Boxed wines offers great taste at a cheaper price, Consumer Reports finds
Planning a New Year's Eve celebration? Consider adding boxed wine to the menu.
"I drink box wine and I do recommend it to other people," said Cindy Coker, who owns a wine shop. "It's delicious, it's convenient and it has a handle."
"Boxed wine can be half as expensive as wine in a bottle, which makes it a smart choice for parties," said Consumer Reports editor Angela Lashbrook.
Recently, Consumer Reports evaluated 11 different boxed wines.
Testers talked with wine industry experts, hosted tastings at home and smelled and sipped their way through the options.
"We looked for how rich and fragrant the wine was before tasting. Then we wrote down any flavors we noticed, as well as how balanced the wine was [and] how complex it was bright, brightness and depth. We also took note of the wine's finish," said Lashbrook.
Like with most wines, tasters had some disagreements.
“My personal favorite was actually the one that nobody else liked, which was the Jenny and Francois chardonnay," said Lashbrook.
But many tasters found the chardonnay sharp and almost metallic. Lashbrook said for those who prefer mineral, dry white wines — the chardonnay is worth a try.
Among the group favorites was the beaujolais from Wineberry.
Equally favored was the light-bodied pinor noir from Black Box. One reviewer described it as tasting "fancy."
Black Box also earned a best white wine pick with its sauvignon blanc, saying its fruity notes will appeal to almost any casual wine drinker.
Wine experts add that any opened box of wine can last longer than bottled wines, so leftovers are less likely to go to waste.
