Booze for the Holidays - Box Wine Edition

Cafe Society
1

With out of town friends coming for the New Year holiday, I got my booze shopping done on Friday. This year we are making said friend’s traditional eggnog (his departed father’s version) rather than mine: raw eggs, cream, milk sugar, Canadian mist (boooo!!!) and Silver Rum. My parents are from the Northeast, so I’d normally be an all rum sort of guy.

Anyway, while I was at the store, I simultaneously tried to carry out my white wine plan - my wife likes Sauvignon Blanc, but is a lightweight. Buying a normal 750 mL bottle means she feels forced to drink it all in 2-3 days before it goes bad, and ends up over doing it as a response. I also occasionally want a decent but not amazing white for cooking - whether marinade for seafood or poultry, or as a sauce base.

As a result I intended to get a number of slightly upscale singles, whether in bottles or the cardboard cartons about the size of a large school milk. But to my utter horror, my chosen local liquor mart only had the infamous Sutter Home mini-4 packs in plastic bottles. NO.

So, having read good things in recent years about value-for-money and reasonable quality in the 3L boxes, I did a quick online review and ended up buying a Black Box 3L SauvBlanc for $19.99. At that price, it’s like buying 4 normal size bottles at $5 each, which is a solid value.

After the wife sampled, she found it quite good, certainly at least as good as the Cupcake brand that’s normally her preference as an inexpensive no frills SauvBlanc used in casual cooking and home drinking, especially at $9.99 for a 750 mL bottle. And since it should last in box for 3+ weeks, it seems a good fix for her drinking and our cooking needs through the holiday season.

What experiences (good, bad, indifferent) have you folks had with Box Wines of the Modern Age? I mean, I don’t expect it to compare with high end, aged or single vintage bottles, but I’d agree that it’s as good as most of the casual dining (say $10-20 bottles) I’ve bought or been served in the last decade. What brands have worked for you, and which have been a hard NO if any?

Let all have a (safely mind you) drunk and happy New Year to avoid thinking of the worst, and instead hope for the best!

2

Agreed, pick one or the other. I’m partial to brandy in homemade eggnog, myself.

3

On several occasions, my wife and I have bought a 16 litre box of Magnotta Wines’s “French Blend” (currently listed at 113.75 Canadian dollars on their web site). Neither of us are connoisseurs, but I think we’d both agree that it tastes almost exactly like red wine.
https://www.magnotta.com/Product/French-Blend-Red-16L/187

4

Box wines have gotten better in the last decade, and some of them are legitimately decent. There’s still cheap junk of course but there are pretty good options to be found.

My personal turning point was when a chef friend of ours in Paris served us a Côtes de Gascogne from a box on a visit to his house a few years ago. It wasn’t a grand cru or anything but it was perfectly drinkable as an everyday home wine. And if it’s good enough for a Parisian culinarian, who am I to object?

5

Yeah, I go with a no-name rum that has vanilla mixed in - great for egg nog, and this thread has reminded me I need to score some.

As for box wines, I’ve mentioned before I think it’s the sensible option for gatherings. I’ve had no complaints about Black Box; rather I’ve had request from elderly relatives to bring some.

6

My gf likes a glass or three of wine with dinners. We always have two boxes going, one red and one white. She likes Fish Eye.

7

My first legal purchase of alcohol was a box of Franzia. Its quality did not degrade noticeably over two months.

I’ve enjoyed some split-base cocktails, but can’t say I’ve tried this one.

8

We regularly purchase the Black Box Pinot Noir. Will it win any prestigious awards? Unlikely, but it’s at least as palatable as any of the random $10 to $20 single bottles of wine, which we also purchase from time to time.

9

About 50% of the year I keep a box of Black Box Malbec in the fridge. Goes with just about anything and can be served anywhere from chilled to room temp. depending.

Personally, I put brandy in my eggnog. That bottle of E&J is in the liquor cabinet for a reason, dammit!

10

I would definitely recommend Bota box wines—very decent, and as nice a wine as I’m likely to need, apart from a special occasion dinner.

I think their Nighthawk range is particularly good, even if it sounds like a Sanford & Son punchline!

11

I’ve tried some Bota offerings. Their Old Vine Zinfandel is pretty good. The Shiraz , however…

12

Costco (KIrkland Cab and Pinot Grigio) are perfectly serviceable and well rated. The Cab is well balanced as some of the box wines tilt sweet.

13

Thing is, a $20 restaurant bottle is probably a $7 wine in the liquor store. As far as I can tell, the first quality jump is around the $14-15 range for white wine. It’s quite a bit better if you’re getting $15 liquor store wine than if you’re getting $7.

I’ve had box wine that’s drinkable, but most are kind of rough. “Headache wine” is what my wife and I refer to them as, because they’re the sort of wines that moderate consumption (2-3 glasses) will give you a headache independent of a hangover. The Black Box Sauvignon Blanc ones are decent, as are the TJ’s Block 67 Sauvignon Blanc.

14

That was my fault for not being clear - I mean $10-20 at the liquor store. I’m not much of a wine or beer drinker myself, and even if I was, the costs per bottle / per glass at restaurants inflame me far too much to purchase. That’s why I tried to use her default of Cupcake wine at $9.99 a bottle as a reference. If my wife and I are eating out, neither of us normally gets drinks at all, and if it’s casual dining, for her it’s more likely a single beer.

And yeah, my wife has that issue with cheap reds. Any cheap red (certainly anything under $15 that you mention) will give her killer headaches from a single glass, although a quality red doesn’t have that issue. Which is why she switched from drinking reds to whites in the first place!

15

I was really disappointed by the Bota shiraz. I do like their RedVolution. It’s not too dry or too sweet.

https://www.botabox.com/wines/redvolution/

16

Yep. RedVolution is a decent enough summer swilling wine. As you say…not too dry, not too sweet. And it won’t clash with your cheeseburger or chili dog.

17

I scored a Bota Box Zinfandel once and it was quite nice! Haven’t seen it since, though… :pensive: