Ben Dollard’s company wants to change the way Americans drink wine. He is the senior vice president for marketing for Pacific Wine Partners, which has introduced a product that most Americans have never seen before — quality wine in a box.
Marketing flummery? Perhaps. But the three boxed wine brands that Pacific has been distributing since last fall do seem to have several advantages over the Franzia and Almaden boxed wine that’s commonly sold in this country, and which is usually made with grapes no one else wants.
• Quality. These are all vintage wines made by reputable producers. Black Box, the brainchild of wine entrepreneur Ryan Sproule, offers chardonnay made from Napa Valley grapes and merlot made from Sonoma County fruit. The other two are Australian — shirazes, chardonnays, merlots and cabernets from the popularly priced winery Banrock Station and from Hardys, the biggest producer down under.
• Price. The wines come in three-liter boxes, the equivalent of four 750-milliliter bottles. But they cost just three times the price of a bottle, so consumers get the fourth for free. That means that a box of Banrock costs $18, compared to $24 for the same wine in four bottles. The savings come from reduced production and distribution costs.
• Technology. A vacuum-sealed bladder that prevents air from getting to the wine keeps it fresh for as long as a month — welcome news to anyone who has left a bit of wine in a bottle overnight only to have it taste like sludge the next day.
Still, despite all of this, it’s difficult to believe that boxes will ever be more than a niche product here, a novelty to show off when friends come over or something to buy for parties. After all, how are you going to keep a box of wine on the table at dinnertime?
