Wine Blogging Wednesday #31:
2004 French Rabbit Pinot Noir
9 Winehiker Points*
I’ve resisted buying boxed wine. Like many, I’ve maintained the perception that boxed wine could not offer much better than bottom shelf quality, that no good wine could come in a box. Still, I’m a practical sort of guy; the notion that a boxed wine can stay fresher longer has its appeal. Indeed there are times when I’ve got 3 or 4 bottles open; if I’m not going to finish them too soon, loss of freshness can often become an issue.
Far be it from me to waste good wine. In theory, then, if the wine is good and I can keep it open longer, I’ll be stocking up on it. Too bad practice always seems to get in the way of theory.
And so it is with the French Rabbit Pinot Noir Vin de Pays d’Oc, a one-liter TetraPak carton imported from France by Boisset America of Sausalito, California. Its silver and orange box had caught my eye while in Paso Robles last month; I bought it at the local Albertson’s supermarket for $9.99.
After deciding last night that I couldn’t use my eighty-five-dollar Rabbit screwpull to open this French Rabbit, I unscrewed the box’s orange plastic top and short-poured into my tasting glass. The wine’s medium garnet color was pleasing, and so, too, was the subtle fragrance of strawberry fruit and an overtone of vanilla; this wine smells like a Pinot should. Unfortunately that’s about where the impression ended. Like that attractive and curvaceous cheerleader you always wanted to be seen with in high school except for the fact that you wanted her to just please shut up, this wine has a good body but is way too acidic for drinking. The tannins are too soft, and the finish reminds me too much of going home alone, without the girl. I’ve learned my lesson: I’m not asking her out again tonight - I don’t care how fresh she is.
Now what am I going to do with a liter of this BLECCHH - make vinegar? I’m so glad I didn’t commit to a 3-liter relationship.
I’ve suddenly got a new mixed mantraphor:
I’d rather have a bottle in front of me than live in a cardboard box.
And I’ll be keeping my trusty Rabbit a while longer.
*Scored on a 20-point scale using this wine scoring sheet.
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March 14th, 2007 13:57
Wine Blogging Wednesday #31: 2004 French Rabbit Pinot Noir…
The winehiker pours a boxed wine, loses the girl, and ends the night with a new metaphor….
March 19th, 2007 08:37
[...] Plonk Avoided (Mostly). Thankfully, nobody bought a 5-liter box of Franzia (or Almaden or Vella) and said, “Gaaak - this is awful!” We were hoping to avoid experiences that would put people off outside-the-bottle wines for the next decade, and, by and large, we were successful. There were a few notably bad ones. Spittoon hated Tesco Sicilian Red Wine, though Andrew later pointed out that Tesco is the UK equivalent of WalMart. Winehiker Witiculture scored French Rabbit Pinot Noir a mere 9 out of 20. Grape Juice didn’t find much to like in the little plastic bottles of Virgin Vines Shiraz. Tales of a Sommelier found the Paul Masson White Wine Carafe quite lacking. If there’s one characteristic shared by these choices, they tend to come from the lower end of the non-traditional spectrum - with the possible exception of the somewhat stylish French Rabbit, these are wines that don’t aspire to greatness, or even a high level of mediocrity. Let’s recognize the sacrifices made by these bloggers - they tried this stuff so that you (and many, many readers) won’t have to! [...]
March 20th, 2008 11:06
[...] Wine Blogging Wednesday #31: 2004 French Rabbit Pinot Noir [...]
March 30th, 2008 22:22
Speaking personally, I’m curious to know what “If there’s one characteristic shared by these choices, they tend to come from the lower end of the non-traditional spectrum” really means. As a sometime wine blogger and one-time reviewer of a boxed wine, am I to be considered as a “low-end” and “non-traditional” wine reviewer? If so, what, too, does that mean to you? What is the opposite meaning? What, if not non-traditional, is the greater blogger viewpoint about boxed wines if you would confer upon it traditional or high-end status? Please do educate us, Mr. Boxedwines.org Guy. The remainder of the wine world may just wish to learn from you; by and large you’ll be successful if they do. Indeed, I challenge you to respond here on Winehiker Witiculture to defend your position and/or define what “a successful boxed wine” really is.
March 30th, 2009 22:37
It’s one year later, and it would appear that boxed wines cannot be defended. Well, shoot: it’s not that I have a chip on my shoulder about the quality of wines that are sold in a box - no, no! After all, I would have the makers and distributors of boxed wines wildly succeed. But experience bears out that I might rue the day upon which I bring a well-meaning group of winehikers to a winery that would surprise us all with a pour from a boxed wine, the typical onus of the experience being decidedly inferior.
True, the above is my opinion; the greater amalgam of opinion about boxed wines remains tantamount to general fact. The real truth is, only you as a consumer of wine and wine touring can decide what “wine country experience” means.