I haven't been doing this long enough for anyone to infer any particular sorts of patterns in the way I drink or analyze wine. But two things should be clear thus far anyway. 1.) I like the Que Syrah wine store here in Chicago and trust their opinions. 2.) The enthusiastic ratings of the California State Fair are very appealing to me, and have so far (one for one), they haven't steered me wrong. This entry has a little bit to do with both items one and two. I will attempt to answer the pressing question, "Is box wine any good?"
Okay, you can stop laughing now. Seriously, you're embarrassing yourself. Here's the deal. Don Hupp, manager of the aforementioned Que Syrah Fine Wines, mentioned in my interview with him, that wine packaging changes are one of the trends that we are starting to see occuring in the wine world. Que Syrah carries two box wines currently, but are very open to carrying more if producers commit to putting good wines in said boxes.
So I went to Whole Foods today with a pretty clear cut agenda: purchase a box wine (not carrying the name Franzia) and give it a shot. Not more than two steps into the wine department, I found a box wine, but oh just wait...Not just any box wine. A box wine carrying a 95 point score from...yep, you guessed it...the California State Fair! A $10 bottle of screwcap Viognier is one thing, but a $20 box of "Old Vine Zinfandel"...well that's just thrilling! Seriously, I need to find out more about how they score wines at the CSF. Maybe a representative would like to fly me out so I could write a piece on this very topic. I mean, I'm already an enthusiastic fan, so you might as well get some glowing press! I'll pack my bags and be out there quickly! Just say the word!
In the meantime, let's talk box wine. What's your memory of box wine? College? Wine, not necessarily for taste's sake, but to have something to swirl around in a glass while you eat spaghetti? My memory is of being at the Ravinia Festival for a Creedence Clearwater Re-visited concert, which consisted of the other guys from CCR besides John Fogerty and some stand-in guy for John Fogerty, and drinking boxed wine from a backpack. You take the bag out of the box and there's a neat-o tube system which is really helpful when you want to walk around and be able to refil your friend's wine glasses without having to mess around with bottles and corks and all that jazz. Mobile booze is a beautiful thing. Ravinia is a beautiful space up in the north suburbs of Chicago, where people come to relax, listen to music, and of course, drink wine. Sure, our version was a second (or third, probably) rate version of the more cultured picnic wine and cheese spreads most people bring to the fest, but hey, it was a second or third rate version of the real CCR, so it was fitting if you ask me. The point is, we knew what we were drinking and we went with it and managed to enjoy it in it's context. Nobody would have claimed it was actually GOOD, though. It's amazing how this analogy keeps working with the concert, as well. I'll leave it at that.
Why can't box wine be good, though? There are a lot of advantages to box wine. The $20 box I bought is the equivalent of four bottles. The packaging itself is recycled cardboard. So if you're a green wine lover, you've found a much more practical alternative to the bottle. The stuff actually keeps for longer too. The box promises a month long freshness guarantee. No bottle wine can stay fresh that long. Some have longer life-spans after opening than others, but most tend to be at their best for two, three, maybe four days. You get to that week point, and you're pushing it. So not only do you get more for your money, you don't have to worry about taking that week or two off of wine to let your liver rest, or to switch to other libations, or whatever the reason.
No corkscrews to mess with, which also means no corks, which means the wine will never be "corked" (a certain percentage of corks contain a bacteria, which is harmless to humans, but effectively destroys the flavor of the wine). It's sturdier and easier to store. There are a lot of reasons why the box makes sense. But the true test of a good wine has nothing to do with packaging and everything to do with taste. I, in fact, recently had a wine with a label I thought was pretty cool, that turned out to be pretty nasty wine. Don't judge a book by it's cover and don't judge a wine by the vestibule it rests in.
We won't be doing that here. This particular wine, as I said earlier is an "Old Vine Zinfandel". The producer is Bota Box and this isn't the CSF 95 point '08 vintage, but the newest vintage, the 2010. I follow the directions on how to properly open the box (it's really not that difficult, but better to be safe than sorry), squirt some juice into my wine glass and go for it. There's no way to make this elegant, which makes me wonder what the Court of Master Sommeliers has to say about proper box wine service. I'm guessing they pretend there is no such thing and avoid the topic entirely.
The wine itself is a nice dark red, borderline purple color. The box says I should be detecting "ripe plum, blackberry, and cherry notes." There's also mention of a "rich mouthfeel" (cue the adolescent giggles) and also mention of "spice". Ok, yeah I suppose. I get the cherry and the spice. Not so sure about the plum, but palate descriptors are all subjective, so you very well might. There's almost something bacony about it, which is cool. Overall, it's very enjoyable. If you go online and read comments about the Bota Box wines, you get some pretty outstanding reviews. This is definitely better than my experiences with Franzia, for sure. And I will tell you this, I have had bottle wine that's been a lot worse than this. I should re-phrase to give proper credit: This wine is much better than a lot of its bottle counterparts. I'm a fan of Zinfandels, and while I've had better, this works for an everyday wine, which is the point I suppose. I venture a guess that you could get some purists to rave about this in a blind tasting.
And now it's time for a pairing. If we're going to drink box wine, let's try some box food. If box wine can get better, can frozen, boxed tv dinners as well? And how do they pair? I bought a "Chicken Tikka Masala", a traditional Indian curry dish, from Whole Foods' "Whole Kitchen" frozen line. I'm hoping the spice from the box Zin, goes well with the spice from the box curry. Fingers crossed. If you want the true, real-time feel of how this wine and food experience went down, stop reading and come back in a few minutes. Actually it may be longer than a few. Bulls vs. Heat, game 2, is going to start fairly soon. While I'm at it, I'm going to say, Bulls by 5 tonight. Bulls in 5 for the series. Okay. See ya in a bit for the results!
So I'm resuming at about 2pm the next day and the Bulls lost by 10. No more sports predictions for me! As for the Masala, it was pretty good. Boxed food is definitely a lot better than it used to be too. I remember the days where you'd get the Hungry Man dinner where the peas spilled over into everything and all the food vaguely tasted like the brownie. This wasn't as good as sitting down in an authentic Indian restaurant up on Devon Avenue, but for a quick, at-home meal, it did the trick.
As for the pairing, it was okay. Not spectacular, but I wouldn't say that it was bad either. The heat of the dish may have been more suited to a flavorful white like a Gewertztraminer, but it was fine. Truthfully, I've rarely found those spectacular pairings. I've had wines that work well with food, but only once can I say I had the PERFECT pairing and that was foie gras and Tokai. Spectacular. I think wine and food pairings are tricky. It's really not as easy as saying, reds with red meats and pasta and whites with poultry and fish. Palates are different and individual tastes are different. Experimentation is the key, if you ask me.
So what can I conclude about the box experience? This particular wine was pretty good, I've got to say. 95 point good? I don't know, but since I don't believe in this type of rating system, why not? As I said before, I appreciate the enthusiasm. The thing I like most about the box, though, is it's decent wine and it'll be around in my apartment for awhile. I can be confident that my $20 is going a long way, and that says a lot in times like these. I don't really do much entertaining here, so the wine I purchase, is most likely just for me. The box is perfect for this type of drinking, because of the value, yes, but also the shelf life. Four bottles guaranteed to last one month after opening. No need to feel pressure to guzzle it.
I'm not saying I'm only going to drink box wine now, but I may think twice when I just want to go throw down $20 on good, everyday wine. It'll be interesting to see just how much of the box we'll continue to see. And it'll also be interesting to see if producers can not only make it good, like it is now, but actually really great.
botabox.com
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