Wine snobs now welcome

‘From the Vineyard’ column by N. O’Phile in THE TABLET, 15 August2024

Bag in a Box wine may not yet have come of age, but it is certainly on its way to maturity. When ten years ago this column surveyed the supermarket scene, there was little to recommend boxed wine beyond convenience. The problem was that wine boxes were rarely filled with anything worth drinking. Their contents were fine for a camping holiday, a picnic or a party where quantity mattered more than quality – or as a standby – but not for smart occasions.

However, beyond the supermarket shelves, such venerable wine purveyors as the Wine Society now sells 14 wines in boxes, including its perennially popular Society Claret and its own White Burgundy, alongside wine from well-known houses such as Famille Jaume, whose Côtes-du-Rhône is also sold by the Wine Society. At Laithwaites, too, its most popular red, Cabalié, and many others, are also available in 3-litre boxes.

Convenience is still a major advantage of boxed wine for regular and occasional drinkers alike: pouring a single glass rather than opening a bottle or debating the wisdom of opening another bottle, is a distinct advantage, albeit in both directions, of course. That said, there is something undeniably satisfying about a seemingly endless supply of wine.

But wine in a box is not only cheaper, but better for the planet. Bottling costs, including capsule and cork, are far greater than plastic and cardboard production: manufacturing costs of boxes are a fifth of bottle costs; and glass is expensive to transport and often not well recycled.Boxes, on the other hand, are roughly 40 per cent lighter than bottles and cardboard, and the aluminium-based pouches can be recycled and upcycled. Value, convenience and sustainability are a trinity of undeniable advantages.

There is, of course, a conspicuous limitation. While the taste of the same wine in boxed and bottled formats is identical, wine in a box does not “grow”. Even if the unopened wine is stored in a cellar for years, it will not mature any further.

The box format is suited, in other words, for wine that is intended for immediate consumption. As opposed to wine in cartons, Bag in a Box wine most commonly comes in 2.25 and 3-litre sizes and is said to remain fresh and at its best for four to six weeks, but it is safer to assume one month maximum.

The following recommendations, two white and two red, pass muster, and all, save one, are in 2.25 litre boxes. Aldi’s Amarillo Sauvignon Blanc (£13.99, equivalent to £4.66 a bottle); Sainsbury’s Torres Viña Sol (£20 or £6.66 a bottle, but reduced until 15 September to £17, so an unmissable £5.67 a bottle equivalent); Tesco’s Porta 6 Lisbon (£21.25 or £7.08 a bottle); and, the only 3-litre box, Lidl’s Primitivo Puglia Maestro de Pigo (£22.99, equivalent to £5.74 a bottle). Primitivo is loved for its fruit forward, jammy, gutsy depth and while this box is not its finest incarnation, it is remarkably good value.

Inevitably, Bag in a Box wine is the butt of wine snobs, just as screw tops once were. But disapproval will weaken with time, if for no other reason than the walk of shame to the recycling bins is much less embarrassing with silent empty boxes than clanking empty bottles.

(N.O.Phile is The Tablet’s wine writer. He is also a senior Catholic priest.)