University Eats

You might have heard that the inventor of boxed wine, Australian Thomas Angove, died recently at the age of 92. Wine of the boxed or bagged variety is a staple of any faux-classy college drunkfest, and though it has a lowbrow reputation, there are some ways in which boxed wine upstages its corked cousins. 

The biggest advantage boxed wine can claim over bottled is that it stores well after it’s opened. Bottled wine quickly degrades and needs to be finished off immediately. Because air never enters the bag-in-a-box contraption — as happens with normal wine when it’s uncorked — the wine doesn’t oxidize.

You don’t even need to refrigerate boxed wine after opening, although you might want to as some wines are just better chilled.

So boxed wine is perfect if you’re a glass-a-day drinker, or if you use wine in your cooking and you need something that lasts. (Quick tip: Don’t ever use cooking wine. That stuff is even crappier than boxed wine.)

Another claim in boxed wine’s favor is that it’s more environmentally friendly. A cardboard box is lighter and more transportable than a bottle, which in addition to being thick and heavy has to be specially packed so it doesn’t get smashed in transit.

Boxes require fewer trucks to ship and less gas to do so, reducing the wine’s overall carbon footprint. However, boxed wine cartons aren’t as recyclable as bottles, which slightly complicates the environmental angle.

Of course, the boxed wine benefit of most interest to students is that it’s cheaper, and this cheapness has led to the perception that boxed wine tastes crappy — which is usually true.

But it doesn’t have to be. It might surprise those who think of Europe as the hub of classy wines to know that they are miles ahead of us when it comes to producing tasty boxed wines. Boxed versions of Italy’s quality-assured wines have been available for two years, and 60 percent of the wines consumed in Sweden come out of a box.

Boxed wine has become so serious in France that industry associations have taken to distributing guides to successful worldwide marketing strategies.

Boxed wine in America has traditionally been less than savory, but we’re beginning to pick up on the trend. I’ve heard good things about Delicato, which comes from California, and actually tasted good things about Black Box, the rising star of the American boxed wine market.