Ideal Bite

Tetra paks are NEVER a good choice for packaging. I am disappointed that this site would promote their use in any form.

For parties, I get a boxed wine, and decant it into a nice vintage glass caraffe for the table. Bota Box Shiraz is also a good wine in a box. (plastic bag within a cardboard box)

For parties, I get a boxed wine, and decant it into a nice vintage glass caraffe for the table. Bota Box Shiraz is also a good wine in a box. (plastic bag within a cardboard box)

a big problem is the space they take up. Would require a bigger, more energy use to cool and store. Good for parties. In our area we can totally recycle by taking each box totally apart.

Why not recycle the glass? Besides recycling, there are also small businesses that will take the bottles and make them in to drinking glasses.

A couple of observations on your boxed wine tip. First: You talk about how much more greenhouse gas goes into shipping bottles rather than boxes. Your example, California to New York, indicates that you don't realize the fabulous and enormous wine industry in New York State. If you live in or new New York State buy New York State wine. Southern Ontario has great wine, as well - particularly ice wine. Northeasterners, take note! Second: Your recommendations (Wanna Try) suggest wines from South America and Europe. Now how is that more sustainable than shipping bottled wine within the USA? Any purchase we make should be made with the shipping in mind. Buy as close to home as possible, period.

You forgot to mention the alternative (for some) of buying locally produce wines. We drive to the many vineyards in our area (Missouri) and bring the wine home. This makes for a nice outing and no packing and shipping, other than our gasoline to get there and back - but it's a mini-vacation. Also, our stores sell award-winning Missouri wines, so they don't have to be shipped across the country.

I've been buying quality box wine for some time. Even though I can recycle glass wine bottles, and I do buy them for gifts and dinner parties, good wine in a box is a great value for someone like myself who may only drink three glasses of wine in a week. Instead of throwing out spoiled wine, I can have a glass any time without waste, and four bottles of good wine in a box for about $20 is quite a deal. I do buy locally as much as possible, in whatever category I can. I love the "natural" cardboard box that Bota Box wine comes in, and their reds are wonderful. When Sinski Pinot Noir comes in a box, I'll stock it! Until then, I'll always have a box at hand, and an occasional bottle of Sinski.

My husband is the importer of Yellow+Blue Malbec (and Torrontes) and I want to thank Ideal Bite for mentioning his wines in this piece on Boxed Wines. I would like to clarify a few things. First, Yellow+Blue Malbec is packed in a 1 liter TetraPak, not 750ml as noted, providing 1/3 more wine than a glass bottle. While drinking great wine from a local source is ideal, that is not always possible. Yellow+Blue wines are shipped in bulk and packaged in North America. In addition they are made soley from organically grown grapes, a plus for consumers and the planet. And, when compared to a glass wine bottle; Tetra Pak cartons use 54% less energy, create 80% less greenhouse gasses, produce 60% less solid waste volume and have 92% less package weight.

Just a note to those who criticized IB for not mentioning local wines, they DID mention it :) The last sentence in "Wanna try" says local is the greenest option. Perhaps they should have specified that local BOTTLES are green (especially if the company makes them from recycled glass!). And just to add, I LOVE the Bota box. I live alone and find it hard to drink a bottle before it goes bad (well, sometimes I find it hard), so I love the Bota. And while I do drink local (Missouri) wines, they are often too sweet for my taste.