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Good Wine in a Box

finnbow

finnbow

The Dude Abides
I was down at my local liquor store (Calvert Woodley, Wash DC) yesterday and saw what I think is a first - a 3 liter box of good wine. It was a 2007 Reserve Cotes du Rhone from Alain Jaume. The salesperson, a friend for nearly 20 years, said it was the first wine imported into the US in a box with at least a 90 point rating. It normally goes for $12-15/bottle and is comparable in quality to some Châteauneuf-du-Pape from other houses.

Here's a look at the wine itself in bottle form.
http://www.wine.com/V6/Dom-Grand-Veneur-Cotes-du-Rhone-Reserve-2007/wine/99990/detail.aspx

The 3 liter box was $33 (equivalent to ~$8/bottle) - admittedly high for a "box wine," but an interesting and worthwhile experiment for a decent quality wine. The label says it will stay fully fresh for at least a month after opening. My wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think this stuff has its time and place. It's nice to be able to drink just the amount you want at any given time and not feel obligated to kill the bottle or store it away and let it degrade.
 
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That place isn't too far from my office. I may have to make a trip and try some of that.

Box wine is actually a much better storage solution than bottles. Mostly for the fact if you pour it right, you don't induce oxygen. I was just watching something on TV the other day about this, and apparently, because of all the cheap wines that the US has put in boxes, most of us associate box with cheap.

However, in other countries, they do use boxes, and they evidently a lot more popular there than in the US. They don't associate it with cheap wine.

I can't count all the great bottles of wine I didn't get to finish, because the flavor changed too much in a day or two for me to want to finish it, and wasn't in the mood to finish it the same day I opened it..

I might just have to make a little detour on the way home real soon..
 
I generally think that Argentine Malbec is about the best deal in quality wine at the moment, but it is a bit heavy for certain occasions/foods. This Cotes du Rhone is a nice change of pace. I have to be careful to not drink the whole 3 liters at one sitting just out of force of habit.
 
mmm.. Argentine Malbec.. we've picked up several different bottles of that over the last year or so, and I can't remember finding one we didn't like.. but you're right.. it doesn't go with everything, but it does go by itself pretty good...
 
similost said:
That place isn't too far from my office. I may have to make a trip and try some of that.
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Even though this is going to sound a bit silly for a box wine, let this stuff open up in the glass for a minute or two before drinking. Like any other decent red, it needs to breath a bit. When I first opened the box, I wasn't as impressed as the reviews indicated I should have been, but after a few minutes in the glass, it smoothed out very nicely indeed.
 
Any one have one of these Vinturi Wine Aerators. We got one about 6 months ago. I am amazed the diff they make.

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With reds, I almost always pour it into my decanter first and let sit with a little swirl every now and then...

Only the base on mine is a LOT larger than this.. a bottle will sit just under an inch deep in the bottom..

WINE_DECANTER.jpg
 
That's pretty interesting David.. While I was looking for a picture, I stumbled on this.. wonder how they work... they look kinda cool, but I just can't see it being the same as letting a bottle decant for a half hour or so.. I'd be interested to try out what you found..

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similost said:
mmm.. Argentine Malbec.. we've picked up several different bottles of that over the last year or so, and I can't remember finding one we didn't like.. but you're right.. it doesn't go with everything, but it does go by itself pretty good...
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If you go by CW, pick up a Maipe Malbec. It's on sale for ~$8/bottle and very nice.
 
from Sideways

Miles: [while tasting wine] It tastes like the back of a fxxxxxg L.A. school bus. Now they probably didn't de-stem, hoping for some semblance of concentration, crushed it up with leaves and mice, and then wound up with this rancid tar and turpentine bullsxxt. Fxxxxn' Raid.

Jack: Tastes pretty good to me.
 
Thanks finn.. I'll have to see about some of that.. Always looking for something new and good.. especially at a price like that.
 
Tuco said:
Miles: [while tasting wine] It tastes like the back of a fxxxxxg L.A. school bus. Now they probably didn't de-stem, hoping for some semblance of concentration, crushed it up with leaves and mice, and then wound up with this rancid tar and turpentine bullshit. Fxxxxn' Raid.

QUOTE]

Hey come on. I ain't talkin' about no stinkin' Merlot here!:D
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similost said:
That's pretty interesting David.. While I was looking for a picture, I stumbled on this.. wonder how they work... they look kinda cool, but I just can't see it being the same as letting a bottle decant for a half hour or so.. I'd be interested to try out what you found..

105609.jpg
Click to expand...


looks like a chemistry set. I like it, then again I could see myself breaking it in no time short.
 
Hmmm...yeah....I've seen some glassware resembling that, but those dudes weren't pouring wine through it. :scratch2:
 
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