Dana must be devastated.
Box wine inventor dies as his genius finally gets its due
By Andrew Pridgen
04/07/10 - 12:14 PM
Tuesday Australian winemaker/box wine inventor Thomas Angove died.
He was 92.
Along with inventing the best wine storage device since the oak barrel, Angove was the man who imported non-native grapes to his home continent (those bottles of Yellow Tail Pinot, Savignon Blanc, Grenache, Cab you crave — Angove is directly responsible).
He patented box wine in 1965.
From his son John, "I remember when I was about 15 and he brought home a prototype and I said to him: 'that's ridiculous'" to throngs of naysayers and wine snobs — the idea of wine in a box and bladder simply adds up to declasse.
If microbrews can be stored better in a can and your best varietals now almost exclusively found in screw cap — has box wine's day come?
Yes.
Recession be damned, in 2009, three-liter boxes became the fastest-growing segment of wine sales in the US — and yes, it's because the wine stays fresher longer. Period.
The dawn of the box era is also getting a big bump from big chains as Whole Foods, Target and Trader Joe's jump in the game with their own box labels and price points well above the $5 Franzia range.
(Not that there's anything wrong with Franzia; two of the best nights of my life: one that resulted in a black eye and a bleeding head and one that ended with me chasing Chuck Mangione around a golf course — can be directly linked to Franzia blush.)
Target's Wine Cube is $17/3L (made by Napa's Trinchero Family); Monterey County's Black Box is a find at $23/3L and Trove's Chardonnay $23/3L are legit contenders to take up valuable fridge space.
So, raise a glass today in memory of Thomas Angove — and know that his future of wine storage — is now.
Box wine inventor dies as his genius finally gets its due
By Andrew Pridgen
04/07/10 - 12:14 PM
Tuesday Australian winemaker/box wine inventor Thomas Angove died.
He was 92.
Along with inventing the best wine storage device since the oak barrel, Angove was the man who imported non-native grapes to his home continent (those bottles of Yellow Tail Pinot, Savignon Blanc, Grenache, Cab you crave — Angove is directly responsible).
He patented box wine in 1965.
From his son John, "I remember when I was about 15 and he brought home a prototype and I said to him: 'that's ridiculous'" to throngs of naysayers and wine snobs — the idea of wine in a box and bladder simply adds up to declasse.
If microbrews can be stored better in a can and your best varietals now almost exclusively found in screw cap — has box wine's day come?
Yes.
Recession be damned, in 2009, three-liter boxes became the fastest-growing segment of wine sales in the US — and yes, it's because the wine stays fresher longer. Period.
The dawn of the box era is also getting a big bump from big chains as Whole Foods, Target and Trader Joe's jump in the game with their own box labels and price points well above the $5 Franzia range.
(Not that there's anything wrong with Franzia; two of the best nights of my life: one that resulted in a black eye and a bleeding head and one that ended with me chasing Chuck Mangione around a golf course — can be directly linked to Franzia blush.)
Target's Wine Cube is $17/3L (made by Napa's Trinchero Family); Monterey County's Black Box is a find at $23/3L and Trove's Chardonnay $23/3L are legit contenders to take up valuable fridge space.
So, raise a glass today in memory of Thomas Angove — and know that his future of wine storage — is now.
