Chardonnay in a Box?
One of my goals with Cheap Wine Ratings is to take some chances. Try wines that the average consumer may be afraid to try. I know there are some hidden gems out there, and I want to discover them and share them with all of you.
Today I tried something new: French Rabbit Chardonnay. French Rabbit comes in a box. What? You actually drank boxed wine? Yes, I did. I’m not one to get hung up on stereotypes. Most people assume that wine in a box is bad wine, but many also believe that just because a wine has a screw top or a plastic cork that it’s bad. I know I’ve had some fabulous wines with screw tops and plastic corks, so why not give this boxed wine a try? And technically this packaging isn’t a box, it’s a Tetra Pak.
French Rabbit is actually the next generation of boxed wine… or, um… Tetra Pak wine. It’s a bit different from the boxed wine of the 80’s and 90’s with the spigot on the box. French Rabbit is created by a company named Boisset America, and their focus is environmentally friendly wine producing. From the farming to the packaging, they strive to be ecologically friendly and I applaud them for that.
Unfortunately, while I admire their environmental aspirations, the wine didn’t win me over. It didn’t have much flavor to it. It had a bit of fruitiness, apple and citrus. But it also had a slightly plasticy flavor to it (I assume this was from the packaging). Perhaps it was a psychological thing, but I doubt it. I was actually really curious and was hoping that I would enjoy the wine more. The biggest problem was that the flavor lacks the personality of the marketing around it.
One thing I did like is that the package is a full liter versus 750ml. The packaging is also supposedly 100% recyclable, although if I put this into my recycling bin with a bunch of glass bottles, I would bet money that they recycling truck would take the glass bottles and leave this thing in the bin. I don’t know if I’ll try another varietal from French Rabbit. We’ll see.
Resources:
French Rabbit Website
