Wine in a Box? We Think So!
Wine Place is proud to offer boxing your wine as an alternative to traditional glass bottles!
It wasn’t very long ago that boxed wine was looked down upon and dismissed as sub-par to wine from a bottle. The box equated to cheap and low quality. Wine from a box had a stigma – But now that’s all changing!
While boxed wines, or rather, bagged wine in boxes – AKA BIBs, is in fact less expensive than their bottled counterparts, you can be assured that it is not a result of the quality of the wines. In fact, there are a lot of great boxed wines out there, and if your making your own wines, there’s no reason you can’t opt to “box” your own wines too.
So what factoring differences should you consider when deciding how to package your wines if the quality of it isn’t an issue?
Less Materials and Labour
Boxed wine costs less for a couple of reasons, the first being the overhead when it comes to packaging and secondly, the time and labour that goes into doing it. Bottling your wine requires collecting, transporting, and sterilizing several glass bottles. Corks are also required, as are foils. While you can collect your own bottles to use, the expense of foils and corks are going to be absorbed one way or another, even when making your own wine…and glass is heavy!
On the other hand, packaging for boxed wine requires only cardboard and a plastic bladder, both of which are much lighter than a dozen or more glass bottles. This also means a lot less of these materials than when bottling, since on average, a box of wine will provide about 20 glasses whereas a bottle will give you about five equating to less vessels to fill and therefore a lot less work!
Better for the Environment
Cardboard requires a lot less energy to produce than glass does, and both the cardboard and the plastic bags that the wine is packaged in are recyclable - and reusable! Furthermore, less is required because the bag replaces the equivalent of about four to five bottles.
With the ongoing concerns regarding the earth and our environment, who wouldn’t want to contribute to lessening the carbon footprint?
Easier Transport and Storage
When packaging your wine in boxes you’ll quickly notice that there’s a lot less to transport and sterilize, and your environmentally friendly wine vessels will also be a lot lighter than carrying those boxes of glass bottles. Believe us, your back will love you! Furthermore, moving them, full or empty, is convenient with the handles on the boxes, and you can kiss breakage mishaps goodbye. Storing your wine just got more convenient. You’ll now be able to stack the boxes for storage. No fancy, space-hogging racks required!
The “It’s Too Much! It’ll Go Bad Before I Can Drink It All!” Argument
Firstly, of course you will drink it all! Even though your wine is now in a bag, it will still pass the “taste test” and you’ve also eliminated the risk of a tainted cork spoiling your wine. Let’s not even kid ourselves by pretending we won’t be able to drink it all. We know better than that! Secondly, your boxed wine will stay fresh a lot longer, so you’ll be less likely to waste any. Once you open a bottle of wine, the oxidation process begins. When drinking from a boxed wine contained in the pressurized bag where an airtight seal is created, the wine is never exposed to the air, therefore oxidation simply doesn’t happen. This means your wine life extends to about six weeks after opening, (even longer if refrigerated), as opposed to a week at best if in a bottle. Each glass poured is like opening a new bottle. Hooray for boxed wine!
So What’s the Downside?
When it comes to wine in a box, there is but two downsides, the first being that it has an expiration date. If not consumed within six to eight months, the flavour of your wine may be impacted. This is because the bags that the wine is stored in are made of BPA free polyethylene plastic, which means they are more porous than glass bottles. But let us repeat that…six to eight months, everyone! Chances are if you’re concerned about not being able to drink your wine within that time frame, then odds are that you’re not even making your own wine or considering this packaging decision.
The second downfall of boxed wine is that once bagged and boxed, the wine will not continue to age, but this isn’t likely to concern you unless you’re a collector of wines or an otherwise serious wine connoisseur. Boxed wine does diminish the romanticism that wine in a bottle provides.
The Take-Away
The bottom line is that boxed wines are just like bottled wines - there are good ones and not so good ones. The packaging is not selective. It is what the packager chooses to put inside that is subjective. With that considered, the perks of BIB, (bag in a box), wines far outweigh the cons. If you’re looking to make your wine drinking more convenient and environmentally conscious, then boxed wine may just be a perfect solution for you.
When all is said and done, it must be acknowledged that we are all individuals and each of us has our own preconceived notions and tendencies when it comes to our wine consumption. However if you are not a collector, someone concerned with having and/or displaying a variety of different wines, or just someone who likes to have just one glass here and there after a hard day, then why not give boxed wine a chance?
Let us know when you’re ordering your wine, or when you’re booking your “bottling” appointment if you’d like to take advantage of boxing instead!