WineLife365

Experiment #2 – 1L Tetra Pak (a.k.a. An oversized juice box)

Wines Tasted: 2008 Yellow + Blue Torrontes (white) and the 2007 Yellow & Blue Malbec (red).

Origin: Argentina

Price Paid: $12.50 for each wine

This is my second experiment with trying wines in alternative packaging.  Let me start off by saying that if there’s a method of packaging wine that is better for our planet, I’m all for it.  I’m sure that all of us would agree that the greenest possible packaging methods should be used.  However, I’m still searching for answers to whether or not the wine industry feels that alternative packaging, such as the “bag-in-box” system and/or the “Tetra Pak” system, makes better sense over glass bottles.  If it does, then why are so few wineries willing to adopt and promote these more eco-friendly packaging options?  If these alternative packaging methods are in fact greener and cheaper for wineries to use over glass bottles, shouldn’t there be more Box Wines and/or Tetra Pak wines on the shelf?  My guess is that there are other factors coming into play – maybe impact on taste and freshness of the product?  Let’s face it, business is business and most wineries aren’t going to make the leap to this type of packaging without knowing that there is a value proposition as well.

I digress and will continue with my experiment:

On the hunt for “Green” Wines

I took a stroll down the aisle of my local wine store and picked up two Tetra Paks from Yellow + Blue.  The white wine was a 2008 Torrontes and the red wine was a 2007 Malbec.   Both of these wines were from Argentina, and both wines noted on the eco-friendly container that they were made with organically grown grapes.

So how did they taste?

Well, they weren’t bad, but they weren’t very good either.  For all that was said about the packaging being so much cheaper so that “better juice” could go inside, I found both of the Yellow + Blue Wines to be ok at best.  The Torrontes white wine was the better of the two wines.  It possessed some of the characteristics that I’ve tasted in comparatively priced bottled Torrontes, but this 2008 Yellow+Blue was definitely outmatched by bottled competitors such as Lo Tengo and Alamos.  It was very light and kind of watered down.  I give the 2008 Yellow + Blue Torrontes a 2 Star rating based on taste alone.

As far as the 2007 Malbec, well let’s just say that it didn’t stack up to some of the bottled Malbecs that I’ve tasted in this same price range this year.  In my opinion, there are a lot more bottled Malbecs worth trying over this juice box Malbec in the same price range.  I give the 2007 Yellow + Blue Malbec a 2 Star rating based on taste alone as well.

Did these wines stay fresher in a juice box than a bottle?

In my experiment, the Malbec was just about undrinkable on day #2 (it was not pretty) and the Torrontes did manage to hold what it had to offer for about three days.  That’s pretty comparable to a leftover bottle of white wine.  

So What’s the Verdict?

At the end of the day and this discussion, isn’t wine meant to be drunk?  If the wine inside the bag or the adult sized juice box doesn’t taste as good as a comparable priced bottled wine, then that’s where I have to draw the line.  I want to be as green as the next guy, but I really want to enjoy what I’m drinking even more!  I respect what the folks at Yellow + Blue Wines stand for – “Wines for a Better Planet”, but the wine has to be better in order for me to buy it again.   Unfortunately, these two particular wines are outmatched by competing bottled wines in the same price range, and the fact that they didn’t stay fresher any longer than a bottled wine didn’t do much to persuade me to change either.

Below is the link to Yellow+ Blue Wines and another site dedicated to promoting eco-friendly products:

http://www.ybwines.com/

http://kevinkahn.com/