Time to try one out of the box

Before I moved in with one of my beloved flatmates I had never been the kind of person that bought cask wine.

Some stray childhood barbecue memory had me subconsciously convinced for the longest time that boxed wine was something you were only allowed to drink at the beach.

But living with Rosie has certainly taught me differently.

She has endeavoured to show me that ''goons'' are in fact appropriate for any situation, though this is something I have been quite reluctant to accept.

And now, after only my second or third cask wine experience, wading through the haze of my own self-inflicted suffering, I have begun to weigh up the pros and cons of boxed wine.

To begin with, glass bottles are not always the most practical vessel to cart around.

Glass is nothing but a hazard if the gathering you are attending is of the outdoor variety.

Though having never taken an entire bottle of wine to a picnic myself, I am sure there could be nothing more irritating than trying to find a safe and sensible location for your glassware.

Obviously, if your wine comes in a box and you feel inclined to bring it to a picnic, you are never going to have this problem.

Boxes will sit happily on almost any surface, and the tiny tap fixture means you don't have to mess around with lids and tricky pouring.

A burst goon is also not going to send shards of glass into any fingers or toes.

The box is not only good for sitting on a plethora of surfaces but also makes for practical storage.

Unless you've a wine cellar or a wine rack, it can be troubling trying to find somewhere to store all your bottles.

Boxes are stackable and can easily be tucked away in any cupboard, or even your refrigerator.

If you don't have space for all of your cask wine you could even open the box and remove the wine bladder to slot into hard-to-fill spaces.

This, however, is not something I would recommend because plastic sacks filled with red or white wine can easily be mistaken for substances both frightening and revolting.

Wine-related pragmatism aside, there is one problem with cask wine that can be mitigated but not overcome.

Cask wine is cheap and it is packed full of preservatives.

It is pretty well known in most social circles that only the worst wine gets relegated to a plastic sack with a miniature tap.

If you are a cheapskate and of average intelligence, you can fool those around you for a time by decanting your boxed wine into glass bottles with charming labels.

But the reality is this: you're still drinking cheap wine and an upgraded vessel won't make you feel any less ill in the morning.

Some might consider it obscene to buy three litres of alcohol in one go, but they are forgetting this is wine fortified by formaldehyde and kept in airtight plastic bladders.

Unlike regular bottled wine, this wine is going to last, if not forever, then for at least a year after it is opened.

While there is a chance it will eat your insides out, your supply will taste so horrible and last for such a long time that you will never be caught short.

I think I've come down somewhere in the vicinity of ''cask wine is situational wine that must only be consumed in moderation''.

But for those keen on a robust drink that is easy to put away, I would certainly recommend your local supermarket's finest cask.

Millie Lovelock is a Dunedin student.

Add a Comment