Chasing the BEST box wine

[thecuriousone]

Hi All-

I've heard a lot about how the line of wine offered in boxes is approving. I understand that there are several french brands that offer high quality wine in a bag in box format. I found one that looked rinteresting at:

http://www.provenancewines.com

I will be travelling to France in November and have no desire to see another cathedral but am really interested in chasing the best wine in a box I can find.

My questions are this:

1. Where can I expect to find the largest selection of bag in box wines? People I have talked to have said supermarkets and/or Caviste? I would appreciate any suggestions.

2. Can anyone offer any suggestions of labels to look for? I would appreciate suggestions. Thanks in advance.

[TarteTatin]

It's funny, because when we go to tastings at very good wineries in France; they always have their own boxed wine available. We've seen this at numerous places. They have their really good wines, and lots of tourists, including us buy different wines.

However, the locals stop in and help themselves to either boxed wines---or---we've seen sort of gas station pumping areas. Instead of plus, etc, it's one for white, one for red, etc. The locals eat it up (or drink it up). They bring their own containers and everything.

So, I guess if you find a winery you like, you can get their vin ordinaire - "filled up" please!

I wish we had that here.

We haven't found any boxed we really like. Sometimes, we have found liter and a half bottles of "plonk". And, believe me, we've searched.

Hardy's was just ok (the white). The red gave me severe acid.

Lindeman's 1.5 is ok. There's a Languedoc 1.5 that's not bad...

[Dave Hatfield]

While I can't give you specific places to go unless you want to visit our local region I can offer a few tips on buying boxed wine.

- In most cases at the winery the wine in the box is the same as the wine in the bottle so long as the label is the same. For example, I buy an AOC Minervois in the box which is identical to the bottled version or at the same winery I can buy a Vin du Pays Minervois for a lower price in both box & bottle.

- Taste it. Most wineries will offer tasting of their various wines. Taste the one that's in the box & bottle & you'll know what the boxed wine is like.

- Don't be tempted to bring your own container UNLESS you are buying for immediate consumption. Even if you decant from the 'bidon' and re-cork the wine tends to go off quite quickly.

- Boxes on the other hand seem to keep for at least a month (maybe more, but none has ever lasted longer than that in our house).

- I would avoid buying in Supermarkets if possible. There's no way to taste & in many cases the Supermarket is buying more on price than quality.

- Wine merchants on the other hand are a good place to buy boxes. They can usually offer you a taste of what's in the box. Also, obviously, they'll have a wider selection than any individual winery.

Overall I now buy more wine in boxes than I do in bottles. Most of my favorite local wineries sell by the box and the price per liter works out to be quite a bit less. An example is a Chardonnay which sells for 3.60 Euro per bottle is 11 Euros for a 5 liter box. And its not a bad wine either.

[thecuriousone]

Dave-

Thanks so much for the detailed response. Yes, Iwould like any suggestions for specific locations from where ever you are. I plan to visit Villefranche-sur-Mer and would be thrilled if you had some references there. But this will not be the last trip to France and I will keep your suggestions for my return.

there are two reasons I'm looking to go as high up the quality ladder as I can from a box. one is post 911 carrying bottles back is just a fond memory and two, boxes can be packed with little concern that they will break leaking shards of glass and wine in my luggage.

Do you find may AOC wines in boxes? Thanks for all of your info, I appreciate it.

While I can't give you specific places to go unless you want to visit our local region I can offer a few tips on buying boxed wine.

- In most cases at the winery the wine in the box is the same as the wine in the bottle so long as the label is the same. For example, I buy an AOC Minervois in the box which is identical to the bottled version or at the same winery I can buy a Vin du Pays Minervois for a lower price in both box & bottle.

- Taste it. Most wineries will offer tasting of their various wines. Taste the one that's in the box & bottle & you'll know what the boxed wine is like.

- Don't be tempted to bring your own container UNLESS you are buying for immediate consumption. Even if you decant from the 'bidon' and re-cork the wine tends to go off quite quickly.

- Boxes on the other hand seem to keep for at least a month (maybe more, but none has ever lasted longer than that in our house).

- I would avoid buying in Supermarkets if possible. There's no way to taste & in many cases the Supermarket is buying more on price than quality.

- Wine merchants on the other hand are a good place to buy boxes. They can usually offer you a taste of what's in the box. Also, obviously, they'll have a wider selection than any individual winery.

Overall I now buy more wine in boxes than I do in bottles. Most of my favorite local wineries sell by the box and the price per liter works out to be quite a bit less. An example is a Chardonnay which sells for 3.60 Euro per bottle is 11 Euros for a 5 liter box. And its not a bad wine either.

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[Dave Hatfield]

I would think that around Villefranche sur Mer your best bet would be the wine merchants. You could go up in the hills or along the coast to Bandol as well, but I'm not sure what you'd find as I haven't been to these areas for some time.[

If you were going to Villefranche de Rourgue I could help as its only 20 minutes from where we live.

Good luck! quote=thecuriousone,Oct 11 2008, 09:55 PM]

Dave-

Thanks so much for the detailed response. Yes, Iwould like any suggestions for specific locations from where ever you are. I plan to visit Villefranche-sur-Mer and would be thrilled if you had some references there. But this will not be the last trip to France and I will keep your suggestions for my return.

there are two reasons I'm looking to go as high up the quality ladder as I can from a box. one is post 911 carrying bottles back is just a fond memory and two, boxes can be packed with little concern that they will break leaking shards of glass and wine in my luggage.

Do you find may AOC wines in boxes? Thanks for all of your info, I appreciate it.

While I can't give you specific places to go unless you want to visit our local region I can offer a few tips on buying boxed wine.

- In most cases at the winery the wine in the box is the same as the wine in the bottle so long as the label is the same. For example, I buy an AOC Minervois in the box which is identical to the bottled version or at the same winery I can buy a Vin du Pays Minervois for a lower price in both box & bottle.

- Taste it. Most wineries will offer tasting of their various wines. Taste the one that's in the box & bottle & you'll know what the boxed wine is like.

- Don't be tempted to bring your own container UNLESS you are buying for immediate consumption. Even if you decant from the 'bidon' and re-cork the wine tends to go off quite quickly.

- Boxes on the other hand seem to keep for at least a month (maybe more, but none has ever lasted longer than that in our house).

- I would avoid buying in Supermarkets if possible. There's no way to taste & in many cases the Supermarket is buying more on price than quality.

- Wine merchants on the other hand are a good place to buy boxes. They can usually offer you a taste of what's in the box. Also, obviously, they'll have a wider selection than any individual winery.

Overall I now buy more wine in boxes than I do in bottles. Most of my favorite local wineries sell by the box and the price per liter works out to be quite a bit less. An example is a Chardonnay which sells for 3.60 Euro per bottle is 11 Euros for a 5 liter box. And its not a bad wine either.

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