My honest review of Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon.
This is a series of posts designed to help you choose the right boxed wine for you. No one would ever pay me to write about this, so you can rest assured my opinions are unbiased.
Overall value of the wine is primarily graded by taste and the number of ice cubes needed to make it drinkable. Wines are rated on a grading scale of F to A+.
So join me as I suffer through three liters of every Black Box, Bota, Barefoot, etc and take myself way too seriously.
Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon Honest Review
Price Range
$15-22
Origin
Chile
Packaging
As easy to pour and open as any other Black Box and with the same design, but with a red border for those who don’t automatically know the color of Cabernet Sauvignon. I imagine these are the same people who will be very disappointed to find out that Sauvignon Blanc is in fact not green, as indicated by its Black Box label.
Tastes Like
A light, VERY fruity Cabernet with notes of dark purple and red fruits on the attack. Mellows out into a slight burnt coffee roastiness at the finish.
There’s sort of some bell pepper as well, but it’s so fruity that this element is barely detectable.
The aftertaste is a little bit cardboard-y, which to be fair, is to be expected with Black Box wines.
# of Ice Cubes Needed
It significantly benefits from ice, so 1 to 3 just to give it a slight chill and so you can taste less of it. Do not drink this room temp or it will linger in your mouth like stale e-cig smoke.
Food Pairings
Meh… it’s so fruit-punchy it verges on being off-dry, but it’s not quite there. If you’re dead-set on making this a food wine, try it with a berry tart, blackberry pie, or just some uber salty chips.
Overall Value: B
Over the time we spent together, this box really grew on me. It’s definitely not the worst Cabernet Sauvignon, and it significantly improves when you add an ice cube. I think I would even buy it again. What is happening to me??
Read Also:
Christine
Sunday 17th of September 2023
It's nice to not have to put ice in the wine to drink it. 😜 Definitely light and fruity😊 love your writing style🙂 liked the wine too and you made me laugh too😄
Rachel Johnson
Monday 18th of September 2023
Thanks for the kind words, Christine! In a world filled with mediocre boxed wine, it's nice not to have to take it too seriously :)
Angela
Wednesday 13th of September 2023
I do like it. My favorite boxed Cabernet is Bota Box. It is light and festive.Black Box their Chardonnay is the absolute best. I love it.
Rachel Johnson
Monday 18th of September 2023
Oooh thanks for the tip! I'll give those a try :)
JCole
Sunday 18th of June 2023
I bought this low calorie Black Box Cabernet by mistake. It was really a mistake. I paid about $19 for 3 liters of the most vile wine I have ever tasted. It was like a sweetened grape juice with vanilla flavoring. I poured it out and wasted the money. Undrinkable. Shame on Black Box.
Rachel Johnson
Tuesday 20th of June 2023
From what I've gathered from other commenters, this is a tragic mistake indeed 😂
Craig
Friday 30th of December 2022
I got this as a Christmas gift. I need better friends. This is the single worst wine I have ever had. It's dry to the point of tasting like wood slowly going to vinegar. The thing about wine is it should improve with age until it's opened, so it can't be spoilage. This is just awful. Yes, I'm talking about the Cabernet Sauvignon.
Rachel J
Friday 30th of December 2022
Did you get this friend socks last Christmas or something equally terrible? Seems like they're trying to send a message 😂
This one is pretty rough unless you water it down with ice, but sounds like you just got a particularly bad box... which isn't abnormal since buying boxed wine is basically like playing Russian roulette 🙃
Katharine
Thursday 1st of December 2022
I bought a Box of Cabernet Sauvignon…low calorie by mistake. Thought how bad could it possibly be…. And I even tolerate cherry coughing syrup. Selling this as any sort of a wine was a disgrace.I am not a wine snob by any strength but this was beyond unacceptable drinking standards. If lower calorie is what you’re after I’d say drink something entirely different or perhaps not at all.
Ivan
Thursday 15th of June 2023
@Katharine, I agree totally. This variety recently showed up on my grocers shelf and billed as low calorie so I took a chance as I’ve had other varieties that were acceptable. But after trying this low calorie offering , if I had wanted a no-taste beverage I should have gone to the bottled water aisle. What a disgusting and disappointing offering. The remaining contents of the box went down the drain. What was Black Box thinking with this offering?
Rachel J
Thursday 1st of December 2022
I actually haven't tried the Brilliance collection yet, but it sounds like I never should 😂