PICNIC PERFECT WINE — IN A BOX?
Fried chicken, check. Sub sandwiches, done. Barbecue ribs, ready to go. Brownies? A must.
You’ve got all the food and fixings for a great lakeside picnic for your Tahoe summer adventure. Now all you need is the wine. But somehow a glass bottle just don’t fit in with the casual, al fresco vibe. Put that bottle down and grab a box, can or carton of wine for your cooler.
Canned wines offer smaller sips, without any leftovers to worry about. A 375 ml can is roughly half a bottle; you’ll get two to three glasses out of the slightly larger 500 ml can. Boxed wine — which holds three liters of wine, or about four bottles worth — uses a vacuum-sealed bag to keep oxygen out, which means the wine stays fresh for up to a month after opening. (Curious to see how that works? Check out the video of a dissected box wine in action at www.mercurynews.com/tag/wine.)
And then there’s the Tetra Pak or carton, which we’ve seen on juice aisles for a while now, so it makes sense to use them for wine, as well. The 1-liter cartons hold about 1 1/3 bottles of wine.
Best of all, winemakers have begun putting some pretty good juice in these alternative containers — if you know where to look. So we swirled, sniffed and sipped our way through a bunch of boxed and canned options to find the best picnic pairings. You’ll find most of these at local supermarkets and wine shops.
Best boxed wine
2016 Bota Box Dry Rosé, California ($20-$25): This rosé is dry, not sweet, with a pale pink hue and strawberry aromas and flavors. Looking for an all-around great food wine? This is it.
Vin Vault Pinot Noir, California ($20-$24): This was our favorite boxed wine, and it seems others agree. We were drawn in by the fresh, fruity aromas, light cherry and plum flavors in this easy drinking wine.
The Naked Grape Cabernet Sauvignon, California ($18-$22): This dark, opaque, full-bodied wine was a pleasant suprise. We didn’t expect to find such a complex mix of sour black cherry and rhubarb, followed by a spicy finish. Try this cab with smoky foods, such as barbecue or smoked cheese.
2015 Black Box Chardonnay, California ($24-$29): This wine offers baked apple aromas and lemon and citrus fruit, along with a caramel finish.
Best canned wine
Union Wine Co. Underwood Pinot Gris, Oregon ($28/375 ml four-pack): This wine earned a “yum” rating. The soft peachy and apricot notes were a great match with spicy food.
2015 Alloy Wine Works Chardonnay, Central Coast ($30 /500 ml four-pack): Our favorite canned white wine comes from Paso Robles winemaker Andrew Jones, who also makes Field Recording wines. This rich, fruity wine was full of pear and apple fruit, with a great, long finish
Union Wine Co. Underwood Rosé, Oregon ($28/375 ml four-pack): Another winner from Oregon’s canned wine specialist, this bright and zippy rosé had a lovely light strawberry, ruby red grapefruit and blood orange fruit mix.
2015 Alloy Wine Works Pinot Noir, Central Coast ($30 /500 ml four-pack): We sniffed an earthy nose and red cherry fruit and vanilla spice in this soft, easy drinking wine.
2014 Fiction by Field Rrecordings Red Blend, Paso Robles ($40/500 ml fourpack): Our top canned red wine was a big one, with lots of blackberry and black cherry fruit. We’d drink this yummy wine with a meaty sub sandwich, burgers or barbecue ribs. (Psst: Field Recordings also bottles this wine, and in a side-by-side blind tasting, we couldn’t tell the difference between the can or bottle.)
2016 Sans Wine Co. Zinfandel, Poor Ranch Vineyard, Mendocino County ($60/375 ml six-pack): This easy drinking zin, from a new Napa-based producer, was lighter in color than we expected, but the can was full of brambly blackberry fruit and peppery spice notes. Note this is a singlevineyard wine, which ups the quality in the can.
Best Tetra Pak wine
Bandit Pinot Grigio, California ($8-$11/1 liter): We like the lineup from this wine brand, developed by the fun-loving Three Thieves, which features colorful containers in bright yellow, neon green, purple and blue shades.
For lakeside summer lunches, the extremely drinkable, light and creamy Pinot Grigio, with its pear and citrus flavors, is the way to go.