Some things from the 1980s, such as pasta salad, and B-52 shots, should never, ever be revived. Nevertheless, I decided I would give my old friend, the five-litre wine box with the plastic bladder inside, another try. Wine boxes became stigmatised as a result of being seen at student parties, secret schoolkids’ drinking sessions in the park, and – probably most damagingly of all, Australian soap operas. Boxed wine originated in Oz, and the product made regular appearances in Neighbours as part of a drinking game called ‘goon pong’ – the plastic bladder is known as a ‘goon sack’.
During that decade, every party I ever threw or attended seemed to involve a five-litre box of Franzia (usually the pink variety, which tasted like the bottom of a yak’s carpet slipper). And no party would end without somebody removing the bladder and squeezing until every last drop had been dispensed. Its bad reputation was well deserved. Mostly, it was mass-produced plonk that was either vinegary, or thin as a supermodel.
In 1981, the Financial Times wine correspondent attended a tasting panel which drank its way through 37 box wines from nine countries. Adjectives inspired by the wines included ‘sulphured’, ‘tired’,’ dirty’ and ‘oxidised’, and at least half failed the fresh test immediately. But that was then. Boxed wine has now had a serious revival and makeover, and leading supermarkets and wine merchants alike now have a full variety on sale.
