Box Wine for our Camping Trip (The Horror, the horror)
The Austin Area Paddlers Meetup group made its annual freeze trip, and
overnight kayak camping trip from Bastrop to Boy Scout Island, on January 28 –
29. The last time Donna and I did an
overnight kayak camping trip I brought good wine that I had poured into a
pouch. Unfortunately I did not bring enough and, in addition, the wine got very
cold.
So this time I thought I would try some boxed wine. The two wines were the
500 ML versions of Bota Box 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon and Liberty Creek Cabernet
Sauvignon. Both wines are made in in
Lathrop, California which is in the Central Valley. Very few areas of the Central Valley are
considered areas where good grapes are grown and, in fact, the large wine
makers use grapes from that area to make big bottles of wine and box wine.
The primary reason for the grape quality is the extreme weather. Heat and
cold extremes can be damaging to grapevines and impact fruit and winemaking
decisions. Extreme heat (temperatures greater than 95°F) in either the growing
season or the ripening period negatively impacts wine grape production by
“shutting down the vines,” through inhibition of photosynthesis and reduction
of color development and anthocyanin production. While a few days of temperatures
greater than 86°F can be beneficial in the ripening potential, prolonged
periods can induce heat stress in the plant.
Annual weather variation is the reason that so much attention is paid to
vintage. The vintage of a wine is the year the grapes were harvested, and
knowledge of the weather conditions in a region in a given year will reveal
much about the potential quality of the wine made in that region that year.
The graph below, which represents the Central Valley city of Modesto,
California, shows that there are three months where the high temperature is
(consistently) greater than ninety degrees. Despite the rainfall information
shown in the graph below the area is also prone to summer flooding, something
grapes do not like.
Compare the Modesto weather to that of Sonoma, California, an area known
for good wine grapes. Note that there in only one short period where the
temperature approaches ninety degrees, so the extremes found in the Central
Valley and, therefore, Lathrop, don’t exist so a good harvest is much more
likely.
Interestingly it does not seem that either wine maker has its own
vineyards, so it is likely they just buy grapes from companies who grow grapes
to sell to wine makers. Consistency would be a big problem if that is the case.
The following are my reviews of the two Central Valley box wines I tried.
Liberty Creek Cabernet Sauvignon
The first box I tried was the Liberty Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. It was a
pale red, not a deep red like a Cabernet should be. Its aroma was slightly
vinegary, so I had very low expectation. But it did not taste bad. It went down
smoothly with no acid overtones or astringency.
As the color indicated it was thin, like it had been watered down, and
it lacked “oomph.” It was kind of like “Cabernet Light.”
All in all it was a pretty good wine for a camping trip. I would never
buy it for anything else, but its small package and its okay taste make it a good choice for
camping.
Bota Box 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon
The second box I tried was the Bota Box 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon. The
company description reads like this: “Bright medium brown brick red color.
Bright, fruity, spicy woody savory aromas of black currants, cranberries,
blonde tobacco, and potters clay with a chewy, tart, dry full body and a
peppery, complex, breezy finish with firm, well-integrated tannins and moderate
oak.” There’s those blackcurrants again!
First I tried to see the color. It was not a deep read like a Cabernet
should be—in fact I could see through my glass (actually a plastic cup).
Regarding the aroma I’d say “potters clay” hit it on the head. I did not say
“earthy” by the way. It had sort of a wet dirt odor. So, what about the taste?
It was not very good. I guess the best word I can find to describe the
wine is “harsh.” Would I buy it again for a camping trip? No.
WARNING
When you are camping it is easy
to overlook the taste of bulk wine and to overindulge. Take my word for that.
Freeze Trip
To read about the box wine I brought on the trip, go to my other blog
here:
Austin Area Paddlers Meetup
For more information on the Meetup group, go here: https://www.meetup.com/AustinAreaPaddlers/
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