The Case of the Dripping Box

 

I drink wine.  I like wine.  I am not a wine snob.  As a matter of fact if you were going to rate wine drinkers I'd be down on the low "trashy" side.  No, I'm not drinking it out of the bottle, but I DO drink inexpensive and generally sweet/fruity wines.  I also like to purchase local wines when I can; I try to buy from NJ (Tomasello's Ranier Red) and NY (Sweet Walter White). However, sometimes I can't find those so I purchase from (for lack of better term and to play on the title of this post) "big box" wineries like Barefoot.  

When it comes to white wines, I am a fan of Riesling and for my taste and wallet, Barefoot has a pretty good one.  Because I need to be economical, when I purchase Barefoot Riesling, I tend to buy the bigger bottle, or in this case the box.  (Yes, BOX!)  It fits well in my little refrigerator.  Plus you can squeeze out every drop from the "bag" inside the box when you get down to the very end.  (I don't waste wine!)

A couple of weeks ago I went on a "wine run" to Total Wine and More to "restock."  I bought a couple of bottles of red (trying some newer brands) and a box of Barefoot Riesling.  I put the bottles on my wine rack in the dining room with the box beside it on the floor.  

Friday I decided it was time to open the Riesling.  I poured myself a glass (maybe two) and put the box (as I always do) in the little fridge in my basement.  Then yesterday I decided to have another glass. (Even though I was serving beef for dinner...I know...white wine and meat?)  I enjoyed a glass while I cooked.  Then, just as I was ready to take up the meal, I decided to have another glass.

Leaving dinner simmer on the top of the stove, I took my glass downstairs and pulled the box to pour a glass from the tap.  However, it didn't seem to pour out well...although the box was full, the tap was dripping.  Then I realized that the bottom of the box was dripping.  And not just a slow drip, but making a mess.  The bottom of the box was soggy and so was the back (towards the bottom).

I couldn't just stand there in the basement holding a wet box that was dripping all over the place.  So I ran upstairs with the box (dripping all over the stairs and the kitchen floor as I went.) I put it down on the counter (putting it in the sink would have been a wiser choice) and tried to figure out what to do.

As the box leaked all over the counter, I got my husband to come in and help me.  On the top shelf in our cabinet was a bottle for orange juice. (Maybe you have to be of a certain age to get this...hence photo.)  It was a little dirty so he cleaned it out (as the box continue to drip all over the place) and then he tore open the box (not easy) and pulled out the bag to decant what he could into the bottle.  However, the bottle is 1.5 liters and the box was supposed to hold 3 liters.  So I had to find another SOMETHING to hold the remainder.  So the first thing that I came across in my lower cabinets (which are filled with containers of varying sizes with lids that tend to go missing and that I have organized, but then always get mixed up until I go through a organize again throwing out ones with missing lids; which I then of course find the NEXT time I organize) was a container that once held cheesecake filling (and that I currently use for salads that I used to take to my office, back when I had an office). So the remainder of the wine is now in this....

Both the bottle and the container reside in my little fridge in the basement.  I have no idea how I am going to get the container wine out of the container without making a mess.  (Very carefully, Bfth, very carefully.)  The orange juice bottle, according to my husband, looks like it has pee in it.  (I think he's right...I'm not happy about that, but.)  I have no idea HOW or WHAT happened to my bag o'wine inside my box o' wine, but clearly SOMETHING went horribly wrong.  (Which means a good glass or two ended up on my floor and counter and could not be properly enjoyed by me.)  Is there anyone out there who's had this happen to them?  ANYONE?

  If there's a lesson in all of this, I don't know what it is.  If you think you know, please let me know.  That is unless your lesson is "Don't drink boxed wine" because I'm just not accepting that!