My Whine Blog

 My Whine Blog: Consider the box.

Welcome to my whine blog. Maybe it's your first time here. Don't worry: it's my first, too, and maybe my only. There is only so much you can say about my basic subject — the box — and if I have any more to say, I will publish number 2 in the series. In the meantime, here is number 1.

I don't know when the box got started in Wine world. When Marsha and I went to France for the years of April 1994 to April 1995, there was no such thing in Provence. Or if there was, they kept it hidden from me. What they did have was the cube. The cube came in different sizes: 5, 10, and 22 liters. The cube was a plastic jug which you took to the "Cave" (where they stored the wine) and got it filled up. It looked a bit like getting a gas can filled in the USA. 

We found a Cave quite close to where we lived, in the country near Lambesc. It was called Cellars of Rambeau, or something like that. Not a poet; a painter from Aix-en-Provence. I'll think of it. (Thought of it: Cezanne!) It was a twenty-five minute walk to the Cave where they actually made the wine, stored it in huge  tanks, and doled some of it out to locals like us. Mostly they bottled it, I think, and sold it farther afoot.They did what I considered a "great" rosé but it may have been too fresh for a conaisseur.

Years later when I started visiting caves in France again, I noticed they had adopted the box. Same idea as the cube: wine in quantity. But of course the bottle is hard to overcome, and why would you want to? That first time we bought a box in France was in Bordeau wine country. People who lived nearby were putting us up for the night because our VW camper was broken down so we supplied the wine from a nearby cave. Our hosts felt they had to decant it into bottles. An understandable error: it may have been an early encounter with the box.

That was French red wine from  Bordeau, so the wine was pretty good, but I was deeply disappointed with my first few boxed wines. I thought the price was right but the product was not. I looked down upon the wine. 

However, I have found a red and a white which are quite drinkable and I'm going to pas them on to you. If you don't care for wine because it gives you a headache, either you are not meant to drink wine (unlikely) or you've been drinking crap wine. Either sweet (only for very unique occasions) or having less than 12% alcohol. I may have to elucidate in future blogs.

If you can find a good red and a white you can tolerate and even enjoy, you are a lucky wino. The Chardonnay by Franzia is an answer to the "white." It's five liters and usually costs about $15. You may be surprised by my choice, but it's cheap and drinkable. The "red" is a little more obscure and it's only a three liter box, but it's more important to get a decent red: it makes you look like a more serious wine drinker.

It's called "Nighthawk Black" Cabernet Sauvignon in a Bota Box. If you know boxes, you'll have heard of the Bota Box. Otherwise, you should be able to get this box at Wal-Mart. It costs about $18. I know: 2 liters less and $1 more, but it's still pretty cheap and Cabernet Sauvignon (the name of the grape) is my favorite. Other red grapes include Merlot and Pinot Noir, to name only two. Of course.

That's it for this blog. There may be more down the Long and Wine-ding Road.