Thinking inside the box

I have a teensy confession to make. I'm sort of a wine snob...in that I absolutely refuse to drink boxed wine.

I blame Italy. I didn't like wine until I studied abroad there. We would go to these group dinners as part of our program, and all my roommates (all 6 of 'em) would get excited because we would get a free glass/carafe/never-ending stream of wine with our meal. They all looked so elegant, holding their wineglasses by the stems, and I was embarrassed to let them see that I didn't like wine. I felt like a failure. I would nurse a single glass all night, forcing myself to drink it and chasing it with - get this - food. I would take a sip of wine, then immediately shove pizza or something in my mouth.

Those of you that know me well probably think I'm lying through my teeth right now. But I'm not. There was actually a point and time that I didn't like wine. Clearly that time has passed. But because I learned to drink wine in what is arguably the wine-drinking capital of the world, I became a bit of a snob about it. Oh, I'll drink cheap wine (provided it's not too sweet), but boxed wine? Never. It would set the Italians (and the French, the Spanish, the Australians, and the Argentinians) rolling in their graves. I couldn't.

And then BzzAgent said, "Hey, you wanna be part of a campaign to try and review FishEye's BOXED wines?" A free box of wine...well, I couldn't say no to that. If it really was terrible, we could always save it for a party and give it to our unsuspecting guests (sorry, guys). But if it was good, well...free box of wine!

The hubby was very excited I scored us free booze (I know I'm biased, but isn't he the best?!)

So we "tapped the box." Is that the proper terminology for how you open a box of wine? I've had no experience with this - hubby had to open it.

But once it was open and flowing, I was pleasantly surprised. It was...actually good. I don't think I would be able to tell the difference between this and a comparably priced bottle of wine. It wasn't too sweet, which is the kiss of death for wine for me, and which I have discovered is the main downfall of inexpensive wines. It's like they put more sugar into it to mask the terrible flavor.

But FishEye didn't. This wasn't too sweet. It's a shame it's 65 degrees and rainy outside today, because this would be perfect scorching-hot-July-weather wine. It's so light! I don't think I was expecting that. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.

I still don't think I'll go for generic boxed wine (think Franzia), but if I see FishEye boxed wine on sale at Bi-Lo again, I'll definitely grab some. It's the equivalent of four 750-ML bottles for about $15ish bucks (depending on where you buy), so this would be SUPER for a party. My only (very minor) gripe is that our midget fridge is too small to continually keep a box of wine in it (so maybe I should just get red? I could leave that on the counter!) Other than that, I highly recommend it. Wine snobs, unite...and step off your pedestals and try FishEye Wines.

Disclaimer: I received a $15-off coupon from BzzAgent to purchase this wine and review it in exchange for my honest opinions.