Today is Wine Blogging Wednesday, hosted by BoxWines.org. And, the theme is not surprising considering the host–wines in boxes or other alternative packaging.
Plenty of bloggers will cover the advantages to wine boxes (primarily their convenience and, more importantly to me, preserving the freshness of the wine) in detail, so I won’t do that here. Instead, let’s get right to the reviews.
Everyone in the U.S. has heard of Franzia wine, which has a reputation for being cheap and, well, uninteresting to wine enthusiasts. Franzia sells a whole lot of its wines, so Franzia has helped box wines develop a certain expectation in consumers. But, just as screw cap enclosures are slowly becoming accepted by the wine world, wine boxes are also showing up with higher quality wines in them.
For this month’s WBW, I wanted to find a couple of box wines that were off my beaten path. I found two over at Sam’s in Chicago that I hadn’t heard of before, Killer Juice 2004 and Cuvee de Peña 2004.
Killer Juice comes in a three liter box, and is California Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly it seems from coastal regions. It has a nice color, moderate aromas, and a pleasant if not inspiring group of flavors, but the alcohol seems to dominate. A short finish rounds it out. I would give this wine a 75/100. The packaging is what originally caught my eye, with its black background and bright red flames reminiscent of hot rods.
Cuvee de Peña comes from France’s Rhône region, and is a blend of various Rhône varietals. It has a very nice color, moderate to powerful aromas that are pleasant but not complex, and a nice balance of flavors, alcohol, tannins, etc. It has a longer finish, but still somewhat short. I would rate this wine at 82/100. As I mentioned in the podcast on box wines, when both this and the Killer Juice are sitting on the counter together, I gravitate toward Cuvee de Peña.
Both of these boxes ran at about $20 (US), so they are well priced for the quantity (three liters each). The better bargain is definitely the Cuvee de Peña.
Thanks to the crew at BoxWines.org for a great theme this month!
Technorati Tags: Wine, Wine Review, Box Wines, Wine Blogging Wednesday
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