I had a box wine tasting party last night.  It was inspired by an article I read in the Chronicle ages ago.  This was the first party I had at my house in 5 years (not counting dinner parties). There were about 16 people and 24.5 liters of wine.

After checking out several best of lists (epicurious, chowhound, winelibrarytv), my goal was to visit places that you would normally be stopping at for other items, Specs, Costco, Target, Whole Foods, etc…  I had purchased an assortment of boxes a few guests brought boxes.  I also had lots of snacks to avoid having a room full of completely drunk people.

Highlights of the evening:

• 2007 Banrock Shiraz (you can get it at Specs)
• Target Wine Cube -2007 Pinot Grigio and the 2006 Cabernet/Shiraz Blend
• Black Box Cabernet (I think it was 2005) (Costco has it cheapest)
• Bandit Merlot (you can buy it at Whole Foods)
• Costco Snacks- Pesto, Hummus, Rosemary Bread
• My home made brownies- From scratch with whiskey

Things that sounded like a good idea but weren’t so tasty:

• Black Box 2007 Pinot Grigio and 2006 Shiraz
• Bota Box 2007 Chardonnay

Things that you should avoid like the plague:

• Vendango 500mL tetrapacks from Specs.  Get the wine cubes instead.  I don’t know if they were old but they tasted corky for some reason.

Overall, I was impressed.  Especially with the Target wine cubes.  You can get them in 3 sizes.  3L, 1.5L, and the 4 pack of 250mL.