Befriending The Box

I've always been a fan of rose' and have loved exploring the subtleties of this beautiful, dry, pink wine, in the Southern Rhone. It is so important here that there is an entire region/village/town that only produces rose', no other wine; Tavel. It is awesome and it tends to be a bit more pricey than its neighboring region/village/town called Lirac. In Lirac is where I discovered rose'..... in a BOX. So good!

Find wines bottled as well as boxed in many Rhone tasting rooms

The beleaguered boxed wine (in the US) is a man's best friend in France, at least for everyday consumption. Boxed wine is meant to drink, not age, in packaging with a vacuum seal technology that prevents air from contacting the juice once opened. Air is the enemy of an opened bottle. The box is also a bargain, providing twice as much wine for the money.

Special containers allow regulars to get their wine to go

Not only did this fun tasting room in Lirac sell wine by the bottle and box, but also BYOC: bring your own container. Reduce your carbon footprint, save a few Euros and have your house wine close at hand. The box of rose' we bought has for sure been close at hand, so convenient; like getting water out of the tap. Too convenient as a sip here and a splash there adds up quickly.

We found out just how quickly the random afternoon sips added up today, as suddenly we had to tilt our 5-liter box a bit to get a full glass. When the flow turned to drops things got serious. 'Someone' pulled the wine bag out of the box and began wringing the ends, almost like trying to get that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube.

By the photo, it is clear that we had more than enough Euro's on the table to go out and buy another box, or better yet, walk to the cooler and open a REAL bottle. But who wants to take the easy route? It was great sport to see how much we could milk from the vacuum sealed, vineyard utter.

The absurdity of our attempt and echoes of our laughter ended in sweet success, as each of us got enough crisp, cold wine to enjoy on the terrace with some local cheeses, fruits and sundried tomato tapenade; while contemplating the next bottle....or box. Cheers!