National: Boxed Whine

There was a semester in college when we thought it would be funny to keep a box of Franzia Chillable Red on our desk, and a couple of plastic dining hall glasses handy, so that we could offer people a really cheap drink when they stopped by the dorm room. Mostly this lead to lots of visitors and a decline in productivity that lasted about as long as we could afford this little stunt (not that long, you can be sure).

Since then, our tastes have matured, if only marginally, but we still harbor a fondness for Franzia. So we were elated to find, while poking around on Chow, a treatise/taste test on the stuff from 7x7 booze blogger Jordan Mackay. It was a bit of a disappointment to see Franzia declared “undrinkable,” especially since Mackay and company only tried “legitimate” varieties, and not even Chillable Red. In the little video segment, one panelist compares the Franzia Chardonnay to, “Sweet, musky cologne that’s been washed off by sweat.”

Well, guess what, Robert Parker Jr., Franzia happens to be the most popular wine in the world, with 88,019,050 glasses sold in restaurants in 2005. So sip on that. In fact, don’t. It’s delicate flavors and bouquet would be lost on you.

Cutting Corners: For box wine, it’s back to square one [Chow]

[Photo: Via Diet Ov Worms/flickr]

National: Boxed Whine