Visiting mum here in Sweden in July and as perhaps some of you know, Scandinavia is pretty much the BiB epicenter of the world. 58% of all wine sales come in BiB here in Sweden and the Scandinavian market was kind of the first one that went “upmarket” with it. Or perhaps more correctly; shedded some of the stigma, (even if they didn’t go upmarket), so consequently BiB has much less of a bad connotation here than in the US. Which from an environmental, wine preservation and shipping perspective makes total sense. I’ve always said that BiB will become big everywhere eventually.
That said, my first few BiB encounters here have not been great.
Ruby Zin (NV): Went in and grabbed this one without looking too closely. Thought it’d be fun with a “California Zin”. Boy, was that a mistake. Only after first sip did a realize what a huge mistake I’d made. This was one of those C-celebrity wines from some tired old popstar here. Wine was a sugary, sweet mess, with nothing going for it. Like sweet strabwberry juice, with no tannins, no finish, nothing. Later I read it had 12g/L of sugar - holy crap! I can’t believe this is one of the biggest sellers in the country. Atrocious. 60pts.
Chateau Ste Michelle Syrah (NV): After the humiliation of the Zin, I thought I’d better get a somewhat reputable US producer to restore the glory, so grabbed this. Well, better, but still very far from good. Over-oaked mess, with lots of plummy sweetness. 60% French oak and 40% American Oak it said, but felt rather like 200% American oak chips to me. Not good. 82pts.
Terre de Mistral Cotes-du-Rhone Reserve Organic (NV): The least offensive of the bunch, but still a rather mundane wine. Feels uninspiring, but is at least not a complete sweet syrupy mess. Some good tannins and a slightly aged feel, but not really filling anyone with any excitement. Village wine from the co-op, basically. 85pts.
Well, that was a bad run, but it also shows how much potential there is to be had for future producers. The BiB bar is pretty low. The market is already committed to the vessel, so now all they need is to improve quality of wine.
I was reading a very interesting article on the “premiumization of BiB” and the future it holds:
Will we see the same thing in the US within the next 10-20 years?
. My dad still serve it. I hate it, I never had a decent glass from a BiB.