06 May Thinking & drinking outside the box. Is box wine worth it?
Box wine.
You’re not only trying it, you’re buying it…at record levels.
Since the onset of sheltering in place, box wine sales are up double digits over a year ago.
As box wine flew off the shelves in March, the experts chalked it up to “pantry stocking” and/or “panic” buying. Sales would slow down quickly, they predicted.
They were wrong.
Box wine continued its extraordinary run in April. No sales data in yet for May but I wouldn’t be surprised if the trend holds up. Here’s why: compared to its bottled brethren, box wine is inexpensive, much more environmentally friendly and it stays fresher longer.
Given this phenomenal phenomena, what should a wine blogger do?
It’s obvious: try box wine.
As with bottled wine, the shelves are bulging with many…probably too many…box brands. To narrow it down, I asked a few followers for recommendations and checked sales figures to see which producers are currently winning the battle of the box.
As a result, I landed on…
Bota “RedVolution”, a California blend of zinfandel, merlot, cabernet sauvignon and petite sirah that is currently one of the top box wine sellers.
It’s cheap. The 1.5 liter box, which is the equivalent of two bottles, goes for less than ten bucks.
But is it worth it? Yes, if you like a sweet…and I mean very sweet…red wine.
I don’t.
Is it worth trying?
Absolutely.
Bota sells boatloads of this blend. As I always say, everyone has their own palette. What doesn’t work for one wine drinker might work perfectly for another. This just didn’t work for me.
While checking out the comments on the Vivino website, I came across a perfect…and hilarious…summary of this wine: “Went well with the disposable cups in my North Dakota hotel room”. Nailed it.
Now, I’m on a mission…a mission to try more box wine.
In the meantime, Bota RedVolution is easy to find at major groceries. Give it a whirl. At less than ten dollars, what do you have to lose…besides ten dollars?