Boxed wines redux

Two Buck Chuck is better than most box wine. However, it is owned by Franzia so it is basically just box wine in a bottle. Let's call it gourmet box wine.

Dimitri

Someone -- I think it was either the Los Angeles Times or Orange County Register, did an article about 6-9 months ago (in their weekly wine column) comparing Two Buck Chuck to a box wine. I don't remember which box wine they chose, but it was one they considered passable, and a lot better than the Chuck. The point of the article was not to pre-judge based on the packaging. The article is pretty much exactly what you're asking for.

I just took a look at the OC Register archives, and I -think- it's the fourth article here:

However, you have to pay about the cost of a bottle of the Chuck to see the article (money better spent, in my opinion).

Larry Coon University of California

The forum in

had a thread about this. A lot of people chimed in, but IIRC most of them were of the opinion that both were equally bad. Robin Garr, (the owner of the page) felt that the Shaw was much better, and there was one other poster thought the Franzia was much better. The forums is easy to search, so I suggest you go to that site and read the thread.

BTW, I have noticed that in addition to the usual suspects for box wine (Almaden, Vella, and Franzia), the stores here have begun carrying Hardy's and Corbett Canyon. I like the Hardy's. The Corbett Canyon I have not tried yet, but I see that it is made by the same company as Franzia (The Wine Group). Shaw is not available here, so I have no idea how they compare to Shaw. Any opinions?

This is not Hardys fault since they show a picture of the bottle of wine on all four sides of the box of wine: Hardys Stamp of Australia series, a very good quality to price contender in the low expectation range of wines.

pavane

"Milhouse Van Houten" ha scritto

opinions

relative, can

Charles "Two Buck

Pardon me: do you mean "wine in a carton box", when you say "boxed wine"? If it is so, well... I stopped with them. One sucker in Italy also did a 5 liters "carton" wine, it's terrific. They averagely cost less than half of the worst bottled wines. And rate as well.

Vilco

I haven't tried the Hardy's yet, but my local wine merchant recommended Black Box Wines from Napa (he also carries Hardy's). They only make a Chard so far, but if you're drinking Hardy's Chard, you might give Black Box a try. Nothing special, of course, but quite drinkable.

-- Robert