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- wine in a juice box
Anyone seen the Three Thieves Pinot Grigio (http://www.snooth.com/wine/three-thieves-pinot-grigio-bandit-2/ ) in the little kid's juice box? The wine wasn't that great but I loved the package... just enough for me to use a bit during cooking with glass left for enjoying with dinner! Anyone seen anything else like this out there, but with something tastier?
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76 - Reply by andrew, Oct 4, 2008.
Seems those new "Tetra Pak" wines are becoming more common, especially as fuel costs keep increasing. (Cheaper shipping since they weigh less, and take up less space. Plus, less cardboard needed to protect the bottles) I've tried French Rabbit, which has a couple of types http://www.snooth.com/wine/french-rabbit-chardonnay-tetra-pak/ which I thought was decent (it comes in a 750ml box).
Philip wrote about Three Thieves in the blog - He was also impressed with the packaging: http://blog.snooth.com/2008/07/08/standing-out-from-the-crowd/
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3027 - Reply by Philip, Oct 4, 2008.
Ive not seen individual portion packs here yet - 3 thieves is the first ive heard of it. The UK has been doing it for a while, but really, i'm expecting a backlash against alcohol inside a kiddle sized juice box.
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113 - Reply by RachelNYC, Oct 5, 2008.
I have tried the French Rabbit Chardonnay and it is decent and would be great for a summer picnic. It is one big juice box that holds 1L of wine though. A very big juice box for big kids?
I don't really see the difference between a individual sized tetra pak and something like the Sofia Minis. Kids shouldn't get to monopolize square packaging and bendy straws. :)
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1747 - Reply by Gregory Dal Piaz, Oct 6, 2008.
The French Rabbit Pinot Noir is perfectly decent as well, light but decent. Rachel you're right, adults need bendy straws too. I think I'm going to be wine in a juice box for Halloween!
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9 - Reply by mfriedensohn, Oct 6, 2008.
Philip, Im curious about the backlash -- whats with US consumer being so unaccepting? I really think it is too bad, at least for the lower market segment of wine consumption. In Italy, France, and UK you can buy low end (and high end!) wines in juice boxes, though I suppose it is more of a cultural thing -- ie drinking vino during lunch in Italy is normal (must be the two hour lunch breaks). I would also like to throw out that this stigma of twist off wine caps really needs to change in the US, with the global shortage of proper cork and the fact that a higher percentage of corked wines end up being turned... we really should try to turn it around...
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- Reply by mfriedensohn, Oct 6, 2008.
I also thought Id throw out there that the ENVIRONMENT should be a huge driver to going to cardboard! the carbon footprint of bottling and transporting is incredibly high, not to mention costly, go cardboard! wonder if metal works at all (like the champagnes you see in small cans) or does that ruin the delicate flavors or some better wines... hmm
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92 - Reply by Sung, Oct 7, 2008.
I think there can be some portion of the US population that might see wine juice boxes as being targeted to children, the way Camel used a cartoon Camel to lure young smokers.
But in terms of taste, wouldn't the closed in cardboard box with the straw prevent the wine the to breath and open up the way it would in a glass?
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1747
- Reply by Gregory Dal Piaz, Oct 7, 2008.
Well I think we have to be honest here. Most of the wine that has been packaged to date for sale in box in this country has been crap. The box wine business has been the domaine of big industrial producers. In Italy even smaller, regional coop have packaged wine in more environmentally friendly containers for years. The most friendly being the glass liter bottle that get re-used forever. While glass is expensive to recycle and there call for colored glass is relatively low it's not a bad solution for local wine consumption. The big problem is in shipping 1lb glass bottles and the requisite packaging that they require.
We are all excited about alternate forms of packaging but lets not forget that there are plastics, unrecyclable plastics, being used as liners and bladders in most of these products. I am all for reducing one's foot print but there is no single solution. Those who are fortunate to buy wine locally have their best solution already. For other producers, Cuvee de Pena, French Rabbit, Three Thieves being stand-outs, there has to be as much attention paid to what goes in the box as to the box. It's an easy advertising gimmick to say environmentally friendly packaging but, much as was the case with organic wines, if the wines suck the consuming public will not adopt the new item and it will be damaged in the publics mind.
Just my one cent for the moment.
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3027
- Reply by Philip, Oct 7, 2008.
Greg - Europe does a better job at this. 15 years ago the box wine was all crap, but now there's some decent (not excellent, but decent) stuff in boxes that i see them a lot more when im back home
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1747
- Reply by Gregory Dal Piaz, Oct 7, 2008.
I agree. They also have a head start. I can recall boxed wine from 2 decades ago in Italy that was perfectly decent and very inexpensive. It's funny and sad that they still do a solid job with placing good wine in these economy enclosures yet some of the stuff we get from Europe in Boxes continues to be dreck. Somebody has got to take the point on this and with the expenses involved it will have to be a major player willing to devote several years and substantial funds to an educational advertising campaign. With our current global financial situation I don't expect it to happen in the immediate future.
