or: Cask Wine Has Evolved
In Cyprus, I have come across arguably one of the best inventions since Thomas Angove invented cask wine boxes (aka “goon”) in Australia in the 1960s. Someone has had the bright idea to adapt this idea further and put wine in a Tetra Pak.
It’s two litres smaller. This is a plus or a minus depending on your perspective.
I was dubious at first having experienced my fair share of goon while at university. It was cheap. It tasted cheap and the cost was low. This was when we weren’t drinking Passion Pop for AUD2.99 or premixing stronger beverages in used milk bottles before going to the local club. This was just the way things were back then and I’m guessing only the cost has probably changed for the current university students.
Cask wine has always had a bad reputation. It is now changing.
Anyway, I had tried Banrock Station’s cask wine about 15 years ago and was quite impressed. It was a massive improvement on any cask wine I had drunk and certainly a lot better than my Gran’s Coolabah Fruity Lexia which she always kept in the fridge (I’m sure it was for medicinal purposes because she took a glass each night with dinner). That said, it was more expensive than anything else I had drunk from a cask.
It became the picnic wine of choice due to its easy transportability and low risk of breaking. It also fits neatly into an Esky / portable cooler / coolerbox / icebox compared to a bottle. It was taken to Carols in the Domain, Opera in the Park, Jazz in the Park and pretty well anything that was happening in that park and any others nearby. I’m a big fan of a picnic and combining it with music is a match made in heaven.
The other plus was it I didn’t need to share it with those that were still being cask wine snobs. Don’t worry, I couldn’t finish a whole cask anyway. This meant I could take the leftovers home as I had no need to struggle with trying to fit a cork back in.
Since leaving Australia, I can’t remember drinking anything else out of a cask or box.
Until now.
This is a little different though. It is cheap AND tastes good. It comes in white and red, sweet and dry. Turns out that many local establishments in Peiya even use this brand as their house wine.
I’m not complaining.
There seems to have been quite a shift generally in the quality of the wine that is being boxed and the popularity of this wine has been gradually increasing as a result while that of cask wine has remained fairly stagnant.
It also appears to be more environmentally-friendly than bottles based on the whole manufacturing and recycling process. I’m not 100% sure this is correct so I’ll be looking into it further.
While I can’t see boxed wine appearing on any sommelier’s wine list anytime soon, I am quite content drinking Tetra boxed wine at home or for a picnic as long as it tastes good. I miss the ceremony of opening a bottle though.
In the meantime, “cheers!”
* Thanks to Huey Lewis & the News for the title to this post.