Serving boxed wine to guests would once have been unthinkable for middle-class hosts but “goon bags”, as they are known in Australia, are going upmarket.
The Wine Society, a members-only club founded in 1874, has introduced a £27 three-litre box of organic Soave from the Italian vineyard Coffele. Waitrose has already announced that it is expanding its range of boxed wines.
Ewan Murray, of the Wine Society, said there was an initial “Oh my God, what’s going on?” from members, “but a producer of the quality of Coffele putting their name on the box is going to ensure it’s not just a jug wine.”
Boxed wine originated in 1935 in Australia. In France good quality wines are available in boxes but many respected makers have resisted switching from bottle to box, despite the environmental and financial benefits. Cardboard and plastic are less energy-intensive to produce than glass and are about 40 per cent lighter, meaning that they are cheaper to transport. Boxed wine also lasts longer because the bag prevents oxidation and damage to flavour.
Amazon said last week that its sales of boxed wine were up 212 per cent in June and July compared with the same months last year. Marks & Spencer announced that sales of its 1.5l wine pouches were up by 20 per cent this summer.
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“We have already seen the evolution from cork to screw top and our customers are clearly shrugging off the preconceptions of boxed wine,” Sebastian O’Keefe, beer, wine and spirits store manager at Amazon, said.