Boxed Wine Inventor Dies, THG Emerges from Seclusion

Late last night, as I was watching Duke narrowly escape with an NCAA title, I realized that it had been almost two months since I posted anything to the blog. It's certainly not due to indifference or a lack of things to say. I've just been in my annual work pressure-cooker brought on by client catalogs and various other first-quarter projects.

As I watched the seconds tick off the clock, a last minute half-court heave by Butler clang off the rim (doh!), and Duke players don the ugliest championship t-shirts in NCAA history I vowed that I would rectify the situation with this here blog.

Who knew a handmade topic would arrive via a Facebook post from a friend?

Alas, it's with a heavy heart and pounding head that I report the death of Thomas Angove at the age of 92. For me, Angove ranks up there with the guy who invented the Filet-O-Fish – he took a great product (in his case, wine) and improved the delivery system (he put it in a box, or more accurately, a cask inside a box).

For years "boxed wine" or "wine in a box" was scoffed at by the press and purists. It probably wasn't helped by the cheap price and cheap product it was usually associated with, but our shore house wasn't complete without a big ass box of cheap white wine crammed in the fridge. From its magical spout I would dispense just the right amount to combine with a beer mug of Mountain Dew to create the delightful White Trash Spritzer, a refreshing (and sticky) summertime concoction that usually led to a jackhammer pulse rate, a warm, happy buzz... and a pounding headache the next day.

These days the wine box has – like screw caps on wine bottles – achieved a certain level of respectability. I'm glad Angove lived to see his invention achieve greatness and that he didn't listen to his teenage son who scoffed at the idea of cask wine back in the 1960s.

Cheers, Mr. Wine in a Box.

Tip courtesy of The Consumerist and Delaine Derry Green of Not My Small Diary.