Bag Wine Transformation

[rlibkind]

I'm always in search of fine wine to accompany my Chef Boyardi spaghetti or beans & weenies, so when my neighborhood Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board outlet offered $12 3-liter bag boxes of an Aussie shiraz (Stonehaven) I was ready.

I opened the bag Saturday night, and the first tastes were awful. She Who Must Be Obeyed thought it "bitter"; all I could think of was dead yeast. After sitting in our jelly jars for a few minutes, it became barely drinkable (I was desperate).

Tonight, two nights later, the wine seems totally different. It won't be mistaken for McLaren Vale's finest, or even Chateau Sydney, but the bitterness and off flavors had vanished, and it actually tasted of fruit.

I'm perplexed: if the bag system is supposed to keep the wine as stable and unchanging as possible, and the wine was awful upon opening, why did letting it sit for a few days after opening change (improve) the taste? Any ideas?

[Rebel Rose]

I have no idea.

A few weeks ago I purchased a box of 'Three Thieves' pinot grigio out of sheer curiosity. The box is like broth or tomato boxes, with a plastic fliptop and a foil seal underneath. Cute! The wine was horrid. It tasted like watered down pear vinegar. We poured the wine out and tried to think of a use for the box. My eight-year-old nephew is planting beans in it.

As for why it got better, one can only assume that the wine was awful to begin with, and that oxidation could only improve it.