Boxes and Boxes

It's no secret that I like a good adult beverage. I have a few stand-bys that I turn to. A Cosmopolitan or a Martini are my special occasion drink -- fancy nights on the town, a special happy hour with friends, holidays, etc. Then I am a Makers and Diet gal for football game days. You better believe we are stocking up this week since football kicks off this weekend!! Beer is good for tailgating and brewery tours. White wine is nice with a fancy dinner here and there. And then, for pretty much anything else, I like red wine. I'm not picky about the brand or type of red wine, just red in general works for me.

Lately, the pools around town have been cracking down on glass at pools. Apparently, there is some sort of state law that says when glass breaks inside pool gates, whether or not its near or in the water, the entire pool has to be drained and cleaned out. Our highrise has cracked down on the policy in an effort to avoid shutting down the pool on a regular basis thanks to partying neighbors -- and to avoid charging all of the residents for the resulting HOA charges. Now, residents who violate the no-glass rule are fined, and any resident who breaks glass, or has a guest who does so, is responsible for paying the fine for the pool draining and cleaning. We are talking multiple, multiple hundreds of dollars. Oh my! We will gladly amend our late-summer poolside drinking habits to avoid that expense :)

While the guys can easily shift to canned beer, I have been hearing a lot of great things about boxed wine recently from my girlfriends.

I know. I can hear you all saying, ick, boxed wine?! The hubs said the same thing. But trust me on this one. 

I got a stellar recommendation on this brand from a colleague, and OMG, it is so good. You would never. ever. know. that this is boxed wine. Bota Box is actually wine in a bag in a box, so there is none of that cardboard taste that plagues most other boxed wines. We grabbed the Malbec, and everyone who tried it at the pool party raved about it.

The other great part is the price. The box is only $20, and is equal to FOUR BOTTLES of wine. That rivals any good Trader Joe's wine pricing. Even better, the wine stays fresh, since no air can get inside like a bottle. They claim it stays fresh for 45 days. As if I would let it hang around that long to test the theory, but you know, still a good benefit ;)

Bota Box looks to be distributed around the country, but they offer a zip code search in case you want to be sure to find it at your local store. I did a quick search for the Malbec, and how convenient, it's offered right around the corner from me at our Publix. Score! :)

What's your go-to beverage? And have you tried Bota Box or any other boxed wines that we should try out?