Box Wine - History

History

The process for packaging 'cask wine' (box wine) was invented by Thomas Angove of Angove's, a winemaker from Renmark, South Australia, and patented by the company on April 20, 1965. Polyethelene bladders of 1 gallon (3.78 litres) were placed in corrugated boxes for retail sale. The original design required that the consumer cut the corner off the bladder, pour out the serving of wine and then reseal it with a special peg.

In 1967 Charles Henry Malpas and Penfolds Wines patented a plastic, air-tight tap welded to a metallised bladder, making storage more convenient. All modern wine casks now use some sort of plastic tap, which is exposed by tearing away a perforated panel on the box.

Bag in a box packaging is also preferred by producers of less expensive wines because it is cheaper than glass bottles.

The packaging first found commercial success in the land of its invention, Australia, and has since established a steady market across Europe and South Africa. However, boxed wine has found difficulty in overcoming a down-market image in the US.

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