Boxed red wine

[amexpat]

Is boxed red wine, other than Montclair, available now? If so, at what price?

There has been an outage in the north but some sightings lately.

[KittenKong]

I've seen quite a lot of boxes in Makro and elsewhere. Not Montclair though. I should imagine that sales of other box brands have increased hugely since the Montclair penury.

I did see 5lit boxes of Montclair white in someone's caddy the other day in BigC. Dont know if they had red also.

[Retired2]

Boxed wines have not been available in their usual (for us) outlets in the Rayong area.

A store clerk told me today that the price was set to double - very soon.

[JesseFrank]

Boxed wines have not been available in their usual (for us) outlets in the Rayong area.

A store clerk told me today that the price was set to double - very soon.

It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?

Where's my damn coat .

[kimbathewhitelion]

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Suradit69]

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

"Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region ..."

This in a thread about boxes of wine is a little like the Woody Allen complaint that the food was horrible ... and such small portions.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Suradit69

[Bpuumike]

Some Makro up North have a Californian red (don't have one to hand) called Peter Vella, or something close to that.

Can't remember, but reasonable price and to me, smoother than Montclair.

[Retired2]

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking ?

[Suradit69]

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Anyone else thinking what I'm thinking ?

Isn't boxed wine the gateway drink leading to imbibing cologne and lighter fluid?

[craigt3365]

They've got a fair selection of box wines here. Unfortunately, not every store carries every brand. And they are frequently out of stock. Peter Vella may be in one, but not another. I've yet to find one I love, but have found a few that are OK. It's really hit and miss.

[Torrens54]

Boxed wines have not been available in their usual (for us) outlets in the Rayong area.

A store clerk told me today that the price was set to double - very soon.

OMG!!! If they DOUBLE the already highly inflated prices, we'll all have to start growing and TREADING the Grapes!

[John1012]

Does anyone have any intelligent information as to why Montclair red is unavailable?

[craigt3365]

I just saw boxes a few weeks ago. You might have to visit a few different stores? Supply logistics here really suck. Something as simple as Schweppes Manao is hit and miss at all the stores. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they don't.

[morrobay]

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

"Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region ..."

This in a thread about boxes of wine is a little like the Woody Allen complaint that the food was horrible ... and such small portions.

Thai wines have beautiful bottles and labels , like at the Tops booth. So for 300 baht I took the gamble. What I got was a bottle of aldehyde , could not even use it for cooking.

CH₃CH₂OH + O --> CH₃CHO + H₂O The brownish color indicates the oxidation of alcohol to aldehyde. Dont even tasts it

[chris2004]

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Twist off bottles are too up market for me. I leave those to the connoisseurs.

[Guderian]

The Peter Vella in Makro is on sale at 1580 Baht for a 3 litre box. A while back they had Bodegas Centenarias which was a better wine (they are both Chilean Cabernet-Merlot) at around half that price, so unless Vella is regarded as a premium boxed brand ( ) then maybe the prices have already doubled?

[JesseFrank]

The Peter Vella in Makro is on sale at 1580 Baht for a 3 litre box. A while back they had Bodegas Centenarias which was a better wine (they are both Chilean Cabernet-Merlot) at around half that price, so unless Vella is regarded as a premium boxed brand ( ) then maybe the prices have already doubled?

Peter Vella is not a Chilean wine .

[luckyluke]

^

1580 ThB for 3 liters !!??

Paid 299 ThB for a bottle a few weeks ago

and see also here :

http://worldofwines.co.th/en/brand_detail.php?ref=17

[angiud]

The new tax on alcohol strongly hit the wine, based not on the price but on the quantity (and I don't know if on the Alcohol proof too). So all the imported bottled wine 0.7 lt. are now more expensive around 25%. The boxed imported wines (like several Chilean chardonnay, merlot, cabernet, shiraz) of fair or good quality) are almost completely out of stock and the importer (contacted by me for my business purpose) said that the no longer will import those wines because the should charge an almost double price and they cannot compete with the Monclair, Mar y Sol or similar brands produced and bottled in Thailand and renamed, in very small fonts, "fruit wines", to escape the big tax on imported alcohol.

Now only 2 companies are actually 'producing' and selling those 'fruit wines' and kill all the other competitors. Sure they have very good connections with the actual government.

[craigt3365]

The new tax on alcohol strongly hit the wine, based not on the price but on the quantity (and I don't know if on the Alcohol proof too). So all the imported bottled wine 0.7 lt. are now more expensive around 25%. The boxed imported wines (like several Chilean chardonnay, merlot, cabernet, shiraz) of fair or good quality) are almost completely out of stock and the importer (contacted by me for my business purpose) said that the no longer will import those wines because the should charge an almost double price and they cannot compete with the Monclair, Mar y Sol or similar brands produced and bottled in Thailand and renamed, in very small fonts, "fruit wines", to escape the big tax on imported alcohol.

Now only 2 companies are actually 'producing' and selling those 'fruit wines' and kill all the other competitors. Sure they have very good connections with the actual government.

That's horrible news!!!!! Montclair and Mar y Sol are undrinkable. The only way we've been able to drink them is to either add soda water and lime juice or Schweppes Manao, or use them as a base for sangria.

Ugh...

[angiud]

I use to buy 3 lt boxed wines like Corbett Canyon, or Franzia, usually from Chile in bulk (50-60 pieces) from the Thai importer to save money and have them fresh and well kept.

I use them as 'house wine' and all my customers were very happy with them. Now I have to switch to Monclair, red and white...

[KittenKong]

It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?

Both wine and beer are often cheaper in a UK supermarket than they are in a supermarket here, and the UK is one of Europe's more expensive countries for alcohol.

Wine and beer in Spain/France are often well under half the price they are here.

So I would say that Thailand is very expensive for alcohol (also when compared with some other SE Asian countries) and has been so for several decades if not more. I remember in the 80s beer being three times the price here that it was in the RP.

[inzman]

Makro in Pattaya had a pallet of Montclair red on Saturday, only 900 baht a box! I bought 2, by the time I finished shopping the pallet was empty.

[xylophone]

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Quote: "Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy".

I hope I'm not misunderstanding your statement, but if you are referring to the "screwtop" or perhaps the most well-known version, "the Stelvin closure", for sealing wines, as being low class, then I think you need to do some homework on the subject.

There is much to read if you care to take the time, and there is lively debate on the subject, and it's clear that not even the "experts" can agree on some of the points being debated. One of the most contentious points, and one which has not been fully resolved, is that the purists believe that cork assists in the ageing of wine by allowing a small amount of air to permeate it, whilst the other camp firmly refutes this, suggesting that any air getting through the cork and into the wine will allow it to spoil.

If like me you have had a wine cellar and kept a particular bottle of wine for many years in the hope of enjoying it, only to find out that the wine has been spoilt by cork taint (trichloroanisole) due to a faulty cork, then it won't take much to see that the switch to Stelvin closures, for example, will be welcomed by many. This especially when at one time it was estimated that at least 10% of all wine produced was affected by cork taint, and one large Italian producer had to write off about 90% of his vintage because of faulty corks.

[wineman]

Well said oz893.

"It was to expect that wine in Thailand couldn't stay that cheap, isn't it ?"

When has it ever been cheap? Thailand has the worst selection of wines period in the region & including that they choose the worst quality from whichever country, they also charge 4-6 times more.

What's that Australian wine with the Kangaroo on the label, in the US, it's 5 bucks but here you can easily pay $30-40; since the Thais don't know how to treat wine, after opening the bottle, it can easily taste like vinegar.

Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Quote: "Also guessing all you who drink wine out of a box probably consider the twist-off versions very classy".

I hope I'm not misunderstanding your statement, but if you are referring to the "screwtop" or perhaps the most well-known version, "the Stelvin closure", for sealing wines, as being low class, then I think you need to do some homework on the subject.

There is much to read if you care to take the time, and there is lively debate on the subject, and it's clear that not even the "experts" can agree on some of the points being debated. One of the most contentious points, and one which has not been fully resolved, is that the purists believe that cork assists in the ageing of wine by allowing a small amount of air to permeate it, whilst the other camp firmly refutes this, suggesting that any air getting through the cork and into the wine will allow it to spoil.

If like me you have had a wine cellar and kept a particular bottle of wine for many years in the hope of enjoying it, only to find out that the wine has been spoilt by cork taint (trichloroanisole) due to a faulty cork, then it won't take much to see that the switch to Stelvin closures, for example, will be welcomed by many. This especially when at one time it was estimated that at least 10% of all wine produced was affected by cork taint, and one large Italian producer had to write off about 90% of his vintage because of faulty corks.

[fvw53]

The decent quality (boxed) Tavernello wine doubled in price at Tesco and now seems to have vanished.

[amexpat]

Thanks for all the replies.

It looks like there will be one more vodka drinker in Pattaya.

[craigt3365]

Just back from Tesco. Only 1 box of Montclair red and a few of Jacobs Creek red, at over 3k per box! Asked the clerk, she said the company was having problems bringing in the wine. I kinda figured that one out on my own! 5555

[Guderian]

The Peter Vella in Makro is on sale at 1580 Baht for a 3 litre box. A while back they had Bodegas Centenarias which was a better wine (they are both Chilean Cabernet-Merlot) at around half that price, so unless Vella is regarded as a premium boxed brand ( ) then maybe the prices have already doubled?

Peter Vella is not a Chilean wine .

OK then, it wasn't the Peter Vella but some some cheap looking generic Chilean Cab-Merlot. Nothing special looking for 1580 Baht. Not sure but I think I saw the Peter Vella boxes in the small Thai supermarket on Thappraya Road almost next door to the Country Road bar. 1200-1300 Baht a box I think.

[Langsuan Man]

Just back from Tesco. Only 1 box of Montclair red and a few of Jacobs Creek red, at over 3k per box! Asked the clerk, she said the company was having problems bringing in the wine. I kinda figured that one out on my own! 5555

Tesco can't even keep small bottles of coke in stock, no less wine