This high-quality boxed wine is also a great value.
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I’ve been paring down my alcohol intake, but I still do love a glass of wine on occasion. That means I’ve been looking for ways to increase the longevity of a bottle because an opened one never really lasts more than a few days.
Seeking innovative ways to extend the shelf life of my beloved soured grape juice, I turned to the influx of exciting boxed wines entering the scene. Despite some iffy experiences with boxed wine in the past (aka one too many Franzia nights in undergrad), I was determined to get into this new corner of the wine world. So, I turned to two of my most trusted sommelier sources for some advice.
The Wine Experts I Asked
- Drea Boulanger: Advanced sommelier and executive wine director at Spiegelworld in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Belinda Chang: James Beard award-winning sommelier and lifestyle expert
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The Best Boxed Wine, According to Sommeliers
Both experts I spoke with named a well-known brand: La Vieille Ferme. I am familiar with the winemakers and am partial to their rosé, but I had no idea they had entered the boxed wine market. The family-run business uses the same grapes grown in the celebrated wine-growing region of the Southern Rhône Valley in France to produce both its widely available bottles and boxes.
Chang speaks fondly of the makers, who have been making wine since 1909: “Even before they made boxed wine, they made my favorite cheap and cheerful, excellent porch pounder wines in glass bottles With more than a century of experience, the Famille Perrin has certainly perfected their process, whether it be their white, rose, or red,” says Boulanger. “The blends allow them to keep the wine consistent and value-driven.”
Whereas the brand’s boxed white boasts a blend of Grenache Blanc, Vermentino, and Ugni Blanc grapes, the red is composed primarily of Syrah and Grenache. The rosé is a mixture of Grenache, Syrah, and Cinsault. Chang says you can’t go wrong with the three blends: “The quality and delicious factor is across-the-board fantastic. There is a time, a place, a dinner party menu for each of La Vieille Ferme’s white, rosé, and red blends.”
Drinking the brand’s boxed wine is not just about extending shelf life. It has a lower carbon footprint than bottled, is easy to transport and drink in large groups, and is cheaper (the three-liter boxes cost around $20, while the equivalent volume in bottled wine is about $32).
Drinking boxed also prevents oxidation, explains Boulanger, who often stores boxed rosé in the fridge where it’s “ready to go.” While boxed wine may have had a bad rap in the past, Boulanger thinks La Vieille Ferme's offerings are the perfect foray into the new world of alternatively packaged vintages. “I think people should know that alternative packaging doesn't necessarily comment on the quality of the product inside.”
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