Review: Domaine Bousquet, Natural Origins Cabernet Sauvignon

Boxed wines get a bad rap. People often assume boxed wines are all bad, but the box is just a vessel and anything can go into it. It’s not a good vessel for storing wine for long periods of time, but it’s perfectly fine for young wines meant to be consumed fresh. And I’ve had plenty of decent boxed wine to know you shouldn’t judge a wine by its vessel.

Technically, most boxed wine is actually a bag of wine in a box — as is the case with this wine from Domaine Bousquet. The bag-in-box holds 3 liters of wine, the equivalent of 4 bottles. With a suggested retail price of $20 per box, the price for this one is the equivalent of $5 per bottle. Nonetheless, this wine tastes better than some Cabernet Sauvignon I’ve tried that sells for 4x that price!

A number of years ago, I brought a boxed wine to a blind tasting and it won the tasting. I first transferred the wine to a bottle so that tasters wouldn’t know it was from a box. This Natural Origins Cabernet Sauvignon could easily win in a similar tasting. It’s good!

The grapes for this wine come from the Tupungato in the Uco Valley of Argentina. This is a high altitude, dry region with climatic conditions favorable for organic grape growing. The wine is labeled as being made from organic grapes, although it’s not labeled as “organic wine.” This isn’t uncommon, as wine often has sulfites added during the production process to stabilize the wine and preserve freshness, but wines with added sulfites can’t be labeled as organic.

The nose is quite pleasant, offering rich blackberry, black cherry, black pepper and chalky mineral aromas. You might even say it smells elegant. Fresh fruit flavors abound on the palate, mostly blackberry and blackcurrant. The balance of sweet and tart is just right too, with the acidity adding vibrancy to the wine. The mouthfeel is pleasant. The finish is fairly long with blackcurrant flavors and a black tea-like astringency.

This wine is an incredible bargain!

Wine: Domaine Bousquet, Natural Origins Cabernet Sauvignon
Varieties: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Vintage: 2019 (although no vintage is indicated on the packaging)
Alcohol: 14.1%
Rating: 86
Average price: $20 for 3 litre box
Disclosure: This wine was received as a media sample.