badger Mountain Vineyard
Region: Washington State | ABV: 13.5% | Tasting Notes: Herbaceous, Pepper, Red fruits
Out of Washington states Columbia Valley comes this organically-produced red blend from Badger Mountain, curated by their head winemaker Jose Mendozano relation to the South American city.
Blending happens to be Mendozas specialty, so dig into this organically farmed red with its aromas of cherry, plum, cranberry and fennel. With flavors of dark fruits and pepper and sturdy tannins, this wine can be had on its own or paired with various meats and pasta.
Best Ros: Le Vieille Ferme
Courtesy of Amazon
Region: France | ABV: 12.5% | Tasting Notes: Floral, Citrus, Peach
Brown calls this wine produced by the Southern Rhônes famed Perrin family one of the best wine values of the wine world.
A blend of syrah, grenache, and cinsault, its a consistent gem thats 100 percent crushable, she says, with a red-fruit palate and touches of citrus, peach flesh, and white flowers.
It’s a perfect match poolside with friends, for those regular Tuesday nights with leftover Chinese food, or while simply Netflix and chilling, folding laundry. Nadine Brown, wine consultant and former wine director of Charlie Palmer Steak in DC
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Nickel & Nickel Element 28
A longtime Napa specialist in single-vineyard Cabernet, Nickel & Nickel brings beauty to a grape sometimes derided for being too much about mass appeal as opposed to art. This one from 2017 is the latter and worthy of a few hours of your time as it opens up and shows brambly fruit, cardamom, and tantalizing structure.
Editors’ Recommendations
Trader Joes Block Red Cabernet Sauvignon
Trader Joes Block Red Cabernet Sauvignon
This is my favorite cold-weather beverage. Its decent enough to drink as a table wine with braises or stewsjust put it in a decanterbut I primarily use it to mull wine. I first started mulling wine a few years ago for parties, but over the past year the boxed format has been particularly helpful since I can use exactly what I need. Sometimes thats only a mugful or two, rather than a whole bottle. This cabernet sauvignon has enough acidity and peppery-ness to stand up to the fruit and warmth of the cinnamon and cloves. And its cheap enough that I dont feel bad modifying it or using it in excess.
Anna Shults Held, editor
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The 10 Best Cabernet Sauvignon To Drink Now
One of the worlds most popular wine grapes is the product of carelessness. Cabernet Sauvignon was accidentally created several hundred years ago in France, a the spawn of two famous parents named Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc.
- 1. Nickel & Nickel Element 28
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The rest is pretty much history. The grape variety has gone on to become the most planted and produced on the planet. When most of us think of wine, we think of Cabs inky red tones in a glass. It has, in short, become synonymous with all of wine.
In France, its one of a handful of esteemed grapes often blended in the Bordeaux region. In the states and other younger winemaking nations, its blended too, but its also often let alone as its own stand-alone wine. It tends to be big and tannic, ideal for a burger or bolognese. Here, especially, Cab tends to be quite fruit-forward and concentrated, the ideal pick for those into the jammier wines.
With so much Cab out there, where does one begin? Generally, the place to begin is where its warm and there are older, more established vines. That could mean anywhere from the American West Coast to Australia or Argentina. Here are the 10 best Cabernet Sauvignon that we picked out for you. Cheers!
The Top Cab Is Is The 2016 Chteau Pape Clment Pessac
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Liquor / Chloe Jeong
From its ancestral homeland in southwest France, to the sun-drenched vineyards of California and Washington, to emerging footholds in Tuscany, Australia, and South Africa, cabernet sauvignon stakes a fair claim as the most beloved wine grape in the world. A recent study revealed that it’s now the world’s most widely-planted grape variety, up from fourth place as recently as 1990 .
Besides consumer preference shifting toward so-called “varietal” wines, another cause for cabernet sauvignon’s meteoric rise is that its relatively easy to grow the grape berries are known for their thick skin and natural ability to flourish in a wide range of climates. More important than its ease of cultivation, however, is the fact that cabernet sauvignon is simply delicious. Bold and sturdy, with satisfying dark fruit flavors and big tannic character, its a crowd-pleasing favorite that’s almost never absent from a restaurant wine list .
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Buying Boxed Wine For A Big Gathering
Most comsumer cask wine comes in either a two-, three-, or four-liter package. A four-liter cask contains a little more than five regular bottles of wine and takes up a fraction of the packaging of those regular glass bottles. Like glass bottles, boxes are fully recyclable-and youll get your deposit back at the bottle depot.
The juice inside the box will keep for up to about six weeks once opened, but the package isnt made for cellaring so the total shelf life for the product is about 12 months or less . This is bad news for your uncle John who saved an extra box of California Chablis from his 1986 wedding in the basement by the furnace.
It is also a much cheaper package for wineries to produce to boxed wine and those savings are passed along to consumers who dont mind buying their wine in bulk. For example, Capistro retails for around $8 for a 750 ml bottle. The four-litre package is about $37. Do the math and you save about $5.50 simply because you have the box. Banrock Stations shiraz comes in at around $13 for a bottle while the three-litre box is $43, saving you around $10.
Finding The Best Tasting Boxed Wines
The boxed wine, canned wine, and pouch wine market is rapidly growing due to the demand for affordable wines that will last longer than a few days after opening, leaving savvy wine consumers spoiled for choice. Boxed wines make great everyday drinkers, and the above best tasting boxed wines are also something you’d be proud to serve to a crowd.
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Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
Making it into our top three is Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is full and robust without being overly dry or oaky where it needs to be enjoyed with food. It had a noticeable oak and berry finish, but after each sip, the oaky taste left us wanting more. This is a wine we would put out with a charcuterie board and let our friends and family serve themselves knowing that it would be well-loved by most people. We found this across the web starting at $23.99 for a 1.5-liter box.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e
Le Petite Frog Picpoul De Pinet
You heard it here first: Picpoul is the new Pinot Grigio. Light, simple, and somewhat neutral in flavor, this style is exemplified by Le Petite Frogs refreshing French white wine ideal for poolside sipping on the hottest of days, yet a worthy 5 oclock pour at the end of a work day in winter. What this wine lacks in character, it makes up for in crushability which is another way of saying, its super drinkable and relatively low in alcohol ideal, considering each box contains the equivalent of four standard 750-milliliter wine bottles.
Rating: 86
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Bota Box Cabernet Sauvignon
Bota Box Cabernet Sauvignon is the wine we’re reaching for when we’re watching a movie with friends or family, hanging out on the back porch in the evenings, or simply just craving a glass of wine. The wine is lighter bodied than most of the other wines on our list, which makes it ideal for pouring a glass and enjoying it by itself. We loved the slight cherry notes that didn’t become overly fruity or sweet. a 3-liter box of this wine can be yours starting at $19.99!
Best Overall: 2016 Chteau Pape Clment Pessac
Region: Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France | ABV: 14% | Tasting Notes: Cherry, Black truffles, Tobacco
Its hard to overstate the brilliance of the 2016 Château Pape Clément. The bottle is named after Pope Clement V, who owned the vineyard when he was just a scrappy upstart Archbishop of Bordeaux in the early 14th century, meaning the vineyards been in operation for over 700 years. Operated by esteemed French winemaker Bernard Magrez, this cabernet is a liquid luxury thats impossible to resist .
Complex and beguiling, this wine boasts a diverse flavor palate of dark fruits, cherry and fig, along with black truffles, forest floor, tobacco, and mocha and vanilla-tinged oak spices. It’s medium to full-bodied with fine-textured tannins, silken fruit and a long, elegant finish. In a word, exquisite.
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What Is The Best Box Wine In South Africa
House Wine Red Blend Box
I first picked up a box of this wine on my way to a dinner party in the distant pre-pandemic era, when we could find ourselves running late to gatherings large enough to warrant consuming a cardboard tub of wine. Initially, the 20-something-dollar price point for 3 liters of wine had me feeling skeptical. But I was pleasantly surprised to find its a smooth, velvety, adult-y, upgrade from the slap-the-bag varietals of my youth.
Over the course of 2020, opportunities to gather and share were few and far between, but I continued to keep a box on hand for weeknight dinners and Zoom happy hours. The red blend, a cabernet and merlot mix, pairs well with steak, pasta, a charcuterie board, or as a solo accompaniment to a Bachelorette marathon. It keeps well in the fridge for longer than the average bottle of red, if youre a one-to-two-glasses-a-night wine drinker like I am. Importantly, the Red Blend is just as good chilled on a hot summer evening as it is at room temperature.
Lauren LAmie, SEO content strategist
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White Boxed Wine Picks
There are a lot of reasons to love Fielding Long Weekend Wine Co. Chardonnay-Pinot Grigio VQA, starting with the fact that its one of very few made at an independent, family-owned winery that uses 100 percent Ontario grapes. Also, its just plain delicious, with a crisp, clean and juicy tasteeverything we want to drink with our corn chowder and salad.
Everyone whos ever tried a bottle of Robertson Winery Chenin Blanc knows that, dollar per ounce, this South African white is a great buy. If youre lucky enough to live in Quebec, where its sold in a three-litre box, the savings are even more impressive on this dry, balanced, bright, high-acid white thats born to be enjoyed with soft cheese and fatty fish.
Californias Bota Box is a bit of a game-changer, since its widely available across Canada, offers quite a few options, varietal-wise, and, well, weve never tried one we didnt like. Case in point: Bota Box Pinot Grigio, a lively, perfectly dry wine with citrus and stone fruit notes.
What Is A Good Boxed Red Wine
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Best Value: 2019 Substance Cabernet Sauvignon
courtesy of astorwines.com
Region: Columbia Valley, Washington | ABV: 14% | Tasting Notes: Blueberry, Violet, Pencil lead
Winemaker Charles Smith, a former band manager who spent the first few years of his wine career selling his bottles out of the back of a van, has been churning out quality Washington State wine since 1999. Within fifteen years of his first vintage, he had been named Winemaker of the Year by both Wine Enthusiast and Food & Wine, and his recognizable black-and-white labels were gracing shelves in all fifty states and a couple dozen countries abroad.
Substance, one of his newest lines, comprises single-variety wines that are fermented naturally and bottled unfiltered and unfined. The 2019 “Cs” cabernet sauvignon is already making fans with its bold and pleasing characteristics of dark fruit, violet, pipe tobacco, and pencil lead, but the wine is sturdy enough that it should continue to evolve and add finesse over the next decade at minimum. Nothing wrong with popping it on a random weeknight, however with its sub-$20 price tag, it’s the type of indulgence you can come back to again and again.
Best Splurge: 2016 Lokoya Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Mt. Veeder, Napa Valley, California | ABV: 15% | Tasting Notes: Blueberry, Truffle, Wild herbs
Not to knock Champagne drinks, but if you have an occasion worth celebrating, try skipping the bubbly and diving into this exquisite bottle of cabernet. The Lokoya Mount Veeder is an indulgence, and you’ll know why as soon as the first drops fall on your tongue. It combines the best of Napa Valleys mountain climate, rich soils, and expert winemaking from Lokoyas artisan of the grape, Christopher Carpenter.
This is an example of peak cabernet. It is intensely aromatic with blueberry, violet, and blackberry notes bolstered by truffle and wild herbs. It’s also full-bodied with tannins that grip and refuse to let go. Enjoy with reckless abandon.
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Wineberry Chteau Tassin Bordeaux Blanc 2020
This Bordeaux Blanc, composed of 85 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 15 percent Sémillon, smells like wet rocks and a ripe, juicy pear drizzled with honey. It has pronounced minerality, with a clean, bright palate, and a puckering acidity thats filled out by melony fruit. All in all, this is an easy-drinking, crowd-pleasing white wine that would be just as at home alongside light, seafood pastas as it would with sushi.
Rating: 89
The 12 Best Boxed Wines
Boxed wine gets a bad rap. Most often packaged in a rubber bladder thats neatly packed into a user-friendly cardboard box, the wine inside is often underestimated with the assumption that its all mass-produced, low-quality juice.
And sometimes, that is the case. Many of the big boxed wine brands on the market are sipped with quantity over quality in mind rarely savored like fine wine. But this doesnt mean all delicious vino comes in a bottle. The boxed category has recently experienced a resurgence, with more and more small and high-end brands releasing boxed wines that are delicious, balanced, and convenient all without breaking the bank.
Plus, boxed wine offers another enticing advantage: Its environmentally friendly. Not only does it have a lower production cost its also much more sustainable than its glass sibling. Glass is difficult to source, environmentally costly to create, and difficult to recycle. Plus, its weight makes transporting glass bottles emit significantly more carbon. Compare this to the lightweight, recyclable, and sometimes compostable bag-in-box treasures below, and one thing is clear as a slapped bag: Boxed wine is here to stay.
To help you discover the best of the boxed, VinePair tasted dozens of boxed wines and narrowed them down to 12 of our favorites ranked below. These are the best boxed wines available on the market today.
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Beso Del Sol White Sangria Spain 500ml Tetra Pak
With a luscious mouthfeel, and lychee, candied peach and prickly pear notes, this is great served over ice with pieces of ripe pear, pineapple and Granny Smith apple. Also try the pink sangria, which has notes of rich candied watermelon, jolly rancher green apple and overripe peach. Serve it over ice with cut up pieces of peach, pear, and green apple. Finally, the red sangria is good too, with its notes of tangy, candied red berry fruit and brown spices. Serve it over ice with cut pieces of peach, plum, pear, and apple.
