Alileo Wines: Sicilian, Organic Boxed Wines

As I've mentioned before, boxed wines generally have a poor reputation in many circles. It's often thought only cheap, mass produced wines are placed into boxes and that's true in some cases. However, there are wineries that produce tasty and higher quality wines in boxes, and I've positively reviewed some over the years.

There are advantages to boxed wines over glass bottled wines. First, once you open the wine, if properly stored, the boxed wine will keep fresh for about a month, much longer than a bottle once you open it. Second, the boxed packaging is more environmentally friendly in a few ways. For example, it weighs less than glass bottles so transportation expenses and fuel expenditures are less. 

I was recently contacted by representatives of Alileo Wines, a Sicilian, natural boxed wine brand, and offered samples of two of their wines. The company was founded by Antonio Bertone and Alexandra Drane, a husband and wife, and is a partnership with Antonio’s family in Sicily. "The brand was started to pay homage to their family’s Sicilian roots as well as give their family in Sicily upward economic mobility." 

Their organic boxed wines are produced using traditional methods with grapes from the west coast of Sicily. Wine production uses spontaneous fermentation, without added yeast, and it's boxed unfiltered. Alileo offers four varietals that come in 1.5 liter ($19.99) and 3.0 liter ($39.99) boxes. The 1.5 liter box is equivalent to two bottles of wine, and the 3 liter box is equivalent to four bottles.

Sustainability is a dominant value for Alileo, in all aspects of their operations. The packaging of their boxed wines is produced with less energy than glass bottles, and the packaging is also an easier recycled product. Boxed wines also can fit more wine in each shipment than bottles, resulting in lower fuel consumption and fewer emissions. Plus, all of these factors have lowered their operational costs, and they have passed those savings onto their customers, with lower wine prices.

Alileo Wines has also received a B Corp™ certification. "B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials." World wide, only about 100 wineries have B Corp certification. “From the first conversations about Alileo around our family’s dining table in 2020, we have always had our commitment to our environment, community and team at the forefront of every decision we make,” said Antonio Bertone. 

The Alileo Wines Young Bianco is produced from young Grillo grapes, a grape whose origins are unknown although it has been known to be on Sicily since at least 1897. Through DNA analysis, it was learned that Grillo is a natural cross between Catarratto Bianco and Muscat of Alexandria. With a bright yellow color, and a 12.5% ABV, the wine had a pleasing nose of citrus and floral notes, both which come out on the palate as well. It is fresh and clean, with good acidity, savory and herbal notes, and a pleasant finish. An excellent summer wine.   

The Alileo Wines Rosato Bronzato is produced from 100% Syrah and has a 12% ABV. "Bronzato" means "tanned by the sun," but it's also a slang term for "someone who partakes in some sporty imbibing." For Alileo, they use the term to reference the "feeling of being tanned by the sun," as if you're drinking the wine on a sunny beach. With a dark pink color, and a fruity aroma, the wine is fresh and crisp, with a medium-body and tasty, bright flavors of red fruit, especially cherry, and a savory element. Excellent on its own, and perfect for the summer, but it's very food friendly as well. 

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With the sustainability advantages of boxed wine, as well as the fact that the Alileo Wines is using organic grapes, and numerous sustainability practices throughout their business, they have much to offer consumers. Most importantly, the wine is tasty and very reasonably priced, equal to an average of $10 for a 750ml bottle. And with summer coming, boxed wine is a great choice for taking on boats, to the beach, on picnics, hiking and more. You don't have to worry about glass potentially breaking or the need for a corkscrew. And it's easier to pack than several bottles of wine. 

It's only Natural to enjoy these Sicilian, organic boxed wines!

Wine Nation: Future of Discount Wine?

After some difficulty and opposition, the first "big box" wine store has entered Massachusetts, the Wine Nation in Millbury. Smaller wine stores have often opposed such stores coming to their cities and towns, worried about losing business to such huge establishments. The Wine Nation previously attempted to open stores in Braintree and Reading, but was denied in both attempts, though it appears they are trying to appeal the Braintree decision. And a small discount store, not connected to the Wine Store, is now poised to open in Reading.

I was extremely curious to visit Wine Nation, to ascertain for myself what it was like, and whether it would become a place I would frequent. So yesterday I made the drive to Millbury to check it out. Friend and fellow blogger Bob Dwyer had already been there and posted a very thorough and accurate review of this new wine store. You might even want to read that first before proceeding onto my own review.

Wine Nation might be the largest wine store in the state (or at least in the top three), and will eventually carry 7000+ wines and 1000-1500 beers. It is also seeking to be a discount wine store, desirous of having some of the best prices in Massachusetts. In comparison, most other local wine stores carry 300-800 wines, so the Wine Nation will carry about 10 times the amount of wine as many other stores. That certainly would sound very threatening to a small proprietor.

The store is easy to locate, just a short distance off the Mass. Pike, though I live approximately one hour away from the store. So, I would need to make a special trip to stop by the store, meaning I need to have a compelling reason for visit. It is situated within a large shopping complex, the Shoppes at Blackstone Valley, and thus there is plenty of parking available. Plus, with all the other shops and restaurants in this complex, you can accomplish much more during your visit than just buying some wine.

I should preface my review by noting that the store is still very new, and needs some time to work out the initial kinks. There was apparently some rush to open the store so everything was not as carefully put in place as could have been if more preparatory time had been invested. The owners seem to be cognizant of some problems with the store, and have promised to address them in the near future. So, the store will likely be different, and hopefully better, in a couple months.

There is a strong warehouse feel to the store, which could turn off some wine lovers, but which really should not be seen as a negative. It is more cost effective to operate in this style, and those savings hopefully will be reflected in their pricing. The casual wine buyer probably won't have any objections to the look of the store, and wine snobs need to look beyond the surface. Because of its great size, it is wise to pick up one of the maps near the front of the store to acclimate yourself to how everything is set up.

Wines are arranged numerous ways, including by country, varietal, style, highly rated, staff picks, local, organic, and new items. Plus, wines can occupy more than one category, so might be spread out over multiple sections. That can be confusing. Plus, not all countries and wine regions get their own specific section. For example, South African wines do not have a specific shelf and are spread out over a few shelves, including in "Red Blends," "Other Reds" and "Other Whites," making it more difficult to see what is available just from that country. Plus, Washington and Oregon do not have their own sections.

The Wines by Style section is broken down into about nine categories, such as Intense, Complex, Lush and Crisp. But, only a small portion of wines are categorized here, so it is of limited use. Usually if a wine store is going to categorize by style, then most of their inventory is categorized as such, which is far more effective than only doing so for a mere fraction of the stock. It generally is an either/or proposition, to categorize wines by region/varietal or by style. It is very hard to have it both ways.

As Bob pointed out in his review, there are few shelf talkers on the shelves to describe the wines, and they are needed to help consumers with their selections. But this appears to be an issue the store is aware of, and plans to change in the near future.

Also as Bob pointed out, the pricing is a bit uneven, with some wines at very good prices, and others higher than other wine stores. Sometimes the price difference is only a dollar or so, and sometimes it might be as much as $50. Again though, this is something the store is supposed to be working on, with a goal of generally having the lowest prices in the state.

Near the front of the store are their high-end wines, fine Bordeaux, Burgundy, California Cabernet and more, kept in a temperature controlled case and displayed nicely. Offhand, I noticed they carry the 2007 Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection, listed at $149.99. But I have seen that wine at another discount wine store in MA for only $99. Thus, I would suggest that before buying anything from this section that you do a bit of price research first, to ensure you are getting a good deal.

In this case is also probably the most expensive wine in the store, and understandably so, a magnum of the 2007 DRC Richebourg, priced at $1599.99. I have not seen that wine anyplace else in MA, but on Wine Searcher the price ranges from $1600-$2175. So, their price it is at the low end.

What about their selection? The vast number of wines they carry creates certain expectations in my mind. With over 7000 wines, they should be carrying quite a diverse selection. They should have wines from less common regions, which you often cannot find at smaller stores. There should be a decent selection of more artisan wines, especially those harder to find elsewhere. They should take advantage of their numbers to the fullest extent. But did Wine Nation live up to my expectations?

You will find most of the big name wines here, many of the usual suspects. But, I think they are lacking an adequate representation of the smaller wineries, the more artisan wines, as well some of the lesser known wine regions. I was familiar with most of what I saw on the shelves, and had been hoping to find far more wines that were new to me. Diversity is lacking and the promise of such a huge number of wines is not being fulfilled.

The store could easily carry several thousand well known brands, but also a couple thousand far less known wines. How many different Chardonnay labels do they really need? 500, 300, 100, 50? Five shelves are set up for Chardonnay, so there are easily hundreds of different labels and I can't imagine why they need so many. Would it really hurt the store if they cut their amount of Chardonnay in half? I don't think so, and it would free up spots for so many different wines.

Now obviously there are plenty of good wines on their shelves, and wines I drink myself, but I expected far more diversity. Small wine stores struggle, and succeed, to maintain diversity with only 300-500 wines. With 7000+ wines, Wine Nation should have absolutely no difficulty providing an extremely diverse mix of selections, rather than trying to carry every brand of Chardonnay that exists.

I was pleased to see a decent sized section of Portuguese wines, around 30 different labels (pictured above). Portuguese wines are often excellent values and I have long recommended them. Their Sherry and Port section is pretty good too, including Madeira and Marsala wines. I was impressed with their Local Wine section, which includes wines not only from New England but also New York and even Virginia. Some of the New England wineries represented include Turtle Creek, Westport Rivers, Still River Winery, Truro Vineyards, and Sakonnet. From New York, you will find Ravine Cellars, Red Newt, Hermann Wiemer and Dr. Konstantin Frank. There is also a nice Organic Wine section.

I was much less pleased with their Saké selection, maybe 25 or so labels, but plenty of ordinary Saké and little to excite a Saké lover. That section really needs work. They also carry about six plum wines which is overkill as it is certainly not that popular. That space would have been better served by some premium Saké. They stock about 20 Greek wines, and again that section has a few very good choices, but plenty of rather ordinary wines as well. It needs more attention too. They have three Lebanese wines, but the only Israeli wines they carry are kosher.

Though they do not carry a large selection of half-bottles of wine, they have a very ample supply of 1.5ml bottles as well as plenty of boxed wines (including Blue Nun). They also sell numerous wine supplies, from racks to decanters, and from books to spit buckets. If you love beer, there is a huge selection here, beers, ales and more from all over the world. There is also a decent selection of hard ciders. Plus, they carry a variety of other beverages, including soda, juices, water, and vermouth. In addition, you can buy cigars from their humidor, as well as various foods, including chips, cheese, frozen pasta, chocolate and much more. So it is much more than just a wine store, and you will find most of your party needs here.

While I was there, I was asked several times if I needed any assistance. There appears to be plenty of staff walking the floors, and they are checking with all of the customers to see if they have any questions or need help. There is also a central desk where customers can go if they need assistance. With such a large facility, it is very good that there are so many employees around offering assistance to the patrons.

Overall, and as a preliminary opinion, I think the Wine Nation has potential, but it has not yet lived up to that potential and it remains to be seen whether it will or not. As the store is still very new though, it has time to change and there have been indications that the owner understands some of the problems and is going to take action to correct them.

First, pricing needs to be adjusted if the store seeks to be one of the lowest in the state, and to remain competitive with the other discount wine stores. Massachusetts already has some excellent, and competitive discount wine stores and any newcomers must rise to the occasion. Second, the store needs more signage and shelf talkers to provide descriptions of the wines. Customers need to know about the wines they might be interested in purchasing. Third, I think store organization needs to be adjusted. Get rid of the Wine Styles shelves, and give specific space to the neglected regions, like South Africa, Washington and more.

Most importantly, get much more diversity in your stock. Cut down your stock of some of the overly stuffed sections, like Chardonnay, and bring in some lesser known regions and smaller, artisan wineries. Revise the selection in some of your existing sections, like Saké and Greek wines, and carry more than the usual suspects. One of your biggest strengths is the vast number of wines you carry, so you need to capitalize on that strength. If you fail to do so, then I doubt you will become a recommended destination for wine lovers.

Currently, there is no compelling reason why I would drive an hour to shop here. There are plenty of other discount wine stores much closer to me, with better overall pricing and a better selection. Plus, if I don't see a wine on their shelves that I want, I can order it and often receive it within a few days. I will certainly visit the store again though in a couple months, to see if there have been any changes. And you can be assured that I will write about its progress, or lack thereof.

Wine Nation
70 Worcester-Providence Turnpike
Millbury, MA 01527
Phone: 508-917-0400

Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my semi-regular column where I briefly mention some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.
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1) Once again, I savored a superb dessert at Le Patissier in Troquet. Wild blueberry souffle: light, fluffy and filled with plenty of rich and sweet blueberry flavor. A dessert that will make you moan in delight. Unfortunately, it is no longer available though its replacement is a Sweet Summer Cherry Souffle, which I expect to be quite delicious too.

I also got to taste the Strawberry Shortcake Crème Brulee and Honey Crisp Peach Tarte Tatin and both were absolutely delicious. The presentation is very cool, the ingredients are fresh, and the flavors really please. If you have never had dessert here before, then what are you waiting for? This is the place to go if you love sweets.

2) Yesterday, in the Boston Globe's Plonk of the Month column, Stephen Meuse praised some high-quality boxed wines. Two of those wines were the Poderi Zanusso “Sant’Andrat’’ Venezia Giulia Bianco and Poderi Zanusso “Sant’Andrat’’ Venezia Giulia Rosso. A year ago, I strongly recommended those very same wines. I can also tell you one other wine store, which I visited last week, which I know carries those wines, the Spirited Gourmet in Belmont. There are other wine stores that carry them too, but I don't know who else currently has them in stock. But, as the wines are imported by Adonna Imports, check if your local wine store does business with them.

3) The Limited Fall Release of Woodchuck Hard Cider has now been released, and I bought some at the Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet in Melrose. The cider has some added cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of American white oak. This is definitely a drink for the fall, especially around Thanksgiving. It tastes like spiced cider, reminding me of the fresh smell of a hot apple pie. The flavor does not overwhelm and though it is sweet, that too is not overboard. The flavors are clean and distinct, and it is an enjoyable taste. Except it doesn't seem too appropriate in the summer, especially with our hot weather. But once the autumn coolness arrives, and the leaves have fallen, then it will be time for this cider. Buy some now and put it away for a couple months.

P.F. Chang's and Vineyard 518 Wine

As my readers know, I enjoy the food at P.F. Chang's, despite the fact it is a chain and that some of the dishes may not be authentic Chinese cuisine. I like the taste of much of the food and think it is reasonably priced. It certainly is a popular restaurant, and there can sometimes be long waiting lines to get a table.

Recently, I had the opportunity, at a special media dinner, to try their new wines, the Vineyard 518 line. We got to sample the wines, paired with a number of dishes, which was a good way to do it. These are basically wines meant to be enjoyed with dinner, so how they interact with food is very important. Overall, it was a fun and delicious evening, especially as I sat with my friends Jackie, Lingbo and Lena.

You can read Jackie's thoughts about the wines in her article Boxed Wines and Me and Lingbo's thoughts in her article A Food Blogger Walks into P.F. Chang's.

P.F. Chang's created the Vineyard 518 label to introduce their new wines. According to Chinese numerology, 518 means "I will prosper." There are similar variations in numerology such as: 5189 ("I will prosper for a long time" and 516289 ("I will get on a long, smooth prosperous road"). Each year, they will work with a different winery to produces their wines, thus the grapes, blends and styles will vary each year.

For the initial release, they partnered with Wattle Creek Winery, a family-owned estate, and the grapes come from the Yorkville Highlands appellation in Mendocino, California. Two Vineyard 518 wines were produced this year, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Syrah blend.

Initially, I was impressed with the fact that these wines are packaged in 10-liter recyclable containers, essentially a large box wine. With ten liters, the box contains over 13 bottles of wine. The packaging weighs about half the weight of a traditional case of bottled wine, which thus reduces the carbon footprint during the shipping process. The box itself is also created from post-consumer cardboard and both the plastic bag insert and box are fully recyclable.

I have been an advocate for boxed wines for some time, and it is great to see such a large chain choosing to adopt that packaging. For them, the packaging poses an economic benefit as it costs less than if they had bottled their wine. Plus, the wine will last much longer in the box than if they had open bottles, so there will be much less waste. Fortunately for the consumer, those savings are being passed on to them.

Though price may vary by location, the Prudential location is serving these wines in three sizes: 1/2 glass (3.5oz for $4.50), full glass (7oz for $7.50) and a ½ carafe ($15.50). The full glass is a generous pour as most other restaurants only serve 5 or 6 oz pours, and it is also at a very reasonable price.

The Sauvignon Blanc has a bit of added Viognier, was fermented in stainless steel tanks, and has an alcohol content of 13.9%. I found this to be a simple, aromatic and easy drinking wine with prominent grapefruit and lemon flavors. It is crisp and makes for a good food wine. It went well with orange peel chicken and the chicken lettuce wraps.

The Syrah blend contains 86% Syrah, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 4% Zinfandel. It was aged in French and Eastern European oak, about 35%-40% new, and with a combination of medium and heavy toasting levels. This wine had a very fruity aroma, and those dark berry, plum, and black cherry flavors were very prominent on the palate as well. There were underlying spice notes, moderate tannins and overall, it was also an easy drinking wine, which paired well with the beef and duck dishes.

I think these are very consumer-friendly wines, easy drinking and food friendly. For the price, they are also a good value. They are not going to impress you with their complexity, but that is also not their intent.

Popularity of Box Wines Growing

I recently raved about a couple organic, Italian boxed wines, also noting the box wines in general have a poor reputation. It seems though that the popularity of box wines is growing.

The lastest issue of Wine Spectator (10/15/09) has a two-page article on box wines, "Outside The Box." The article concentrates on California box wines, noting that the quality of box wines has been improving. The article also contains some basic information about the benefits of box wines, as well as some of the disadvantages, such as a limited shelf life of about one year.

What I found most interesting was that the marketing company Nielsen stated that sales of "premium 3-liter boxed wine" increased by 31% in 2008. That is a very significant increase and shows the growing popularity of boxed wines. Though the article does not indicate it, this growth might be due to the increased number of higher quality boxed wines that are being produced. So, if even more are produced, in the U.S. and the rest of the world, the popularity should continue to spread.

I think I see the future of wine.

Stoneham Sun: Boxed Wines

My new column of "A Passionate Foodie" can be found in the September 2 issue of the Stoneham Sun newspaper. This is a weekly column that concentrates on reviews of local restaurants though it also sometimes touches on other food and wine topics.

The new column has been published today and will be available online soon. The new article recommends two boxed wines, Italian wines that are organic. These wines are made by a small, artisan producer and are of much better quality than many other boxed wines. If similar quality wines are put into boxes, then maybe such wines will spread.

If you have any questions or comments about my column, feel free to add them here.

Drink with passion

Box Wines? I See The Future

Box wines generally have a poor reputation in many circles. It is often thought only cheap, mass produced wines are placed into boxes and that may be largely true. I have not previously had any box wines that excited me. Boutique wine stores rarely, if ever, stock box wines.

So I was amazed when Samanta of Wine••Sense, a boutique wine store in Andover, advertised that she was holding a tasting of two box wines. Samanta has very discerning tastes, and is very particular in which wines she will stock in her small shop. So, if she was now selling box wines, there had to be a very good reason for such. That intrigued me so I had to attend the tasting.

I also learned that the box wines were being imported and distributed by Adonna Imports, one of my favorite distributors of small, artisan Italian wine producers. They certainly would not import the usual box wines. This had to be something special. Plus, these box wines would be sold in other top wine stores like Lower Falls Wine Co. and the Wine Bottega.

There are advantages to box wines. First, once you open the wine, if properly stored, the wine will keep fresh for several weeks. Second, the packaging is supposed to be more environmentally friendly in a few ways. For example, it weighs less than glass bottles so transportation expenses and fuel expenditures are less.

What is so special about these particular box wines? They are produced by Ferdinando and Mario Zanusso of I Clivi, who make organic wines from the Friuli region of Italy. I previously met both Ferdinando and Mario at tastings in May 2008 and March 2009, tasting much of their portfolio. They produce only about 2000 cases each year, and make some excellent and delicious wines. Check out my previous posts for reviews of their wines and more about their wine making philosophy.

Why did this small producer decide to make box wines? When Mario Zanusso was in the U.S. this past spring, he asked Jeannie and Eileen of Adonna Imports if they would be interested in selling box wines. Apparently, after carefully choosing grapes for their wines, Ferdinando and Mario used to sell the rest of their grapes in bulk to other wineries. Instead of selling all of those grapes, they decided to use some to make box wines, using a different label. The new label is Sant' Andrat, the name of the commune where the Galea and Brazen vineyards are located.

They have begun with two different box wines: 2008 Poderi Zanusso Sant' Andrat Bianco and 2008 Poderi Zanusso Sant' Andrat Rosso. As you can see from the photo at the top of the post, the boxes are very plain cardboard with a label. The boxes certainly won't impress your guests. But the boxes were intended to be that way, to indicate the wines are natural. Each box contains three liters of wine, the equivalent of four regular 750ml bottles, and costs $28.99. That breaks down to about $7.25 per bottle, certainly inexpensive.

The Bianco is made from 100% Tocai Friuliano, not the type of grape you might normally suspect to be in a box wine. But it is a top white grape in the Friuli region, and I think it makes for an interesting and delicious wine. This Bianco had a very aromatic and floral nose with an intriguing taste of peach, melon, spice and some mineral notes. It was crisp, smooth and had a fairly long finish. I really enjoyed this wine and think it is an excellent value. It may not be as complex as their other wines, but it certainly has much more complexity than most other wines at this price point.

The Rosso is made from 100% Merlot, though it is not your typical Merlot wine. The nose was rather muted and the red fruit flavors were also restrained. There were hints of spice and leather, with moderate tannins and a long finish. It almost seemed to me more like a young Cabernet. This wine would be best paired with food rather than on its own. Though I liked this wine I did prefer the Bianco, though there were others at the tasting that preferred the Rosso.

I bought several of these box wines and Wine••Sense is probably sold out now. But Adonna Imports will be getting another shipment around the end of September and hope to keep it in stock through the holiday season. Look past the box and embrace these quality, organic Italian wines. I highly recommend them and consider them an excellent value. Hopefully, more artisan producers will follow the lead of the Zanussos and produce such quality box wines. I think I see the future of wine.