Box wine - it's not as bad as you might think

Ah, the box wine, tucked away in its own little section of the adult beverages section of your local grocery store. The poor people's swill, you might think. It tastes horrible, you might guess. Sweet red liquid disguised as wine, maybe.

Or maybe not.

You might not think so on first look, but wine from the box is improving. Sure, the price tag is low, but even the table wines are tasting better and better.

Sure, there are some wines out there that you would be wise to avoid. Personally, I can't stand the taste of Franzia's chillable red. It tastes like Hawaiian punch. I'm not even sure grapes were used in it, because it bears NO resemblance whatsoever to red wine.

But sometimes, cheap wine can be good wine. A few of the box table wines I've tried and enjoyed:

Peter Vella Burgundy. It doesn't taste like any one grape (Merlot, Pinot, Cabernet, Shiraz etc), and likely, uses a mix of multiple types of grapes. It tastes like a fairly generic, yet pleasant, red wine. But it tastes very fresh, fairly mild for a mixed red, and you can tell by the flavor that it has not been artificially sweetened. It is lightly acidic and is just a teeny bit sweet.

Peter Vella Chablis. Has a crisp, slightly sweet citrusy flavor to it. It's mild and very refreshing - a very good summer wine. Like the other bag-in-box offerings, it has a taste of freshness. Also not artificially sweetened.

Franzia Burgundy. Much like the Vella variety, it tastes like a generic red, but a pleasant one. It's similarly mild and just a wee bit sweet as well. Fresh tasting, again, and not artifically sweetened.

My father-in-law used to be a devout Carlo Rossi Burgundy drinker, out of the jug, but because of the oxygen exposure and the length of time he and his family would take to finish it (usually 1-2 weeks per jug), it would develop a harsh, chemically, vinegar taste as they got deeper into the jug. After buying him a box just because it was cheaper and bigger, he has now been converted permanently.

Make no mistake, the bottles are still where the subtleties of flavor lie that result from the homogenization of grapes and vintages. By no means am I saying that the box can truly replace the bottle on all occasions. However, the box wine is not only palatable, but is quite nice if you just want a nightly glass or two for a lower cost. Cheap wine can be good wine.