Tablas Creek Vineyard of Paso Robles has a reputation of being a bit of an innovator in the wine biz. In the 1990s they introduced California to Rhone varieties and blends. Earlier this year they released quality wines in a three liter box, the equivalent of four bottles.
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| Boxed wine, it's not just for guzzling! |
They said this was done for environmental concerns, saying half of the carbon footprint for a winery is due to glass bottles. A 3L box of wine weighs about six pounds; four bottles are ten pounds, so that's great for shipping.
Box wines are good for a wine where you'll want a glass every night or so over the course of a few weeks. Boxed wines are supposedly good for up to six weeks, whereas a bottle is two or three days. Premium box wine sales are increasing significantly, with premium meaning over $20 a box. Bota Box, Black Box, and Kirkland Signature are usually considered solid choices for boxed wine all they all retail for $18 or less.
Tablas Creek has a box rosé, white table wine blend, and red table wine blend, all from their Patelin de Tablas line. They all retail for (you'd better sit down) $95; equal to $23.75 a bottle. The Tablas Creek website says they are all sold out. If you find any in stores, it will probably be less, though I could not find any advertised online.
These wines are highly rated for their price point. I can vouch for the red Rhone-style blend, as I've had it before.
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