Boxed Wines Are Back

The weather is cool and crisp, the leaves are beginning to change colors – the perfect weather for picnicking, tailgating and camping. But while it’s easy enough to design a menu of portable food, lugging big, heavy, clanking bottles of wine to and from your outdoor celebration is another story. Fortunately, now there is a better option: alternatively packaged wines that actually taste good. Jason Main, certified sommelier at The Wine Merchant in Clayton, is certainly a fan. “A group of people I knew were going camping a while back and so I suggested they take a few boxed wines with them. And that when they were finished, they could just burn the box on the campfire and throw away the bag.” Sounds ideal, but how is the wine? “These days you really can get some great quality wines in those boxes,” Main said. Kaitlyn Vohs, wine buyer at Ellisville’s Lukas Liquor Superstore, pointed to a host of reasons for the increasing trend in alternatively packaged wines. “Slowly but surely, the stigma attached to boxed wines is being lifted. Producers are making higher-quality boxed wine and putting more thought into the packaging,” she said. “A lot of it also has to do with going green. Alternatively packaged wines require less energy and money to produce, cost less to ship, can be recycled more readily, and are easier to handle and store. People are looking for alternatives to bringing wine bottles to the lake and the pool and that demand is being met. It’s a lot less hassle and you’re getting more wine for your money.” Vohs added that people who are more environmentally aware are particularly excited about wines packaged in alternative containers such as boxes, Tetra packs, aluminum bottles and cans. Tony McLaughlin, a general manager at St. Louis’ Randall’s Wines & Spirits, explained that up until a few years ago there really wasn’t much available in terms of quality boxed wines, but that has definitely changed. “Cork is a big expense for wine producers and boxed wines are far less costly to produce. Which doesn’t necessarily mean that the quality of the juice inside has been spared.” Acknowledging, however, that there’s a time and a place for boxed wines, McLaughlin admitted that he still prefers bottles: “With a boxed wine, you have a lot of one wine, which can be good for certain occasions, but you can get a lot more variety when purchasing bottles – and there are a lot of good values out there right now.” Main points to an even bigger picture to explain the recent production of better-quality boxed wines: “As a result of the globalization of wine, a massive amount of wine is being produced, which calls for more aggressive pricing. This, combined with the fact that 90 percent of the wine produced on the planet is meant to be drunk now, has more and more countries realizing that you can offer better value to wine drinkers by utilizing alternative packaging,” he said. Since that leaves 10 percent of the world’s wine for aging and cellaring – which is when the glass bottle and cork are necessary elements – according to Main, alternatively packaged, everyday wines are the way to go. “You get 33 percent more wine in a box for the price of a bottle – one 3-liter box holds four standard-sized bottles.” Vohs voiced similar advantages for drinking alternatively packaged wines. “The box is far easier to carry than a heavy glass bottle. You can take it to an outside party, it won’t break, doesn’t require a corkscrew and tastes fresher longer.” But how long will it really keep? Boxed wines are vacuum-sealed and “because no light or oxygen is able to get to the wine, the box will definitely last for at least a month,” she explained. “And, when kept in the refrigerator, it can be preserved even longer.” Still, McLaughlin expressed some doubts. “In all honesty, I don’t think it’ll be around for that long and still taste good.” He noted that these wines do have an expiration date printed on the box so if you happen to wait a year to open it, it will most likely not taste good. “Once purchased, boxed wines are truly meant to be enjoyed right away,” he said. Main explained that while alternatively packaged wines might be new to the U.S., other countries have been drinking them for quite some time. “This is yesterday’s news in Canada or Europe. We’ve held out for a while, but we’re coming around,” he shared. “The quality of boxed wines wasn’t as drinkable five years ago, but the tide has turned. It really just makes sense for the wines that we drink now. Great producers are now making quality wines in alternative packages at very affordable prices,” Main said. “You’d be a fool not to buy them.” RECOMMENDATIONS: Kaitlyn Vohs, Lukas Liquors Superstore: Four Wines – “A fantastic Cabernet-based blend from California; I wouldn’t be embarrassed to bring this to a really nice dinner party.” ($35 for 3-liter “tube”) Yellow + Blue – “Fantastic, biodynamic and organic wine from Argentina packaged in a Tetra pack. The line has a Malbec, a Torrontes and a Rosé.” ($11.99 for 1 liter) Jason Main, The Wine Merchant: Black Box – “Fun, tasty wine that is available in many different varietals. I like the Cabernet, the Chardonnay and the Merlot.” ($22.99 for a 3-liter box) Tony McLaughlin, Randall’s Wines & Spirits: Vinchio Vaglio Serra “Kroara” Barbera – “This fresh, fruit-forward red from the Piedmont region in Italy is a great value.” ($16.99 for a 3-liter box)