story and photo by Tilar J. Mazzeo –
I’ve done the heavy lifting so you don’t have to. I hauled home more boxes of wine than I care to admit, to no small degree of concern from my husband who wondered aloud if the week had really been that difficult. No, no, I assured him, I was bound and determined to find the best summer box wines. After all, box wines are lower in packaging waste, last a few weeks after opening, and are also more economical, as long as you don’t buy a box of wine that’s undrinkable. I got a raised eyebrow.
So, here it is: my list of the most quaffable boxed wine readily available locally. A caveat on my selection criteria: my palate runs toward the lower alcohol and brighter acidity. I find sweet, heavy wines (and alcohol is perceived on the palate as sweetness) distinctly un-summery and un-quaffable. No chewy fruit bombs here. I was also looking for wines that were well made, versatile and came in at under $15 per the standard 750 ml bottle equivalent.
Best Red and Best Rosé
This one goes to a single proprietor for two different wines. La Vieille Ferme (3 L, around $43) makes both a red and a rosé, and, honestly, these are just unreservedly good-quality table wines. There’s nothing wrong with these wines. They aren’t particularly unique or memorable maybe, but if you’re looking for well-made wine for under $12 a bottle equivalent, and not a life-changing aesthetic experience, I have a lot of good things to say about both these Perrin Family products. They aren’t small, boutique players but the Perrin Family has been making wine for more than 40 years in the Southern Rhône and sell a lot of their wine directly into the bistro market in France. Get a pretty jug, put it out there on your summer table, and no one will ever guess you’re serving box wine.
Best White
The whites I found a bit harder. I was unable to find anything in the boxed wine category that makes me want to sing its praises like the La Vieille Ferme products, but the prize here goes to Jackson-Triggs for their boxed Proprietor’s Selection Sauvignon Blanc (4 L, around $43). It’s an entirely respectable table wine. My only hesitation is that it can be a bit tart; this wine does better paired with food and especially with food that has just a bit of fat in it to cut the acidity – think cheese, pâté or a simple bowl of potato chips. Or, if you want to drink as an apéritif and you find it too tart, it’s a perfect base wine for a wine spritzer, and at $10 a bottle equivalent you don’t have to feel bad doing so. Our 2023 summer go-to is turning out to be a simple mint julep, based on a recipe by New York City bartender Alex Day: white wine on ice, a splash of peach schnapps and a sprig of mint.
Bonus Wines
If you don’t think you’ll get through a whole box but are still looking for an affordable, good-quality wine, I’m never sure how Gehringer Brothers out of the Okanagan manage to produce consistently good wine for under $20 a bottle. I can only guess that they don’t have a mortgage on their vineyards. But I’d drink their Dry Riesling ($17), in particular, any day. If I had to tap just one Vancouver Island wine for best reds – at any price – Enrico’s Newton Pinot Noir (about $28) is an awfully nice wine, though my husband is here telling me to delete that sentence because he doesn’t want a shortage.
So there you have it. None of these are undiscovered secrets. All of them are readily available at the B.C. liquor stores or at independent stores locally. But in the budget price point, which includes the box-wine range, there are a few really nice table wines and there are a lot of wines that are hard going. And, if you are playing the field and get a dud, just remember: that’s why coq au vin was invented.
