I have been tasked, thus I ask the WB Community, anything decent that is widely available (Total Wine etc)? FWIW - If there is a good option at a brick and mortar store in the greater DC / Arlington VA area such as MacArthurs or Calvert Woodley, we can scurry on foot to procure.
As always, Thanks in Advance!
I would look for a Gallo Box Wine. I believe Black Box is their premium box wine followed by Vella.
Any wine Gallo makes, box wine, jug wine, premium wine etc is made to excel in it’s category. Their wines get a chuckle from many people here but their wines will always be preferred against others in their category.
Have no idea what is available in the DC Arlington area.
Tom
Second the Black Box. Solid stuff. It is however off-dry. The hardest thing to find is a dry red box wine. Most white wines will be drier than a red when it comes to box wine.
Just a suggestion…
The pour tap on the bladder inside the box is removable. I used to use them for taking wine, of my choice, camping. So if you want… ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
MacArthurs has 2020 Chateau d’Oupia - VDP de l’Herault Heretiques Rouge 3L BAG IN BOX for $25, which I haven’t had but historically it was a pretty decent producer.
Calvert Woodley has Domaine Grand Veneur (Alain Jaume) - Côtes du Rhône Réserve Boxed Wine 2019 (3L) for $43, another I haven’t had but from a historically solid producer. They also have a number of other boxed wines that I’m not familiar with.
Awesome ~ thank you for the replies!
One of my favorite bargain reds - old vine Carignan -delicious -
Also - TIZA Tempranillo - from importer Fran Kysela, whose products are easily found on the East Coast - another old vine goodie -
I haven’t seen them on the West Coast but in the Rockies I have seen Perrin’s rouge Cotes du Rhone in box/bags, and its pretty functional.
Saw this on one of Andre Mack’s videos, and it’s a fun little Passetoutgrain. If you can find it I think it’s worth the price, especially if oaky cab isn’t your thing.
If MacArthur’s has Heretiques, I’d definitely go that route and second everything that’s been said about it. Old vine Carignan from a good Minverois producer, imported by Louis/Dressner. Not f’ed with but not natty, it’s just classic southern-French soulfulness.
Also, I don’t see it on wine-searcher near you, but Folk Machine makes a wine called BYOB (which I’ve incorrectly identified as Parts and Labor in the past, mea culpa) that’s really solid. The winery is distributed in NoVa/DC (Potomac Selections), so you might be able to get someone to special order it for you.
Yeah, I’d also go with the Oupia of those mentioned. The passetoutgrain Jeff mentions sounds interesting as well.
Both Eric Texier’s Chat Fou and Lapierre’s Raisins Gaulois apparently come in 5L box, but it doesn’t appear that either makes it to the US. If either was an option I’d suggest those, and particularly the Lapierre as I think the format wouldn’t hurt the style at all.
I would not suggest the Black Box if you plan to actually drink it. I’ve had it on a few occasions and found it terrible.
Famille Perrin puts out La Vieille Ferme in a box
Big House Red used to be solid. Have not tried it in 5 years however.
I second the BYOB from the folks who do the Hobo and Ghostwriter wines. I also like the ‘From the Tank’ BiB by Jenny & Francois. A natty wine importer but the wine is far from it.
I think Edmund Burle is still doing the Cotes du Rhone in the box. I haven’t had it from box, but it’s always a solid wine from bottle.
anyone else see that Tablas Creek posted a boxed wine on social media recently?
That wine is drinkable. Black Box is not.
It has been a few years since I have had it but Black Box cab was good qpr at one time. One vintage we went to buy a box though and I could no longer drink it. Cant recall what vintage that was though.
Some recs from a trade publication-
I tried looking up some of the wines we used to take on kayak trips, removing the cardboard and just packing the plastic bladder of wine.
Sadly, none of our favorites from five years ago seem to be available.
Some good options above, although I don’t see them at my LWS.
I have boxed wines quite a lot when we go camping (where the bar is set low - drinkable fermented grape juice will do).
Probably the pick of the ones available to me are:
Bodegas Borsao Vina Borgia
Bota Box Old Vine Zinfandel
Note I’ve tried through quite a few of the black box and bota box wines. Bota box is better than black box (not saying much), and the old vine Zinfandel appears to be the pick of bota box.