Help!
I want to insert a link to an interesting wine study, but I don't know how. I have googled and googled, and can't find anything that works!

Here's the entry explaining how to do it. (Don't forget to take out the absurd x.) You can just copy and paste the coding. If you forget, you can always find the instructions under the category Commenting to the right. EL

A lot of wineries are switching to screwcaps, as mentioned in this article and this one. Though apparently cork is still more environmentally friendly than synthetic cork or plastic caps.

I just returned from a trip to Australia a few weeks ago. We visited about a dozen wineries near Melbourne, and drank several bottles on our own time (yes, it was tough, but someone had to do it).

Every winery we visited was using screwcaps for their wines.

Here's a link for a story about the study.

best $8 (or $17 at the Wine Market)bottle of wine you will ever have is a 2005 Wolftrap Syrah from South Africa. it's a screw cap, and delicious.

I used to be EXACTLY the same way - the experience and ritual was sometimes more important than the taste. But lately, since so many decent wineries have started using screwcaps, I've kind of gotten used to them. In fact, I find them kind of convenient. (Plus, I opened a nice bottle this week that was corked. And now I can't remember where I got it, so I can't even return it.)

I still hate synthetic corks, though. They just seem wrong.

Yes, I'm coming to kind of like the screw tops. EL

I checked Rosebud's link. Here is another study on taste and smell. "The stimuli consisted of 13 commercially available liqueurs, which were chosen because they are both strongly flavored and aromatic. The liqueurs were selected for their range of sensory attributes. They included Creme de Cacao, Amaretto, B & B, Drambuie, Citro, Nocello, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Strega, Galliano, Kahlua, Tia Maria, and Kummel. The liqueurs represented a variety of flavoring agents." If you are blindfolded can you tell if you are eating different foods?

I have a beloved $1,000 (slight exageration) corkscrew contraption that's embarrassingly pleasurable to use. I never get tired of extracting corks with it. But, all things being equal, if I can get four bottles of the same great wine for less in a bag/box, that's what I'm going to do. I also find the asthetics and ritual of tapping wine from the box quite appealing and so far still delight in the simple wonder of it -- every time.

I imagine that when it comes to wine, there's a lot of psychology involved with the whole experience.

I have somewhere in the back of my head a memory of reading a story recently about a taste test that took place; the wines were ultimately rated almost exactly according to what the tasters were TOLD the wines cost. That is, if the taster was told that it was a cheap wine (regardless of its provenance), it got a low rating, and a higher rating went to a wine that was presented as being expensive.

About a year ago someone brought a box of wine to a party at my house; people who didn't see that it was from a box were very complimentary, and were also very surprised to see where it came from. Go figure!

This is a link for another wine survey about price and perception.

I am a big fan of boxed wine. I feel as if I need to come to its defense—there are so many critics out there. It's perfect for having friends over, and for lasting for a couple of weeks. It's good (some better than others) and inexpensive. If you are a habitual wine drinker, save the fancy and expensive wine for nice house dinners and special occasions. Try it, see if you like it! If you don’t have the wallet to drink expensive wine all of the time, boxed wine is good and a perfect solution.

Claude, we once went to a fancy wine-tasting event which featured Italian white wines. The prices were not revealed until we had all tasted everything. The most expensive wine was an "archeological wine," Greco di Tufa, which I had found totally undrinkable. Would I have dumped it if I had known how much it cost ahead of time? Hard to say...

Ms. Bethany:

Okay, let's try this from a different direction. At least for me, drinking wine has nothing to do with the alcoholic content which seems implicit in your comment (If you are a habitual wine drinker). If a buzz or drunk is what I sought, there are probably quicker ways to that end. I drink wine for its taste. I don't really care all that much about its shipping format or even its closure device (although cork screws do have a moderately high toy point score [and in jl's case, bonus points].) Its the same reason I drink Coke, not Pepsi.

To open a good bottle of wine and smell that wonderful oaky nose is rather like the smells of a well cooked meal. Its really not snobbery, but its for the the same reason you don't use american cheese to make macaroni and cheese.

So, show me a box 'o that is comparable to my Hess Select Cab (and Black Box might be it) and I'll lay down (snobby wine term I couldn't resist) I was going to say case, but I guess carton is the correct term.

"You don't use american cheese to make macaroni and cheese."

This is true. You use Velveeta

Velvetta: oh, much better. Tasty.

GACK!

Velveeta isn't cheese. It's what cheese eats.

Are you kidding, cheese wouldn't even eat velvetta. That stuff looks and tastes like plastic, and that's probably what it is.
Double GACK!!!!!

cheese wouldn't even eat velvetta

Really? I thought that was why it was called "cheese food"? :-)

Sorry, Hal, I'm a little slow this morning. Actually that's quite clever.

Why go to the bother of using Velvetta? You have to use a spoon, dig it out of the jar, unstick the Velvetta from the spoon...repeat as needed. Go straight for the good stuff - cheese in a can!! Yum.

Mr. Robert - You misinterpret my comment because no, I do not drink wine to just “get drunk.” I enjoy having a glass of wine after work or ordering a glass of wine while out with friends. What I meant by habitual wine drinker was, well, if you drink wine often. I certainly appreciate the taste of wine as well. As far as Black Box goes, I’ve tried and I like it… I enjoy the taste. You are right though, if someone was just drinking wine to get drunk—there are quicker means.

A couple of observation on the finner points of mac and cheese making.

Ms. Barb, aren't you describing Cheese Wiz, not Velvetta? Not to be pedantic about your 'error' since it leads to the obvious RoCK inspired question: if Velvetta is what cheese eats, is Cheese Wiz ... (we're all adults here [at least by age], enough said.)

To tie to another wonderful thread, notice who makes these wonderful items, sold in the dairy case of your local grocer? (And that includes the cheese in a can also mentioned. How can one company make Philadelphia cream cheese, which we all buy and eat and also the big V, W and in a can (okay, I see another adult level connection I won't make any more obvious, for fear of being censored or banned. What a waste.) But they are convenient.

Now actually on point for this thread -

To the well mannered Ms. Bethany: I guess my point was, why drink something with a high Gack quotient if not for its buzz potential, simply because its a) wine and b) cheap? That's like drinking store brand cola, instead of Coke?

And finally for all you Black Box fans: with one exception everyone says 'I drink and like BB' but never say what flavour. Is it really so forgettable that your experience its like you describing your meal last evening and saying I had meat, it was good? Or are we to conclude that fans of BB don't notice if its red or white they are tasting? Its just wine.

I don't know if Cheese Whiz is the same stuff that's in cheese in a can. But RoSO, that's what's so great about CIAC, it DOESN'T NEED REFRIGERATION! Is this a great country or what? Plus, it's a great way to get your dog or cat to take pills.

Well I'm sure the Kraft PR machine is going to begin a huge advertising campaign based on the fact the CIAC (this is getting a little too EVOO) Cheese Wiz and or Velvette are great choices when you have to medicate your pet. I can see the sales spike now.

Dear Mr. Robert- in my twenty something salary, I simply can't afford to drink expensive wine for more than just the special occasion. Price is one of the reasons why I buy and taste is one of the reasons I enjoy boxed wine. I like the Black Box red...ah, but I do know what I taste. However, I like all three of the reds that Black Box offers. But my favorite? The Shiraz.

Since this tread seems to having a problem staying on point, may I suggest a new thread for the sandbox: the D@L Gack scale (huricanes and earthquakes have their own scales.) What's a 1? A 10 (box 'o wine, or is that only a 5)?

Blind tasting against similar bottled vint/region provide suprising results. Remember how super tuscans made it onto the stage.

...a problem staying on point? Since when does this blog ever stay on point? Most people's philosophy seems to be: We don't need no stinkin' point. It's a free association, anything goes. Besides, I get the feeling many people would lump box wine and canned cheese in the same category.

In fact, I like to think not staying on point is our specialty. EL

Elizabeth wrote: In fact, I like to think not staying on point is our specialty.

Exactly right. That's why this blog is so immensely informative about things I never knew I needed to know!

I know wandering off point is a specialty of the house (we are to peripatetic threads as the Prime Rib is to beef), but this thread seems particularly egregious (which is mostly my fault, since I did bring up american cheese.) Free association is the hallmark of my posts. Sometimes a little too free. Oh well. Off the the Gack-o-meter post.

What about the new place called Taps that will have wine on tap?

Mike wrote: What about the new place called Taps that will have wine on tap?

Depends on how they are "on tap." There are systems available that tap bottles of wine just like kegs of beer, although I don't really see the point unless you can get magnums or larger bottles - you'd be changing bottles all the time!

In defense of scary processed cheese: No one should eat Velveeta as a cheese in a cheese and crackers type way. But it does have important uses related to its meltability - melt it slowly with Rotel canned diced tomatos and chilies, with a good dose of red pepper, and you have a nacho cheese dip that is a staple in texas and a major hit at any party, even with wine and food snobs.

Similarly, Kraft used to make a seemingly scary processed cheese product called a "jalepeno cheese roll" (6 oz.). They stopped making it, and now cooks all over the country can't make the original, very popular Spinach Madeline recipe (from Baton Rouge Junior League Cookbook) that is also a major hit, even with foodies, and which is a perfect spicy compliment to turkey on holidays. Without that jalepeno cheese roll, the dish falters, and there was at one time much discussion on the internet about substitutes, none of which are up to par.

... Velvetta ... a staple in Texas ...

Well that says it all. Gack Gack GACK

The benefit of tap systems for wine is to eliminate spoilage. The good systems are nitous charged. The nitrous fills the top exposed part of an opened bottle so the last sip a week after opening tastes the same as the first