Well, it didn’t take long to fall to this level: we bought wine in a box.
Now, admittedly, we did buy Wine in a Box because our friend Gilles recommended it. But still…
As in almost every wine-producing region in the world, the French are experiencing a glut of wine. More producers, more regions, higher production have led to a flood of wine. (Except for the 2012 harvest, which was damaged by disease and weather.) Domestic consumption of wine in France has declined some 20% over the last 20 years, yet France still produces some 7 billion(!!) bottles of wine.
What’s happened is that wineries are producing good wine and selling it at lower cost than they would have before. So, the local supermarket, Carrefour, has a shelf of probably twenty different Wines in a Box, almost all from well-known regions. Cotes de Rhone in a Box? Got it. Burgundy in a Box? Yep. Corbieres in a Box? Right here. And, Bordeaux – the King of French wines – in a Box? Several different kinds.
The Bordeaux in a Box you see in the picture is a premium quality. It cost 15 Euro for a 3-liter box. That calculates to about $5 per bottle. Most of the other Wines in a Box are in the 10 Euro – 12 Euro range: about $4 per bottle.
So when Gilles recommended this wine, we had to give it a try. Our review: darn good wine, especially for the price. No wine experts are we, but I’d guess that a similar quality Bordeaux in the States would be in the $14-$16 per bottle range – about triple what we paid.
And no, we didn’t see any White Zindfandel in a Box here. Actually, I think the French authorities arrest anyone trying to order White Zinfandel.