A FEW weeks ago, Suzanne Ermel, who lives outside of Chicago, was at a Jewel-Osco supermarket when she saw a woman put a five-liter box of Franzia wine into her grocery cart.“I said, ‘Don’t do it!’ ” said Ms. Ermel, 30, an unemployed lawyer. She then pointed out that another brand of boxed wine, Black Box, was on sale.“This is just a couple dollars more and you’re going to like it a lot more,” Ms. Ermel recalled telling the woman, who proceeded to return her original choice to the shelf and plop two varieties of Black Box into her cart instead.It was not, to be sure, the first time Ms. Ermel had sung the praises of the eight-year-old brand, whose eight varieties are sold in three-liter boxes, the equivalent of four 750-milliliter bottles, for about $20. “I’ve pointed Black Box out to random people shopping for wine, and said, ‘If you’re looking for something different, you should try this,’ ” she said. •Ms. Ermel, it turns out, is an agent who has been tapped by BzzAgent, a 10-year-old Boston company that specializes in word-of-mouth and social-network marketing.

BzzAgent was hired by Black Box last fall, according to a written summary of the campaign, to “generate word-of-mouth to increase awareness” and to “increase trial, advocacy and impact sales.”buy korean rice wineLike about 2,000 other volunteers, who are not paid but receive products deeply discounted or free, Ms. Ermel was asked to invite friends to a blind tasting party at her home, and to serve the wine without first mentioning that it had come out of a box (the brand provided carafes for serving). get wine glasses cleanThen, after the revelation, hosts solicited feedback from guests, who in Ms. Ermel’s case numbered 50.new world wine regions Only four attendees at her gathering had even heard of Black Box before, but she said guests were so impressed that at least 20 subsequently bought the wine. where to buy greek wine online

She has bought it about a dozen times in the last year. She is under no obligation to praise BzzAgent products unless she feels genuinely enthusiastic, and in the couple of instances she has tried products that she thought were duds, she did not recommend them to anyone, Ms. Ermel said.best two zone wine cooler reviews Now, for another campaign for Black Box, BzzAgent is enlisting 5,000 agents to host wine tastings over the next two months.best treatment for red wine stain “, which as its name makes clear focuses mainly on consumer-hosted parties to sample brands, parties play a role in only about 15 percent of the hundreds of campaigns BzzAgent undertakes annuallybest kind of dry white wine, Mr. Faulds said.best white wine for 20 dollars

Rather, most of what BzzAgent does, and a large component of the Black Box campaign, is encouraging participants to engage with friends about brands on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, as well as in face-to-face situations. uk wine club reviewsThose agents regularly account for their online and offline mentions of participating brands on the BzzAgent Web site, enabling the company to inform brands how many consumers saw or heard those mentions. The company reports having about 850,000 agents at its disposal, allowing it to assemble groups based on factors including interests, income level, age, gender and location. Wine snobs tend to turn up their noses at wine sold in a box, and not without cause: boxed wine in the United States historically has been marketed to consumers who were interested almost exclusively in a good value and did not care whether their chardonnay had a herbaceous bouquet or complex finish.

But in the last decade, a new crop of boxed brands — including Black Box, a Constellation Wines brand — has aimed to raise the expectations of consumers. The so-called premium boxed wines, which tend to be sold in three-liter boxes, smaller than the more common five-liter boxes, have won over numerous wine reviewers, and are often compared favorably with bottled wine. “Bottles might be prettier, but boxes are looking increasingly attractive to wine drinkers for one reason: they cost as little as $4 for the equivalent of a standard 750-milliliter bottle,” Consumer Reports wrote in 2009. “Here’s more reason to celebrate: Three boxed chardonnays our experts recently tried are very good.”The brands were FishEye, Banrock Station and Black Box.•Sales of premium boxed wines like Black Box, those in three-liter sizes that tend to cost $20 or more, rose 19 percent in 2010 from 2009, according to Nielsen. Similarly, sales for Black Box itself rose 18.2 percent in the year ending Sept. 4 from the previous year, according to the SymphonyIRI Group.Besides the better-than-expected quality and affordability, a selling point for boxed wine is its shelf life.

Air oxidizes bottled wine and ruins it within a few days, but boxed wine comes in an airtight plastic bag attached to a spigot, meaning there is little space for air and wine stays fresh for up to four weeks. Kim Moore, Black Box’s director for marketing, said the brand had not done traditional advertising because consumers might be so certain that boxed wine was inferior that they would dismiss advertising that claimed otherwise. “There’s definitely a stigma of box wine because people think of the value box wine that they drank too much of back in their college days,” she said, referring to the cheaper brands sold in larger boxes. “We say tasting is believing, and just getting people to try our wine gets them to peel back that stigma.”Boxed wine has come a long way in recent years asit was once shunned by winedrinkers as being sub-par. Today, there are a number of good boxed wines on the market. It has the benefits of being: highly portable since there is no glass, easier for large gatherings, andthe more affordable wines on the market.

Buying a good boxed wine is simple onceyou have a little knowledge on the subject. Boxed wine is easy to carry due to its shatterproof packaging and is an environmentally friendly choice since it requires less energy to produce and package the recyclable winebox. A box of wine usually equals four bottles, making them economical and a great choice for larger groups. They stay fresh in the fridge for up to four weeks, since opening them doesn't aerate (air) the wine the way uncorking a bottle would. Boxed wines have been growing in the wine market, with more small wineries offering their wines in boxes. There are some companies who specialize in boxed wine and their offerings can be found in many locations. Only the most popular wines came in the boxed format in the past, but today, you can find a much better selection of both red and whitewines. There are a wide variety of boxed wine brands on the market, and a few of them have come up on the top boxed wine lists from wine experts across the U.S.

These brands usually make more than one type of wine, with some standouts.Choosing wines from these brands is a safebet, but if you're looking for the best of a type of wine, try these top ratedwines. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Shiraz, Red Elegance (blend), Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Moscato Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc Jenny and Francois From The Tank Cotes-du-Rhone Red and White Bordeaux Rouge, Bordeaux Blanc, Bordeaux Rose, Beaujolais, Bordeaux Cotes-de-Franc, and Cotes-du-Rhone Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Family Reserve (Red and White blends) Chardonnay and Pinot Noir With many new wines appearing in box form every year, the options for selecting a great wine in a box are expanding. Trying a new wine is a risk, whether from a box or a bottle, but you will have more wineleft in the boxif you don't like it. Consider trying different wines from a brand you like or try a wine that is a good value.

The Cotes-du-Rhone wines and the Bordeaux wines from France lend well to the box packaging and are a greatselection. All boxed wine comes in a box so there are several different box versions. They are more environmentally friendly than glass and they keep wine fresh longer than a bottle. The Tetra Pak is a lightweight, durable package that requires no internal liner to keep the wine fresh. This is one of the easiest packages to carry and made from multiple layers of paperboard and polyethylene to seal in the wine and keep it fresh. Brands that offer wine in it are French Rabbit, Bandit, and Yellow and Blue. The bag-in-a-box uses a soft-sided plastic bag to hold the wine, and then placed inside a cardboard box to hold it up. It has a spout that is placed in the cardboard to hold it in place and collapses as the wine is emptied. The bag is airtight, keeping the wine fresher. Brands that use a bag-in-a-box system are Black Box, La Petite Frog, and Banrock Station. Similar to the bag-in-a-box, but externallymade of wood and uses the inner bag system.

Ithas a better presentation, since many people who purchase boxed wine feel that the appearance isless sophisticated than a bottle. Wineberry is the boxed wine brand that is best known for selling their wines in an attractive wooden box. Boxed wine stays fresher than wine that comes from a bottle. Wine that comes in the bag-in-a-box style is able to stay freshest longest due to the lack of air contact with the wine when you open it. A Tetra Pak wine stays fresh, but not as long. Once opened, boxed wines are best refrigerated for the longest staying power, lasting up the 4 weeks. Using a wine fridge is the best way to keep wine at the right temperature, but it can be difficult to fit boxed wines in a traditional wine fridge. Since most boxed wines don't get the chance to aerate until poured, allowing them to breathe for a short time once poured is the best way to open up the flavors.As with wines in a bottle, some wines need more aerating than others. Young white wines and lower quality wines need less aerating than older whites, red wines, and higher quality wines.

Use a decanter or pour through a wine aerator to get the best level of aeration. The right wine glass will help with in-glass aeration. The price range of boxed wine can vary, depending on the size of the package and the quality of the wine. The best values in boxed wine aremidrangein price. Each box equals about 4 bottles of wine, so that breaks down to a very reasonable cost for good wine. French Rabbit sells their boxed wine in a 1L size(about a bottle and a half) at a very good value for such a well-rated boxed wine. Boxed wine is available at stores, although many large retailers will carry only the most popular brands. To find a better selection, it's a great idea to look to the internet at reputable online websites like eBay. You will find some of the more difficult to locate boxed wines through eBay at a fraction of the costs. One of the advantages of buying boxed wine online versus bottled wine is that it is unbreakable and easier to ship. eBay is a good source for finding boxed wines you might have trouble locating locally.

One of the advantages of buying boxed wine online versus bottled wine is that it is unbreakable and thus much easier to ship. Boxed wines can be found in both red and white varieties in the wine category on eBay. Be sure to check on wine shipping regulations in your area before buying online.Before buying a product, do a check of the seller's feedback rating to see how other shoppers rated the seller. To contact the seller directly with any questions, just click the Ask a Question link on the seller's listing page. Box wines was once seen as cheap, poor quality wine, but it has made great strides in recent years,offeringhigh quality wines today. Among the highest-rated boxed wines, you will find great values that equal or even exceed the value you would see in a bottled wine of similar quality, with many added benefits. Due to their good value, environmentally friendly packaging, and lasting freshness, boxed wines are growing in popularity. Look for some of the top-rated brands for a value on wine in either smaller or large quantities at online websites such as eBay.