Cask Wines

As aspiring oenophiles, we're reading good things about boxed, er, cask wines. "Cask" wines are the new name for "boxed" wines with the quality from the wine-in-a-bottle but at the fraction of the cost. We've begun to open our minds and our palates to vineyard and technology experimentation. With the evolution of plastic, it's amazing how they've been able to stave off the oxidation process for almost nine months; the boxed wines are now in the ring with the better of them.

We're delighted to report that one has definitely passed our taste: SE Australian BoxingRoo Shiraz.

It's dark purple with a creamy, berry nose. It's rich and soft with distinctive spicy berry and gentle currant flavors. It's about $18 for a 3-liter box, equivalent to 4 bottles. They've even got a measure on the side with the number of bottles displayed. One can't see how much remains since the box is, well, cardboard. I like it because it looks like software packaging.

As far as we know, there is only one place that sells it in Raleigh -but we're not revealing the location.