Castillo de Fuendejalon 3 Liter Box

This is what we were drinking a couple of weeks ago.

Castillo de Fuendejalon (Fuendeyalon)
Bodegas Aragonesas
Imported by the Marchetti Company, Scoperta Importing Co.
Spain, Campo de Borja region
3 liter box, NV
about $14 - $19

Rich and full-bodied red wine with a nice balance of fruit.

• Color: Rojo cereza picota, con ribetes de juventud, limpio y brillante.
• Aroma: Aromas de fruta roja madura, perfectamente integrado con un suave carácter balsámico y de especias.
• Boca: Equilibrado, sabroso, con taninos maduros en el paso de boca. Final potente, amplio, con nobles recuerdos aromáticos como en nariz.

Bodegas Aragonesas

From the box:

OAK AGED
From selected grape varieties traditional to the area.
HARVEST: Second week of September
WINE MAKING: Traditional method, maceration with its skins during six days at 24C. After a deposit-maturing period the wine is aged in American oad casks for three months.
75% Grenache, 25% Tempranillo
Campo de Borja red tabel wine
Estate bottled - product of Spain
alcohol 12.5%

This is the same wine that is available in vintage dated bottles. I bought it at Surdyk's in Minneapolis for about $19, and brought it back to North Carolina. It's also available at Sam's in Chicago for about $14, and just recently was stocked at the Wine Store in Beaufort, NC.

We will definitely buy this again. The reviews and tasting notes I have found are for the vintage dated bottles, which are very popular sellers.

Dr Vino, September 9, 2005, Dr Vino's Wine Blog (2001 bottle)

But it’s not the outside that’s important since the inside holds a pleasantly oaked, medium bodied red with notes of dark fruits and violets. A blend of old vine greache and tempranillo, this wine’s packaging makes it ready to hit the road and bring to friends at the grill.

Dr Vino’s wine blog » Blog Archive » Value vino list fifteen

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New Tap Design Improves Shelf Life

From Off Licence News (UK):

Four-month shelf life for bag-in-box wines

Published: 28-09-2007
Written by: Graham Holter

Bag-in-box wine could stay fresh and drinkable for more than four months, according to a manufacturer who has developed a new type of tap.

Worldwide Dispensers' new ViniPlus system boasts a "greatly improved oxygen barrier" which enhances shelf life far more effectively than current designs, it claims.

The company added: "As well as its shelf life properties, the new tap offers a number of consumer convenience features. A self-closing, one handed front push button enables precise control of the direction and flow of the wine and the tear away cap around the button provides effective tamper evidence. In addition, a special valve seals the outlet after every use, preventing hang up in the spout."

Recent research from Wine Intelligence and the Wine & Spirit Trade Association has found that half of UK wine drinkers would buy bag-in-box wines for a party, but one in five said they would not buy them under any circumstances.

Most people who reject them find the packaging unappealing, though 17 per cent said they believed the wine would not be kept in good condition.

Four-month shelf life for bag-in-box wines | Off Licence News - The Voice Of Drinks Retailing

Technorati Tags: box, boxed, cask, wine, bag-in-box

Going green with the box in England

According to this article from Reuters, attitudes towards boxed wine are changing in England, although there is still resistance to the alternative forms of wine packaging.

Bagged or boxed? - Wine targets green shoppers

By Sylvia Westall
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) -

Set the dining table, light some candles and crack open a nice bag of wine.

Serving guests wine from a plastic pouch or box may no longer be a social faux pas, say some in the wine industry -- as consumers warm to packaging that is seen as kinder to the environment than glass bottles.

"At the moment, these are seen as a niche packaging format," said Kate Coleman, spokeswoman for Britain's Wine and Spirit Trade Association, commenting on the new types of packing.

"But take screw caps -- people have grown used to them and now find them very acceptable."

Unlike with most materials, recycling some types of glass can produce slightly more harmful greenhouse gases than if they were thrown away, according to preliminary research commissioned by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

WRAP, a government-funded body, is also researching whether the new forms of wine packaging have environmental benefits.

But some wine companies, perhaps scenting the potential of the 'green' consumer market, are hoping to shake off the image of boxed or bagged wine as poor quality.

Wine company Ehrmanns is working with its South African exporter to launch a plastic wine pouch in mid-August.

The pouches will be filled with two-bottles' worth of its 'Arniston Bay' brand of white Chardonnay or Rose.

"There's so many foodstuffs, like soups, where you get premium products ready in pouches, so the pouch has got a very strong premium element," said Johan Hewitt, brand and business development manager at The Company of Wine People, which is exporting the wine.

Hewitt estimates 200,000 pouches will go on sale for about 9.49 pounds ($19.28) in Britain's Tesco supermarkets, and will be aimed at beach-goers and barbeque enthusiasts.

Even though the pouches cannot be easily recycled, the company says their carbon footprint is 80 percent smaller because the lightweight packs use less energy to produce and transport.

Similarly, Trinchero Family Estates, a California-based wine producer, sells some of its wine in slim purple boxes, which it says are more environmentally friendly to transport.



QUALITY CONTROL

The total UK market for bag-in-box wine stands at 390 million pounds, with a steady annual growth of 2 percent, according to Tesco.

In its own stores, Tesco says the bag-in-box category represents the 5th biggest section in wine behind bottles from Australia, France, the U.S. and Italy.

But shoppers outside a supermarket in central London were unsure new 'green' packaging could give wine a premium image.

"Opening a bottle is social occasion," said Xavier Bonnard, a 35-year-old French banker loading up the top box of his motorbike with shopping.

"Maybe it will be like people driving electric cars -- if it looks nice then people will eventually accept it. But not now, no, no."

Statistician Nadine Seeward, 34, who said she usually spends between 5-11 pounds on a bottle of wine, was also dubious.

"The connotation is that wine in a box is really poor quality, so you would have to change attitudes," she said.

"I'd have to taste to see if it was of the same quality."

Supermarket Waitrose says it is nonetheless also looking into stocking more wines in alternative packaging.

"The category is growing, which we think would at least in part be due to the better quality inside the pack," a spokeswoman said.



BOTTLES FOREVER

For those who work with wine, the problem is not the taste of wine in alternative packaging but its persistent negative image.

"The quality of bag-in-box wine has improved tremendously in recent years. But I think the perception of the consumer is very different," said professional wine taster Susan Hulme, from the Association of Wine Educators.

She said wine in the new forms of packaging would compare well to bottles from the cheaper end of the wine market, which each cost 5-7 pounds.

Increased environmental concerns, however, did not signal the end for the glass bottle.

"I can't see some of the very prestigious, very famous wines going into bag-in-box in the near future," she said.

While some wine companies use their packaging to attract environmentally conscious customers, WRAP stresses the country of origin is key to the product's carbon footprint.

"The UK market is important as 98-99 percent of our wine is imported," WRAP said in a statement.

FEATURE-Bagged or boxed? - Wine targets green shoppers | Reuters

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