Black Box Wines

[soapbox]

Mrs. Soapbox and I bought a Black Box red (cabernet) on our honeymoon and decided that it was a fantastic wine for the price. I just bought another box a few days ago -- it really outperforms its the price by a mile.

And, as noted, two-buck-chuck is also a real winner for the money.

 

[TENroaches]

Is it still two-buck Chuck anywhere? Last I saw, it was three-buck Chuck.

 

[Suzuki]

I have a couple more.

I hope you didn't pay any more than $30 for any of these bottles of plonk

I was lucky enough to spend a couple of weeks in the Vaucluse region of France and toured around sampling some of the excellent wines, including some terrific Gigondas and, of course, Chateauneuf.

In my view, you can add Portugal to one of the areas that produces some excellent red wines at great prices.

Basically, in every wine producing region, there are excellent wines that never see stores more than a few miles away from the vinyard. Fortunately, most wineries, will ship by the case for reasonable prices - so if you do find a gem whilst abroad, make sure you stock up!

 

[mightemacs]

I also enjoy the Black Box wines. I was skeptical at first, but tried it a couple times while visiting friends that liked it.

I'm very much considering keeping a stock as just a generic table wine for when I don't have company.

 

[TENroaches]

.....aaaaaaaaaaand B&B has caused me to spend more money. I got the Cabernet Sauvignon. It goes nicely with my Bite Size Gold Tostitos dipped in my black bean dip I made with black beans, light sour cream, cumin, cayenne pepper, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder.

So I'm no pro at wine, but am I correct in saying you refrigerate white wine (okay, chill before-hand, but don't keep it refrigerated.... or so a past roommate told me) and leave red at room temperature? Except for maybe Franzia's chillable red?

I've always refrigerated all wine all the time. But maybe I should start doing this right.

 

[ouch]

am I correct in saying you refrigerate white wine (okay, chill before-hand, but don't keep it refrigerated.... or so a past roommate told me) and leave red at room temperature?

My experience is that most reds are served too warm and most whites are served too cold. I guess that's a product of people being told to refrigerate whites and serve reds at room temp. Unfortunately, the room temperature referred to is that of a typical wine cellar, less than 60F. You can refrigerate your whites, but they'll taste better if you take them out of the fridge 1/2 hour or so before serving.

 

[TENroaches]

My experience is that most reds are served too warm and most whites are served too cold. I guess that's a product of people being told to refrigerate whites and serve reds at room temp. Unfortunately, the room temperature referred to is that of a typical wine cellar, less than 60F. You can refrigerate your whites, but they'll taste better if you take them out of the fridge 1/2 hour or so before serving.

I do have huge storage space in the basement of this apartment complex. I could keep my wine down with my snow tires and bring it up when I want it... Maybe I should get a thermometer and see what the temp is down there. Or I could just throw the box in the freezer for 10 minutes before drinking, since my apartment is usually in the low seventies anyway. Should bring it down closer to 60....

 

[Jimbo]

My experience is that most reds are served too warm and most whites are served too cold. I guess that's a product of people being told to refrigerate whites and serve reds at room temp. Unfortunately, the room temperature referred to is that of a typical wine cellar, less than 60F. You can refrigerate your whites, but they'll taste better if you take them out of the fridge 1/2 hour or so before serving.

+1

 

[BurmaShaver]

Trick told to me years ago by an old vintner:

Put any inexpensive wine in a decanter, cover the top with cheesecloth to let it breathe, let it sit for a couple of days--you'll swear you bought a $100 bottle of wine....

 

[ouch]

Trick told to me years ago by an old vintner:

Put any inexpensive wine in a decanter, cover the top with cheesecloth to let it breathe, let it sit for a couple of days--you'll swear you bought a $100 bottle of wine....

Yep. I can't believe how much money all of those wineries are wasting on high tech techniques when this is clearly all they have to do.

 

[Suzuki]

Yep. I can't believe how much money all of those wineries are wasting on high tech techniques when this is clearly all they have to do.

While decanting and allowing a wine to breathe can help a quality young wine open up a bit, you can't pour cheap plonk into a decanter and let it sit and expect miracles to happen.

If you pour a bottle of plonk into a decanter and let it sit on the counter for a couple of days, you'll end up with oxidized plonk - perfect for stripping paint, but not so drinkable

There is no such thing as wine-alchemy.

 

[starstruck]

Black Box Rocks!!

One box usually lasts me all night!! Well, as long as I have a pint of something harder too....


Starz

 

[BurmaShaver]

While decanting and allowing a wine to breathe can help a quality young wine open up a bit, you can't pour cheap plonk into a decanter and let it sit and expect miracles to happen.

If you pour a bottle of plonk into a decanter and let it sit on the counter for a couple of days, you'll end up with oxidized plonk - perfect for stripping paint, but not so drinkable

There is no such thing as wine-alchemy.

Naah, I wuz just born wit cast-iron taste buds

 

[Doc4]

A $300 bottle of wine? Add another zero on the end of that? Sheesh.

Partly it's supply & demand, partly it's what the market will bear ... mark-ups on the 'prestige' labels that people will pay more for 'just because'. Heck, it doesn't just apply to the top-end stuff! A $10 Bulgarian = $12 Chilean = $17 Californian = $19 Bordeaux.

So ... when's the next wine tasting, Ouch?

 

[Jimbo]

Within my 30 some-odd years of wine drinking...
(when I was "under age" a friend and I discussed the need to find someone old enough to go to a liquor store to get some real wine because this grocery store stuff is just offal--perhaps a 1983 Chateau Lafite, really )...
On a dollar for quality basis, California wines have been great values and then gone the way of the wind. Then the French came back (again, dollar for dollar) then Cali back again, then Spain and now Chile.
I think considering US dollars and quality, Chile, Argentina and California are the best values right now for the US.

 

[TENroaches]

Just went to go put my box in the fridge to chill it a little for later tonight, and realize I left it chilling in the freezer from last night...........................

 

[tim8557]

My experience is that most reds are served too warm and most whites are served too cold. I guess that's a product of people being told to refrigerate whites and serve reds at room temp. Unfortunately, the room temperature referred to is that of a typical wine cellar, less than 60F. You can refrigerate your whites, but they'll taste better if you take them out of the fridge 1/2 hour or so before serving.

I live by the "20 Minute Rule". Refrigerate your reds for 20 minutes before serving and take your white OUT OF the fridge 20 minutes before serving.

 

[ouch]

I live by the "20 Minute Rule". Refrigerate your reds for 20 minutes before serving and take your white OUT OF the fridge 20 minutes before serving.

I never heard it put exactly that way, but I think it would work in better than 95% of the cases. Good rule.

 

[adamjaskie]

I've had a lot of really good Italian, Spanish, Argentine, and Chilean wines in the $10-15 range. Look for stuff made from grapes that are either lesser-known varieties, or varieties that aren't really found outside of blends elsewhere.

 

[Jimbo]

I live by the "20 Minute Rule". Refrigerate your reds for 20 minutes before serving and take your white OUT OF the fridge 20 minutes before serving.

Great rule. That's what I try to do, more or less. I hate reds that are too warm and whites that are too cold. And don't get me started on Champagne and Beaujolais...