# Black Box wine



## rwjones (Jan 29, 2009)

There's been a recent appreciation developing for wine that doesn't come in a characteristic bottle. First it was the plastic corks, then the screw-tops, now this? 

Well, the screw-tops make oxidation less likely - that's why many producers are making the switch. Contact with oxygen is what makes the aroma and bouquet of the wine fade at the beginning, and is the same culprit that allows it to turn to vinegar further along its life. Boxes contain a plastic container inside that makes the effective concentration of oxygen gas zero, meaning the wine can keep for 3-4 weeks. 

Esquire had an article about box wine about two months ago and if you search Decanter or WS you'll find several articles. I've known for a while that these have been winning some awards and garnering some decent publicity lately. I decided to give it a try and picked up some Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay. The regional distinction on most is simply "California," but some varietals specify the county. I was impressed with all of them, but especially with the merlot. It's a great daily drinker. Dried fruits, notably cranberry, on the nose, with some faint vanilla and almond. Great fruitiness in the mouth provides a lot of versatility but if you dig a bit deeper you might also find some animal characteristics and some toastiness and woodsy-ness along with cocoa. I detected a little cleaning solvent type aroma too but it went away when I gave the wine a chance to open up.

I'm trying to track down the Reserve Merlot now - apparently that's the one that has been winning most of the awards. 

All the boxes run between $23-31 for 3L which is equivalent to 4 bottles.


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## Lebewohl (May 21, 2009)

There's a Teftt Cellars Merlot from Washington that comes in a box and it tastes like a funky Southern Rhone wine. These high end wine in a box lasts longer than just about anything else.


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## smujd (Mar 18, 2008)

While I don't consider myself a wine snob (wine lover, definitely), box wine still has a LONG, LONG way to go. After reading the many articles praising the new boxes wines, I tried a few. While the wine isn't actively bad, it ain't good--particularly not in the age of enjoyable $10 wines from Chile, South Africa, Australia, etc.

Box wine has come a long way (and it needed to), but it still has a long way to go.


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