Tube-ular Wine

There's good news for those of you who wouldn't touch wine-in-a-box with a 10-foot straw: It now comes in tubes! Revelry, a new brand from Washington's Columbia Valley, is exclusively packaged in nifty 1.5L tubes. The line includes a 2005 Merlot, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Chardonnay.

I've seen wine-in-a-tube before, but this two-bottle version is more compact. In fact, when I first saw it I thought it held only a single bottle.

It was a little tricky getting the tap into the right position to pull it through and open the thing, but once I did, it was smooth sailing. The Merlot is perfectly respectable everyday wine, with smooth black cherry flavors and a touch of spice. The bonus feature is that, in it's recyclable bag-in-tube package, it will stay super-fresh for a month.

Now for the bad news: I have absolutely no idea how much the wine costs. The Revelry folks sent me a folder crammed with information about the company, founder Jared Burns and the wines. Conspicuously absent was the retail pricing info. As a former wine PR rep, this sort of thing makes me insane. Why bother to send all that info, only to make the wine writer call you to find out a crucial piece of information like price? (No, it's not on the website either: I checked.)

So, this wine could be a great value at, say, $10, or it could be a rip-off at $30. Which is it, Revelrers??? 

New development: I finally got over my annoyance (damned curiosity!) and called for the price: $19.99 for each tube-o-wine. This is a bit better, I think, than your average $10 California Merlot, so that's not a bad deal.

Comments

[Mark V Marino]

Hi Tina,
Yes I agree some of these people do not get the basics. I was no a web site tonight trying to get the prices and under order it said would you like a email or fax for the prices! If you have a web site and wine to sell why would you require a email to ask for a price sheet? Duh! But this is encountered time and again!

[zach]

Ah well, it could be worse. They could have sent you something totally undrinkable.

[jen]

I've seen these cylinders selling in the store for $20 or more, but just found it on sale online, www.madwine.com.

Never thought I'd love a boxed wine but out of this cylinder it drinks well.