below
"Steve B." > wrote in message
...
> Greetings, fellow appreciators of the grape!
>
> This subject has come and gone many times, based on what I've found on
> Google, but what is the current state of the art? Are there any
> good drinkable boxed wines available in the US?
>
> My experience is that the Franzia wines are average to poor. I've
> had the Hardys Shiraz, and it is quite good. However, it isn't easy
> to find. As to the others, well, I haven't tried many more, being
> hesitant to buy five liters worth if it turns out to be poor quality.
>
> Now here's a suprise: I had the chance to try a glass of the
> "Almaden Mountain Burgandy" at someone's house over the holidays, and
> I actually found it to be quite palatable. Has anyone had
> experience with the other offerings from Almaden? Are they truly a
> step up from the Franzia's and Peter Vella's?
Haven't tried the Mountain Burgendy (yet), we did get a box of the Almaden
Cabernet Sauvignon - gave it away (to a friend of my step-daughter), not
good. We do use the Almaden Red Sangria as a low-price table wine with
dinner. It is not great, but it is worth what it costs. My step-daughter
likes the Franzia Chillable Red, but my wife and I don't.
We were not using much of the boxed wines, but I got laid off 2 months ago,
and we have economized on things. The wine cellar (spare refrigerator set at
48 deg in the garage) does still have about 20 bottles of better quality for
special occasions.
I also check the specials at a local grocery that maintains a large wine
department with a reasonably knowledgable person running it - I've found
some 1.5 litre Rieslings from time to time at very attractive prices.
We found some good wines on vacation last summer, visiting a number of the
wineries in the western part of Virginia. VA doesn't make and sell any
where near as much as Washington or California, but there are some vintners
that are putting quality over quantity.
Jim