Boxed wine (cask wine) is a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

sold in " bag-in-box" packaging. Traditionally, this consists of a cardboard box containing a wine filled plastic reservoir. The flow of the wine from the box is controlled by a

valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...

History

The process for packaging "cask wine" (boxed wine) was invented by Thomas Angove, a winemaker from Renmark,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, and patented by his company on April 20, 1964. Polyethylene bladders of one

gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as , and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland, Canada, Australia ...

(4.5 litres) were placed in

corrugated box Corrugated box design is the process of matching design factors for corrugated fiberboard (sometimes called corrugated cardboard) or corrugated plastic boxes with the functional physical, processing and end-use requirements. Packaging engineers w ...

es for retail sale. The original design required that the consumer cut the corner off the bladder, pour out the serving of wine, and then reseal it with a special peg. This design was based on a product already on the market, a bag in a box used by mechanics to hold and transport battery acid. In 1967, Australian inventor Charles Malpas and Penfolds Wines patented a plastic, air-tight tap welded to a metallised bladder, making storage more convenient. Modern wine casks use plastic taps which can be exposed by tearing away a perforated panel on the box. For the following decades, 'bag in a box' packaging was primarily preferred by producers of less expensive wines, as they were cheaper to produce and distribute than glass

flagon A flagon () is a large leather, metal, glass, plastic or ceramic vessel, used for storing and pouring drink, whether this be water, ale, or another liquid. They are generally not intended to be drunk from directly, like a cup. A flagon is typica ...

s, which served a similar market. In Australia, due to the difference in how wine is taxed compared to other alcoholic beverages, boxed wine is often the least expensive form of drinkable alcohol. A 4-

litre The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter ( American spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metres (m3). A ...

cask of at least 9.5% alcohol can often be found for around . These attributes have led to boxed wine being widely available throughout Australia and holding a prominent place in Australian pop culture. Bladder pack

During the mid-1970s, the bag-in-box packaging concept expanded to other beverages, including spring waters, orange juices, and wine coolers. In 2003, California Central Coast AVA based Black Box Wines introduced mass premium wines in a box. Within the decade, premium wineries and bottlers began packaging their own high-quality boxed wine. This, coupled with an increased cultural interest in environmentally sustainable packaging, has cultivated growing popularity with affluent wine consumers.

Attributes

Box wines utilize plastic bags instead of traditional glass bottles, significantly reducing production and shipping costs, which makes them a more affordable option for consumers. Typical bag-in-box containers hold one and a half to four 750 ml bottles of wine per box, though they come in a wide variety of volumes. Bag-in-box packaging is cheaper and lighter than glass-bottled wine. The removal of wine from the flexible bag without adding air to fill the vacated space greatly reduces the

oxidation Redox ( , , reduction–oxidation or oxidation–reduction) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is ...

of the wine during dispensing. Compared to bottled wine, which should be consumed within hours or days of opening, bag-in-box wine will not spoil for approximately 3–4 weeks after breaking the seal, or even longer if the wine is kept

refrigerated Refrigeration is any of various types of cooling of a space, substance, or system to lower and/or maintain its temperature below the ambient one (while the removed heat is ejected to a place of higher temperature).IIR International Dictionary of ...

after opening. In addition, it is not subject to

cork taint Cork taint is a broad term referring to an off-odor and off-flavor wine fault arising from the presence of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), a chemical compound that represents one of the strongest off-flavors, and one "generated naturally in foods/b ...

. Wine contained in plastic bladders is not intended for cellaring and should be consumed within the manufacturer's printed

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a s ...

. Deterioration may be noticeable 12 months after filling.

Environmentally friendly

The Scandinavian state institutions

Systembolaget (, "the System Company"), colloquially known as ("the system") or ("the company"), is a government-owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden. It is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol by ...

and Vinmonopolet analyzed the environmental impact of various wine packaging in 2010. Bag-in-Box packaging was found to leave only 12% to 29% of the

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

of bottled wine and was found to be superior by every other ecological criterion. Tyler Colman from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' stated that bag-in-box is more environmentally friendly than bottled wine as well as easier to transport and store.

Health concerns

The introduction of cask wine in the late 1960s has had significant negative consequences. The Australian wine industry has benefited from favorable tax policies, which have led to a substantial increase in both domestic consumption and international exports. However, these developments have not been without drawbacks, particularly in terms of public health and social issues related to increased alcohol accessibility and consumption.

Colloquialisms

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, boxed wine is known colloquially as "goon". The cardboard box is referred to as a "goon box" and the bag within is referred to as a "goon bag". A common Australian drinking game is Goon of Fortune, in which a goon bag is suspended from a Hills Hoist and spun, and whoever it stops on must drink a selected amount of the goon. The word goon is derived from the word

, which is a traditional container for retailing inexpensive wine or vinegar. An occasional Australian pronunciation of the word flagon, perhaps with humorous intent, placed emphasis on the second syllable such that flagon came to be pronounced as "fla-goon", which was then shortened to simply "goon". Additionally, in Australia the term "silverpillow" is used to refer to the habit of inflating the empty bag and using it as a headrest. It is also known as a cask in some outback areas. In New Zealand, the term "Château Cardboard", originally a joking reference to the wine's container, has entered the vernacular to refer to box wine.Campbell, Bob
Chateau Cardboard – is boxed wine making a comeback?
" ''businessdesk.co.nz'', 19 September 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2024. In Finland, the terms are ''käsilaukku'' ("handbag"), ''humppakuutio'' (" Humppa Cube") and ''noppa'' (

dice A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...

References