Evening blogville - its another gray - no wait - is that sun - no wait - rain - um is it summer - evening in Seattle. With Memorial Day fast approaching - I'm reinvigorating my mission to find tasty boxed wine! Why you may ask would any self respecting wine fan drink boxed wine? Hauling bottles in your backpack or canoe can put a serious damper on any outdoor adventure as it is a. typically not allowed and b. way too heavy for a pack. So what is a wino like myself to do? Water bottles can work, but they take up a ton of space in a pack and have limited capacity. So - last summer, while on an extended adventure into the North Woods of Minnesota with my favorite folks - we explored a little boxed wine. The bag inside the box is waterproof, self-sealing, and easy to fit and adjust in a pack or canoe. We tried three different boxed wines and found one that was very drinkable and then two that really may not have been the wisest of purchase decisions. The losers were very either super acidic or overly jammy and nowhere in between.
SO - my mission, along with those I recruited to join my quest (thank you
BanyanBranch ladies), is to try at least two a month for the summer until we find the perfect boxed wine for any outdoor adventure. Ground rules - no Franzia allowed #sorryfolks, must be drinkable in a plastic cup, and the majority of tasters in our crew have to give a thumbs up. We did some initial tasting in May and have a couple of recommendations for my wine and camping oriented pals:
- Black Box Cab: Drinkable, definitely ok in plastic (weird in glass), and just the right amount of jammy blackberry goodness.
- Bota Box Pinot Grigio: Also drinkable, meh in plastic (better in glass), perfect for a hot day, slightly sweet, and best described as "porch wine."
Stay tuned for more suggestions - we are going to take a boxed wine hiatus for June as we literally drink all things blushy for 30-days. Excited to share some of my finds from WA, OR, CA, Spain, and France!
