A couple of years ago, before it became the new “new” thing, I was on a campaign to get my customers to drink rosés. Talk about fun. People would look at me as if I were asking them to drink sweet paint remover. But because I’m a pain in the ass, and wouldn’t let it alone, they eventually tried my rosés and, lo and behold, they liked them. Well, the rest is history, because others took up the same cause and now none of us can keep the stuff in stock. These days practically every winemaker makes one, and makes good money because of it. So much for paint remover.
My new cause is the box. Another round of gasps and really strange looks from folks who catch sight of my selection prominently displayed in the front of the store. “Is this stuff any good?” “Is it actually drinkable?” Here we go again.
The answer is yes. It’s only a box. It’s what’s inside that counts. I’m referring to well made wines, in particular the Bandit series from California, and the Yellow & Blue Malbec from Argentina. These are packaged in one litre tetra packs (you know — those boxes that are used for high-end tomato products from Italy?) Also out there are those 3 litre (4 bottles) bag-in-a-boxes which are increasingly being filled with wonderful wines from France and Australia.
Forget the crap that came out of California (Alamaden, Bronco wines, etc.) Those are the culprits that gave boxes a bad name. The new generation of boxed wines are good, affordable, and are doing their bit to reduce the carbon footprint in this world. There was a great op-ed piece about this by Tyler Colman in The NY Times just a couple of weeks ago.
Anyway, this is just another request by Yours Truly to put aside your prejudices, forget about yesterday, and open up your minds to new things. And those of my customers who have been persuaded to try a box? They’ve all come back for more, by the armload. Think about it — how long did it take you to try a screwcap Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand? That didn’t kill you, did it?
