Trove Chardonnay 3 Liter Box

Another white wine addition to the list of bag-in-box wines:

Trove Chardonnay
Trove Wines (Centerra Wine Company, Constellation Brands)
California
3 liter box, vintage dated
About $19 - $23

2005 California Chardonnay. This stylish, delectable, medium-bodied Chardonnay, produced from choice North and Central Coast grapes, boasts creamy tropical fruit aromas and round, smooth flavors enriched by soft oak tones. Food Pairing Trove Chardonnay pairs beautifully with chicken satay, fried oysters, grilled garlic shrimp, fish tacos, tuna tartar and fettucine alfredo.

Reviews in the Press

Cindy Kibbe, Aug 18, 2006, New Hampshire Business Review

2005 Trove Chardonnay (Madera, Calif., 3L, $19.99): I’ve had premium bottled varietals that were not as good as this box brand. Made from 100 percent Chardonnay grapes, this Trove truly was a treasure. The crisp grapefruit, lime and pineapple flavors were balanced with just the right amount of oak and buttery creaminess.

New Hampshire Business Review

Reviews on the Web

Jerry Hall, August 31, 2006, Winewaves blog

Trove Chardonnay Box 2005 - Tasting Notes: Color: Light golden straw. Roundly textured, rich, somewhat tropical aromas (think pineapple-upside- down-cake), somewhat oak-spiced, this Chardonnay is medium-bodied and has nice concentration. Alcohol content: 13.5%. Excellent value ($18/3.0 Liter = $4.50/750ml equivalent).

winewaves: Premium 3 Liter Bag-in-Box California Chardonnay: Trove 2005 & Delicato 2005

Kirk, August 14, 2007, All Four Seasons blog

Cool box, $18 for 3 liters (or four bottles worth), and a cute name (get it treasure trove???). They even claim to be "premium wine in a box" on their website. I have one word for that--NOT. Maybe I have more words. Never (and I mean never) have I had a worse wine that this. I'm not sure what monkey poop tastes like, but it likely tastes better than the Trove Chardonnay. The color was golden, the nose was putrid, and the taste was unfathomable--as in how the heck do they ever get anybody to try this stuff twice??? My only hope (for the vineyard, that is), is that this wine was cooked, causing me so much derision and (dare I say) pain...

All Four Seasons

technorati tags: box, boxed, cask, wine, white, Chardonnay, Trove

Wilfred Wong on the Box

Yesterday Patti Reising of KCBS radio in San Francisco spoke with Wilfred Wong, Cellar Master of Bevmo, and Jon Bonne, wine columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle, about the increasing quality and popularity of boxed wines. (Listen here).

Boxed Wines Grow in Quality, Popularity

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Boxed wine has long had a bad reputation, and for good reason according to Bevmo Cellar Master Wilfred Wong.

"When boxed wine in America first was put into the marketplace it was really the low grade wine," he explained.

However, new figures by AC Nielson show sales of 3-liter boxed wine grew by 44 percent last year. The numbers aren’t surprising to Wong, or to San Francisco Chronicle wine critic Jon Bonne.

"Boxed wines are getting a whole lot better than they have been in the past and wines that typically people would buy in bottle they're now finding in boxes," said Bonne, who expects the trend to continue.

Bonne added that there are certain people who will likely never serve boxed wine, no matter how high the quality. He said many wine drinkers interact with the bottle in a special way. "What's on the label and the shape of the bottle, the color of the bottle, the way you open it, it's very important."

Boxed wine has the added bonus of staying fresh in the refrigerator longer.

KCBS - Boxed Wines Grow in Quality, Popularity

99-cent Box Wine Sucks

Well, whad'ya expect for 99 cents. Yes, that's 99 cents for THREE LITERS. We're not even talking Two Buck Chuck here. And what's more, it's imported (yes, part of that 99 cents is the price someone paid to ship this from Italy).

The wine was Terra Cotta 2001 Merlot, product of Italy.

So now I know where merlot-gone-really-bad ends it's life: at the DOLLAR STORE. I haven't been able to find this item mentioned anywhere else on the web, but Grapedonk at the WineAss vlog actually tasted it. You can skip actually watching the video, and just know that Grapedonk's verdict was:

“Rotten mineral-spirits paint-brush-smelling prune juice thing—if you see this, run!”

Wineass - Wine Reviews, Without the Bull » Episode 78: ‘01 Terra Cotta Merlot

Anyone sensitive about off-color language and metaphor is advised to skip the vid, but if you want to really experience Grapedonk's suffering go ahead and watch.

technorati tags: box, boxed, wine, merlot

Slate's Mike Steinberger On Boxed Wine On the Radio

Today's broadcast of Good Food on KCRW Radio included an interview with Mike Steinberger, wine columnist with Slate. Good Food host Evan Kleinman spoke with Mike about the new world of boxed wines. Recently, Mike wrote in Slate about the boxed wine phenomenon in A Loaf of Bread, a Box of Wine?

The show is about an hour long, and the wine segment is about one-third in. Link here to listen.

Playwright Amy Sedaris surprises us with her wacky, delightfully loose look at entertaining. Barbara Fairchild celebrates nearly 50 years of Bon Appétit. Eddie Lin eats Snakes on a Plate, Jonathan Gold eats up Thai Town and Marcus Samuellson discovers the flavors of Africa. Michele Meyer has spooky new treats from Boule and Mike Steinberger says not to be turned off by box wine.

Hospitality under the Influence; Bon Appetit; Snakes — KCRW | 89.9FM

technorati tags: box, boxed, wine

CNBC's "On the Money" Reports on Wine in a Box

TV news is taking note of boxed wine in this recent report on CNBC's "On the Money". Julia Boorstin reports on the trend in premium boxed wines and how consumers are drinking them in. The report features shoppers' comments, and remarks from Black Box's Ryan Sproule. Boorstin reports that this year Constellation brands expects sell 2 million boxes of wine, which represents $40 million in retail sales.

See the video at Box Wine: Not for frat parties anymore.

technorati tags:CNBC, boxed wine, box wine