Thursday Club with Talk Radio: Boxed Wine

Do you whisper it or shout it out loudly and proudly? Boxed wine, bag in box wine or even bagnums these days (see what they did there?) are on the up with consumers and for many good reasons too. Quality packaging has come such a long, long way, so wines are kept fresher for longer, which in turn has meant that producers are happy to put higher quality wines in there. New, natty little taps and better bags keep oxygen out and flavour in and in many cases, the packaging has been upgraded too, to something you wouldn’t mind showing off in your kitchen. Add to this the fact that the same wine is cheaper when you buy it in more volume like this AND the packaging is generally much less harmful to the environment and you have a win-win situation. 

I’ve tried and tested a lot for you (it’s a tough job, eh?) and here are three boxed wines that are cracking value:

When in Rome Organic Grillo, Sicily, Italy. 

When in Rome were one of the first to bring high quality, interesting wines to the box, all the while keeping their green credentials intact. I love this crowd-pleasing, organic Grillo (that’s the grape); it’s crisp and ultra refreshing with a very aromatic nose of peach blossom and lemon cream. Fruity but light on its feet, it's highly drinkable and perfect for parties or that sneaky midweek glass straight from the fridge. 

£24.99 for 2.25L (bottle equivalent = £8.33) from Waitrosecellar and on offer on Amazon for £22.80

Terre di Faiano Rosso IGP Puglia Organic Rosso

This Italian red wine blend certainly wins the prize for great packaging with its eye-catching, blue tube. It is also a big, juicy hug in a glass. If you’re a fan of Primitivo with its notes of cocoa dusted raisins, very ripe dark berry fruit and vanilla pods, then you’ll love this. Of a slightly sweet style so not for lovers of old school, dry Claret perhaps, but a very easy drinking drop on a cool, Autumnal day. It would make a great match with some hard, salty cheese. 

£20.79 on offer (was 25.99) for 2.25L from WaitroseCellar ( £6.33 bottle equivalent)

Bea Organic Monastrell, The BIB Wine Company

The BIB Wine Company have nailed compact, classy looking boxes that hold properly fine wine. Come here for your quirky blends from lesser known wine regions as well as your old favourites, from Sancerre and Cotes du Rhone to fabulous Portuguese blends and dry, Hungarian Furmint. This Spanish Monastrell (that’s the grape. It’s also known as Mourvedre in France) is bold and grippy, much drier and tannic than the Rosso above and more old school European in style - dusty in a good way. Give it a steak and it will sing. 

£26.80 fro 2.25L (£8.93) from bibwine.co.uk

Stay tuned for more boxed wine recommendations on The Three Drinkers soon! In the meantime, here are 8 reasons why you should try boxed wine again.

Thursday Club with talk RADIO: Quintessentially English Drinks

As I write, England just beat Denmark in the Euros and will face Italy on Sunday in the final! What else can we do today then, than crack some English fizz and celebrate a few quintessentially English tipples? As a nod to Sunday, we will also take the English gin liqueur and give it a little Italian twist.   

The Fizz

Kingscote Sparkling Brut (11.5% abv)

An incredibly aromatic, dry, English fizz, packed full of forest floor flavours. Unusually for most English fizz these days, it’s made in the charmat or ‘tank’ method like Prosecco rather than the more lengthy, traditional method. It is also Bacchus dominant, rather than Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. As a result, it's fresher and more frothy than the Champagne style wines. At under £20 too, it’s an absolute bargain!

Find it here at The English Vine for £16.19 mix six price (£17.99 single)

The Bargain Summer Cup

Austin’s Classic Summer Punch (17.5% abv)

I was recently commissioned by The Sun to do a taste-off of all the supermarket variations of summer punch against the most famous brand, Pimm’s. Aldi’s Austin’s did not only do better than all the other brands as well as being the cheapest, but I also scored it more highly than Pimm’s itself. For your quintessentially English summer punch, just use one part Austin’s to two parts lemonade and throw in some strawberries, cucumber and mint. 

Find it here for £7.49 for 1 litre from Aldi

The Sophisticated, Step-up

Rev Hubert’s Garden Gin (20% ABV)

The Reverend Hubert Bell Lester (1868 -1929) was a charming man who apparently enjoyed a good party. He created his ‘famous’ winter liqueur recipe in 1904 for the joyful Christmas gathering of his army colleagues and congregation and the recipe endured. Today, his great grandson Thomas has revived it, updating the various versions and creating everything by hand. This Garden Gin liqueur is a summery version of one of his recipes, featuring rhubarb, plum, sweet pomegranate and tart cranberries. Have it with soda or tonic. It also makes an excellent English Garden Negroni. (⅓ Rev, ⅓ Cocchi (or other white) Vermouth, ⅓ Campari).

Find it exclusively at Master of Malt for £34.95

Thursday Club with talk RADIO: Top wines from Co-op

This week on the Thursday club, it’s the last in our supermarket series and this time, it’s the turn of the Co-op! I’ve chosen an impressive little white that you may not have heard of before, a simple and delicious pink Rioja and I also spotted a real bargain red that tastes a lot more expensive than it is…

Co-op Irresistible Marsanne 2019

Made by one of the star winemakers of the Languedoc; Jean-Claude Mas from Les Domaines Paul Mas, this is a well-made, perky white that is simply a great expression of the Marsanne grape. Marsanne is normally associated with Rhone Valley and often blended with Roussanne as it can often be a bit much on its own, but this one is really attractive. Think of ripe peach, pear and subtle, tropical fruit flavours with a lovely, creamy texture and good weight. It’s a bit different. If you like Viognier, you will like this. 

Find it for £8 here

Cune Rosado 2020

Cune is a name to know in Rioja for its fruit-forward, modern styles of wine that are easy to love. Despite its youth, the 2020 pink is drinking perfectly now, with a pretty scent of ripe cherry and delicious strawberry notes on the palate. It’s elegant, juicy and so easy to drink. Amazing value too, knocking many Provencal rosés off the shelf. 

Find it for £8.50 here

Co-op Tinto, Vina Gala NV

This was the surprise of the tasting to me. A non-vintage wine that clearly has some age on it - it must be a small parcel they have picked up. Made with 100% Tempranillo (the same grape that makes Rioja), this is super savoury with notes of grilled meat, leather and a flash of stewed strawberry and woody spice. Perhaps not one for everyone, but with a bit of air and either a slab of meat or some cheese, this properly belies it’s ridiculously low price. 

Find it at Co-op for £5.85 soon to be online

Thursday Club with Talk Radio: Sparkling Wines

It’s Thursday and that means it’s time for the Thursday Club on talkRADIO with Mike Graham! This week, we’re looking at key styles of fizz and what the differences are between them, featuring a Cava, a Prosecco and a Traditional method sparkling wine from England (same method as Champagne). The main question we will be discussing is why English Sparkling wine and Champagne are more expensive than Cava and Prosecco?

Traditional Method

English Sparkling Wine

Also known as Classic Method, Champagne Method or Méthode Champenoise, most English sparkling wines are made in this more hands-on, time intensive (and therefore more expensive) way nowadays and using the same, high quality grapes as they do in Champagne, namely Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. To get the fizz, the wine is fermented twice and with traditional method wines, this happens in individual bottles. The wine is then left so sit on the lees (dead yeast cells) which give a toasty, brioche complexity and mouthfeel. We all know Champagne but have you tried English Sparkling wine? The UK is doing wonderful things with fizz and they are well worth seeking out, such as this refreshing beauty made by Hush Heath in Kent.

Try: English Sparkling by Hush Heath Estate, Tesco, £19

Prosecco

Prosecco is a sparkling wine style that originates in the Veneto region of Italy, just north of Venice. The grape used is Glera (with a splash of Pinot Noir for rosé). The main difference in the production method here is that the second fermentation that creates the bubbles happens in a tank rather than single bottles. This is quicker and done on a larger scale. Also, Prosecco is not aged before it’s sold as the style required is fresh and fruity rather than dry and biscuity. All of this, together with a larger production area allows Prosecco so be sold more cheaply. 

Fun Fact: The sweetness levels of Prosecco are bonkers. Extra Dry is actually one of the sweetest styles. You want a dry Prosecco? Look for a Brut or a zero dosage! See more about the different sweetness and quality levels on our article here. 

Try: Cantine Il Maschio Prosecco Extra Dry, Sainsbury’s £7.50 on offer

Cava

Cava is an interesting one as it is made in the Traditional Method like Champagne and English Fizz, but instead of using the chi-chi French grapes mentioned above, this Spanish fizz traditionally uses local Spanish varieties: Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo. The production area of Cava covers 159 Spanish towns and villages in La Rioja, Valencia, Catalonia and Extremadura. The flavour profile of Cava is more on the tropical, pineapple, savoury side than Champagne and it can appear as a little less refined, but as far as value goes, it’s unbeatable. 

Try: Sainsbury’s Cava, Brut NV. £6