jug wine

The 3 acres of land directly surrounding the tasting room are currently decorated with little flags, indicating the recently planted vines of a future field blend of Zinfandel, Carignane and Mourvedre, which they'll use for future vintages of Capella--a red wine blend created each year as a nod to the family's jug wine history.

Demand remains strong, however, for cheaper jug wines, which are typically sold in containers larger than bottles but sell for the equivalent of $3 or less per bottle throughout much of the United States and globally.

The brand affinity for jug wine has been both a benefit and a

Argentines no longer drink jug wine as they once did; these days one is as likely to find beer or soft drinks served at an asado as a bottle of tinto.

Wineries producing these complex and variable wines are more likely to benefit from retailer-provided special services than wineries producing jug wines.(6)

Caption: Rotta Winery turned preconceived notions about jug wine upside down by packaging its $48 tasting room exclusive in a retro 2-liter jug.

Back in the days when chenin blanc was known in this country primarily as a sickeningly sweet California jug wine, its reputation understandably diminished nearly to the point of vanishing.

THE FOOD: JUG WINE & OLIVE OIL When I met my wife, Alice, in 1951, her father, Bill Steere, was at Stanford on a professor's salary--the same as a grocer at the time (about $8,000).

Which is not to say that the major, mass-market labels are about to disappear any time soon--we still see jug wine in the stores, don't we?--but that a new level is being created in beer culture.

After seeing what Three Thieves did for jug wine, no reason to think Bandit Bianco, a $6.99 trebbiano in a one-liter tetra-pak, will not have similar success.

"In those days the jug wine market was a big business and sweet wines were still popular.

At its peak, the producers obtained a premium for essentially jug wine, but now the cost compares favourably with a bottle of Jacobs Creek, an acknowledged brand leader at under pounds 5 per bottle.

In addition to the drop in jug wine sales, wineries reduced promotions when it became clear the 1998 crop would be smaller than expected, Fredrikson said.

packaging doesn't project the image of a jug wine. And finally, boxes preserve the wine better.

That's when Okanagan winemakers, facing a new free-trade agreement with the United States, started ripping out the musky hybrid grapes they'd been using (mainly for jug wine) and furiously planting high-quality European varietals so that they could compete with American imports.