Wine Boxes - Taking You Back To Student Days!

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
menzies

menzies

Guru
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
7,233
Location
USA
Vessel Name
SONAS
Vessel Make
Grand Alaskan 53
A thread for those that like a glass of vino.

I thought I saw a conversation about this on here, but did a search and couldn't find anything.

When we leave on an extended cruise to the Islands we take our wine with us. We have a number of the black milk crates from Home Depot and fill them with bottles. We save our old socks and put them on the bottles to stop them rattling and they store them all over the boat! They are heavy and take up a lot of space.

We usually can't take enough to last the cruise so end up buying over priced not-so-good stuff locally.

Recently we have been reading a number of reviews on the latest versions of box wines. With some very well rated. Regularly coming out in top for reds is Black Box Wines. These are three liter boxes - no rattling and the best part is that once opened no air gets in so they last as long as you need them too (not that long for us).

So tomorrow is shopping day for me - a Publix run and then an ABC Liquor run. I am going to grab a box of each of these:

https://www.abcfws.com/black-box-cabernet-sauvignon/160909

https://www.abcfws.com/black-box-malbec-box/161209

https://www.abcfws.com/black-box-red-blend/166509

And because this also rated very well:

https://www.abcfws.com/bota-box-nighthawk-black-box/313709


Will report back after the taste test!
 
I prefer Franzia Merlot.

They contribute a portion of sales to a Vet program.

Out of Florida it comes in 5 lt boxes and often are discounted if buying a case of 4.

In FL all I have seen is 3 lt boxes.

Less expensive than Black Box and to me good enough.
 
Pretty common in France. No grand cru but you can find very decent ones. Can find red white or rose.
Nowadays it is in 3L, 5L or even 10L bags.
When I was young we were having that in jugs that were called "cubi" as they were like a cube of 5 or 10 liters.
We used to get to a cellar and fill up as needed. Now you can still go to cellars to fill up from the reserve but most of them switched to bags.
One funny thing, in Martinique they have the same but with rhum instead of wine, and very good rhum! :)

L
 
Last edited:
About a decade ago, when I used to drink, I would buy boxed wine with mylar bags inside the box. Best ever container for my home brewed universal photography developer...no light and no oxygen :thumb:
 
Black Box Cab. Great cruising wine! 18.99 for 4 750ml bottles. Compare that to Concha y Toro for $12+ per bottle in Nassau.

It doesn't matter how many boxes I put aboard, when the last box is empty, it's a sobering day.
 
Here in Aus and also NZ, they are called cask wines, and yes, excellent and great keeping good to the last drop. Excellent way to have wine of medium to good quality, and perfect for taking on a boat, especially because of the space and storage issue, but also when it comes time to dispose of the empties. The inner bag screws up to almost nothing, and the box can be stamped flat and recycled as cardboard. :thumb:
 
I think the container was invented in Australia. Air can`t get in and oxidize the wine. The quality,since the early days of 3L "flagons", is way improved.
Wine tastes better on a boat. We`ve "lost" the odd bottle which emerges eventually, the better for age.
 
Black Box is our go to for a daily wine on boat and RV.
We prefer the Malbec & Cab. They come in smaller size (500 ml?) that we have picked up for a white where we aren't big consumers but keep on hand for guests.

Surprisingly the Wally World Oak Leaf in bottles or box is not bad for about the least expensive wine we have had (~$12 / 3l box).

To me you can't beat the convenience of storing and small amount of (all collapsible) packaging for disposal. [emoji106][emoji106]
 
We've used boxed wine for many years now. Black Box is good, and the most widely mass distributed, along with Bota Box, also good. Usually about 16 bucks at Costco and others. However, go to Total Wines or Trader Joe's who have a variety of alternatives worthy of experimentation both much cheaper and more expensive. The Total Wines folks usually have someone on staff who will walk you through them. For those on a budget, the Trader Joe's branded house wines are quite drinkable.
 
We take all of the cardboard off our supplies before we leave. Wonder how we could do it with these boxes. I know the pourer is on the bag so we could still pour the wine but it would be great if we could create a stand for the bag.
 
Greetings,
Mr. m. A stand for the bag? Take an empty windshield washer container. Cut a large hole in the top while keeping the handle on. Cut appropriate hole in the side near the bottom for the spout. Walla!
 
Another post here about running a generator to keep beer cold made me think of this. I just bought my first cruiser with refrigeration (and a generator) and haven't used the fridge much. Haven't started the genny. It simply isn't needed.

Use evaporative cooling. Take your wine bag out of the box and put it in a cloth bag. We use an old army surplus (binocular?) bag made of heavy canvas. Soak the bag (fresh water works best) and put it somewhere that the wind gets to it but not the sun. In a couple hours (might take a second soak), you will have 45 degree wine on an 85 degree day. Beer (usually aluminum cans to save space when empty) are put in small burlap sack and tossed overboard. I don't drink while driving, so this works great. Dropped down about 20 feet they quickly get to 50 degrees where I am. Then left in the wet bag on deck, they can get a little cooler and stay that way, but 50 is a cold beer on a hot day.

Of course, it depends on your local air and water temps and your humidity. But it works great in many places. Where it doesn't get the beverage cold enough, it would still quickly cool a 95 degree beer to 65 and then put it in the fridge.

As to wine, I once took some nice expensive bottles of wine up through Canada. I declared them when clearing customs in Victoria. I had to pay duty, which involved me walking downtown (20 minutes) with the customs inspector to the office where they took payment. They asked me how much I had paid and I told them. Duty was exactly what I had already paid for the wine. Probably the most expensive wine I've ever had.

The solution was simple. I had a home canning setup for canning in tin cans. On my next trip to Canada, I had quite a few tin cans marked "Beans." Beans to paying 100% custom duties.

I have never had a guest that complained that their beer wasn't cold enough. Those types don't ever get aboard.
 
Florida has some weird liquor laws such that the 5L boxes are not available here. Franzia makes a chianti that is an excellent value for the money. Only problem is, they only sell it in the 5L size. So, every time we travel outside of Florida we look for it, to bring home. And every time our daughter comes to visit, she brings at least one box in her luggage.

When taking wine with us on our boating trips, we usually take them out of the cardboard, put the plastic/mylar bag into a sturdy cloth bag, and carry them that way.
 
People poo-poo box wine but when it's about the only thing you can get in the boondocks, it goes down pretty well. Vella is a good brand up here and I usually buy their cabernet and chardonnay.
 
Haven't tasted a red box wine yet that made it to my daily drinker's list. We usually take up 8-10 cases for our 4 month annual sojourn out of Petersburg AK as the selection and prices there leave a lot to be desired. We like a variety of vintners and grapes and start collecting when we get back in the fall for next years trip. Most of our wines we buy at Costco as they always seem to have made good choices for their stock and at good prices. We'll also get some from Trader Joes and some from our local wine shop. I gave up on Total Wine after trying five or six of the sales staff recommendations and found them seriously lacking. Always seemed like they were pushing a wine because corporate told them to.

When we use to drive up through BC to catch the ferry at Prince Rupert to get to Petersburg, we would have the barge line take the cases to Petersburg to avoid hassles at the border. Ran about $125 for 10 cases and never had any problems with delivery. As the Alaska Ferries are not running yet (if ever) this Summer, we will loading our van up with provisions and parts and putting it on a barge next week. We will be following the next week by plane.

Tator

Tator
 
Box Wines are Great!

Last year some friends joined us at anchor and we blind-tested some box wines against some expensive ($30-50) wines. All cabernet or cab blends. The box wines compared very well. One heathen (me) actually top-rated the Costco cab!

Wine-making has dramatically improved all around the world during the last twenty years. It is hard to find a really bad bottle of wine if you're willing to spend $10.00. Box wines are so good on a boat - easy to store, and once opened they hold up well.

We are huge fans of Kirkland (Costco) boxed Cabernet Sauvignon. At around $13-14 for a 3-liter box it is hard to beat in terms of value.

I'm trying to find a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in a box format. No success thus far...
 
I may be wrong, but I'm thinking that having to pull a cork out of a bottle forces a certain level of self control in the excessive consumption of wine. Don't want to come across as being judgmental, but there seem to be a few here who need more than a push button spigot to maintain reasonable consumption levels. :rolleyes:

Ted
 
O C Diver said:
I may be wrong, but I'm thinking that having to pull a cork out of a bottle forces a certain level of self control in the excessive consumption of wine. Don't want to come across as being judgmental, but there seem to be a few here who need more than a push button spigot to maintain reasonable consumption levels. :rolleyes:

Ted
Click to expand...

I always find that when someone says something like "don't want to come across as being judgmental," means that they already know what they are about to say or write is going to sound exactly that. So why say or write it?

We had a neighbor stop us in the street recently (about a month ago) after an NFL player neighbor had a run-in with authority. He started by saying "I'm sorry but I know this is going to sound racist but..."

I immediately stopped him and said: "if you already know and are apologizing that what you are about to say is going going to sound racist then why say it?" We called our dog over and walked on. Haven't seen him up at the country club since to see how he will handle it! Don't really care either!

In this case you are basically saying that you believe there are folks with alcohol issues on here who should not have easier access to wine brought by a 3L box. I don't really think that it is appropriate to bring that up on this thread whether it is true or not.

Or maybe I missed the humor and am taking your post too seriously?
 
Last edited:
O C Diver said:
I may be wrong, but I'm thinking that having to pull a cork out of a bottle forces a certain level of self control in the excessive consumption of wine. Don't want to come across as being judgmental, but there seem to be a few here who need more than a push button spigot to maintain reasonable consumption levels. :rolleyes:

Ted
Click to expand...
Very little "cork pulling" these days here. Many high end wines come under a screw cap, and are all the better for it, no "corked" wines.

There is a level of PUI on TF which might support your concerns. But that`s their problem, except if the post makes it mine.

I get bottled wine(usually boxes of 6) from a well known Australian wine maker, and happy to keep it that way. I don`t feel the need to drink all 6 the minute they are delivered, in fact I do some careful home cellaring.
 
menzies said:
I always find that when someone says something like "don't want to come across as being judgmental," means that they already know what they are about to say or write is going to sound exactly that. So why say or write it?

We had a neighbor stop us in the street recently (about a month ago) after an NFL player neighbor had a run-in with authority. He started by saying "I'm sorry but I know this is going to sound racist but..."

I immediately stopped him and said: "if you already know and are apologizing that what you are about to say is going going to sound racist then why say it?" We called our dog over and walked on. Haven't seen him up at the country club since to see how he will handle it! Don't really care either!

In this case you are basically saying that you believe there are folks with alcohol issues on here who should not have easier access to wine brought by a 3L box. I don't really think that it is appropriate to bring that up on this thread whether it is true or not.

Or maybe I missed the humor and am taking your post too seriously?
Click to expand...

When you see :rolleyes: , it means sarcasm ( a joke, tongue in cheek, not something to be taken seriously ).

Ted
 
Wifey B: No boxed champagne so count me out. :rofl:

Haven't had any in ages. Didn't even for my birthday and our wedding anniversary because we were out of town. We've talked about celebrating them in private in the next week or so. Oh, time for the Cristal or Dom Perignon. I think Dom Perignon "P2" Brut, 2000. I just checked to see what we have. :D

Sorry to have interrupted, back to the previously scheduled programming of boxed wines of which I know nothing about.

What do you guys think about wine by the glass, like Copa di Vino? I know they became a huge hit even though no one on Shark Tank would invest because the owner was an arrogant p...k and no one wanted to do business with him. He even made a second appearance and got an offer but turned it down. :)
 
O C Diver said:
When you see :rolleyes: , it means sarcasm ( a joke, tongue in cheek, not something to be taken seriously ).

Ted
Click to expand...

OK, so taken! Maybe my recent other experience has me a bit PO'd. :angry:
 
BandB said:
Wifey B: No boxed champagne so count me out. :rofl:

Haven't had any in ages. Didn't even for my birthday and our wedding anniversary because we were out of town. We've talked about celebrating them in private in the next week or so. Oh, time for the Cristal or Dom Perignon. I think Dom Perignon "P2" Brut, 2000. I just checked to see what we have. :D

Sorry to have interrupted, back to the previously scheduled programming of boxed wines of which I know nothing about.

What do you guys think about wine by the glass, like Copa di Vino? I know they became a huge hit even though no one on Shark Tank would invest because the owner was an arrogant p...k and no one wanted to do business with him. He even made a second appearance and got an offer but turned it down. :)
Click to expand...

Sorry, we're Bollinger drinkers.

I know, lower class. But heh, it gets us by.
 
Robster_in_edmonds said:
We are huge fans of Kirkland (Costco) boxed Cabernet Sauvignon. At around $13-14 for a 3-liter box it is hard to beat in terms of value.
Click to expand...

The Costco Kirkland Cab is my everyday red in 1.5L bottles. In a blind test, most $20 reds can't beat it.
.
 
Ken E. said:
The Costco Kirkland Cab is my everyday red in 1.5L bottles. In a blind test, most $20 reds can't beat it. Except for any winesnob coefficient that may exist.:eek:
.
Click to expand...

Problem with the Kirkland (and we have tried their Malbec which is good) is that it sits right next to some decent Josh and Joel Gott!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Loveaboard Slips for sale Belhaven NC, 27k
Replies
6
Views
2K
READY
R
D
Wakespeed WS500 Regulator monitoring app
Replies
14
Views
2K
MeltemiCaz
M
NWboater2
8D starting battery replacement
2
Replies
44
Views
7K
SeaDogAK
SeaDogAK
Hydraulicjump
A dearth of trawlers in the Adriatic and Ionian
Replies
10
Views
1K
Xlantic
Xlantic
Ertyqway
Crossing Back to USA from Canada - CBP App?
Replies
5
Views
2K
twistedtree
twistedtree

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom