The Egyptians stored wine in clay jugs sealed with pitch. As viticulture migrated north, barrels became the thing. The marriage of bottle and cork didn’t happen until the 17th century. At each step settled habits, fixed ideas, and a deep-seated conservatism slowed innovation.
This has certainly been the case with the packaging format known as the bag-in-box, or BiB. In this system, wine is held in a metalized plastic bladder of three or five liters. A tap is attached to the bag, and the whole is set into a cardboard box. The bag collapses as wine is drawn off, so air can’t get at what remains. Fill your carafe and take just the wine you want to the table. What’s left will stay fresh for weeks.
The system is decades old and is perfectly adapted for wine intended to be drunk within six months or so (the bag material is actually more permeable than glass, so to age wine you still need a bottle and cork). BiB is far less expensive, more convenient, and greener than bottles — and easier to carry, store, and use. So why hasn’t the format made more headway?
For most consumers, the box is firmly associated with cheap, mass-produced American and Australian wines that have long been merchandised this way. Wary of consumer perceptions, makers of inexpensive but quality-oriented wines have shunned the box — a situation guaranteed to reinforce the stereotype and reward low expectations.
But now, thanks to a few brave souls, we’re witnessing the beginning of a break in this vicious cycle, with a handful of genuinely interesting small-producer boxed wines. The $30 average price for three liters would be less than $8 a bottle.
Real wine in the box is here at last. Tap into it.
“Le Vin de l’Uncle Charles’’ Vin de Pays D’Oc Rouge 2007 Richest and most flavorful of the group, with a little extra in the way of fruit-sweetness and overall body. If the acidity registers a bit low, your compensation is an abundance of rustic charm. Around $30/3 liter box. Martignetti Liquors, North End, 617-227-4343; Central Bottle Wine + Provisions, Cambridge, 617-225-0040; The Wine and Cheese Cask, Somerville, 617-623-8656.
