Upscale Box Wine Tastings in Queens

Editor's note: This dispatch comes to us from Annaliese Griffin, editor of Brooklyn Based, who is not afraid of a little Château cardboard. —Erin

Like beer can chicken, box wine has long held court as a trashy-fabulous summer staple of the backyard or rooftop barbecue. But box wine isn’t just White Zinfandel (pairing: Benson & Hedges 100s) anymore.

Over the past few years a number of French winemakers have been exporting boxes ranging from three to ten liters of rose, Cotes du Rhone and other inexpensive, but high quality wines.

At Vine Wine in Long Island City, owner Talitha Whidbee has been cultivating box wine contacts for several years now, with the idea that buying wine in bulk creates less waste and is easier to carry home than the equivalent amount in heavy bottles.

Turns out, box wines are also the epitome of recession chic.

This week, Vine will be pouring samples from five different boxes between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Domaine Roger Perrin, a well-known producer of classic Chateauneuf du Pape, has a rose and a Cotes du Rhone (pairing: sausages on the grill), both in three-liter boxes. The rosé (pairing: a rooftop and a warm night) sells for $29.95, the Cotes du Rhone for $36.95, making them about $1 and $2 per glass.

Two five-liter boxes from Bonhoste, a wine producer in Bordeaux, will also be open to taste. The white (pairing: oysters or fish tacos) runs $58.95, and the red (pairing: steak on grill) $68.95, about $2 to $2.30 a glass for wine that you’ll actually enjoy.

A red blend from Portugal called Alandro (pairing: Pepsi and light an American Spirit), which sells for $20 for a three-liter, is the super-cheap wild card at well under $1 a glass. It’s not what you'd call refined, but perfect for a barbecue and realistically, tastier than any glass of wine you’ll drink at a wedding this summer.

Vine will have their box wines available to taste all week and hold a second tasting, with snacks, on Saturday afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m. Stock up before there’s a run on the box wine bank.

Vine Wine

12-09 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City Queens (map) 718-433-2611
vine-wine.com

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