well, why shouldn't wine come in a box?

Listen, don't be judgemental ok? I know that many of my friends (at least the ones that maybe don't know me well enough to know that I cry at Biggest Loser) think I'm some sort of perfection-driven, Martha Stewart-esque gourmand. (Shut up already. I am NOT!) But I do love to throw a good party and I am all about making things 1) beautiful, and 2) easy on myself. This, after suffering through the Worst Party Known To Mankind, aka, my wedding reception, which I thought I could simply manage on my own and with, yes, Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres book. I've gotten much smarter since then. Frankly, so has Martha.

So while you're all sitting there wondering if I have an overpriced sense of wine or something, let me assure you: I have spent the past 10 minutes disemboweling a box of wine. You know, when you get to the bottom and it requires a lot of massaging and/or cutting open of the bag? We've all been there. Right?

But let me say without question, the box wine at Target/SuperTarget is by far the best value on the market. (Yes, I've tried. Ok?) The "Wine Cube" that is distributed uniquely for Target is a compact, simple design which holds either a) 4 bottles (~$17), 2 bottles (~$10), or 4 adult juiceboxes (also ~ $10). They are truly cubes, which leads to efficient storage and, well, prettily designed perfect squares. So cute! My experience tells me that the cab/shiraz blend is infinitely drinkable, the sauvignon blanc makes me crave summer, and the pinot grigio juiceboxes are going to be my answer to "the public park doesn't allow alcohol." Oh, and the "dammit, I dropped another glass in the bathtub. Why can't Jacuzzi just make a properly sized ledge, already? WHY?"

The big bummer is that we don't sell wine at Target here so for the Twin Citians reading, do what I do. Make that 17 mile journey to Wisconsin. For the rest of you, acknowledge and appreciate your "wine with grocery" benefits. While 17 miles isn't all that far, it can be a long road when you're just wanting a sippable, inexpensive pour that won't go bad in 24 hours after opening. You know, like when you have wine left in the bottle?

Green Tip: Boxed wines are still transported a long way from their source, but the boxes are actually quite efficient. Less packaging per liter, you can recycle the outer box, and the remaining bag is flat as a pancake.