Drink Inside the Box
By: Jameson Fink
Published: February 3, 2010

I have extolled the virtues of all wines esoteric, obscure, and bizarrely named and packaged.  An Austrian Zweigelt in a one-liter bottle sealed with a bottle cap?  Check.  A German Riesling called Dragonstone?  Done that.  Carmenere from Chile?  Naturally.
Now it's time to get really crazy, just in time for the big game on Sunday.  How about trying a Pinot Grigio (how insipid!) from California (pedestrian!) and in a box (the horror!).
Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the 2008 Bandit Pinot Grigio.  A $7ish one liter of crisp, dry white that is good.  Now, there are varying degrees of good.  But for a big 1L box of white wine (which really makes the 750ml bottle price around 5 bucks) it's easy to drink and very refreshing.  Naturally there are also some benefits carbon-footprint-wise of shipping a Tetra Pak vs. a bottle.  I don't get too wrapped up with that, as I walk to work and I will drink imports until I die, but it's an added bonus from an environmental (and marketing) standpoint.
This is the kind of wine you toss into a cooler, break out at a party (like Superbowl Sunday), on a boat, at the campsite, in the pool (be careful!) or the (ahem) hot tub, and don't have to worry about shattering glass.  And you can smush it down when you are done for easy disposal.
And if you have any hangups about pouring wine from a box?  Just get an empty wine bottle, rinse it out, float off the label, fill from the box to the bottle via a funnel, and tell your guests they will be enjoying a simple, refreshing white.
So how do you feel about box wine?
PS: It was very tasty with some salmon, quinoa, and a little cool cucumber/lemon salad.  It was not so tasty with my sub-par broiled asparagus.  The tips were nice and crispy but the ends were a little fibrous and woody.  I didn't trim them well enough.  I am a terrible person.

Jameson Fink is a wine buyer at a bustling grocery store in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.  He moved to Seattle from Chicago, where he dabbled in the restaurant and wine industries, five years ago to pursue a full-time career in wine.  He'd rather be drinking Champagne and eating popcorn right now.

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