Wine Spectator: Higher-End Boxed Wines Growing From A Small Base
September 26, 2025The boxed wine category in the U.S. was initially defined by 5-liter value labels led by 18-million-case Franzia, and then expanded to include higher-priced 3-liter brands like Delicato’s Bota Box and Gallo-owned Black Box, which boast annual volume of approximately 11 million cases and 9 million cases respectively, according to Impact Databank.
According to NielsenIQ, retail sales of boxed wine increased more than 4% by value in 2024. Premium boxed wines—defined as those priced at $28 a 3-liter or more—played a key role in that growth, with sales totaling $1.6 billion, a nearly 9% increase compared to 2023.
“I’m so tired of all the headlines about wine being a dying industry. There are bright spots, and this is one of them,” said Kristin Olszewski, founder of the Nomadica brand, which includes California white, red, rosé, and orange wines retailing at around $50 a 3-liter box.
A former sommelier, Olszewski began Nomadica with canned wine and admitted that the first few years were brutal. However, when she decided to launch the wine in a box, the rollout was much smoother. “Normally, I’d test new products direct-to-consumer, but I was skeptical that a $40 box would work on shelves. Whole Foods tested us in a handful of markets and it worked!”
Wine drinkers are attracted to the convenience and sustainability of the boxes and the freshness of the wine inside. “I don’t think it’s going to overwhelm the bottled wine segment, but I have been continuously surprised by the receptiveness of our direct-to-consumer customers,” said Tablas Creek partner and general manager Jason Haas. In 2022, Tablas Creek grabbed attention when it put a significant portion of its popular Patelin de Tablas Rosé into a 3-liter bag-in-box packaging and priced it at $95.
“We got a lot of people reaching out saying, ‘We never thought anyone would do this,’” said Haas. “The response has surprised me at every stage with the degree to which people are willing not just to try something they’ve never tried before, but to take pride in [it], and then confound their friends by bringing a box of wine to the next party, and tell the story.”
Lee Reeves, proprietor of Vertical Wine Collective, located just north of Seattle, is betting that the boxed wine movement is more than just a phase. After a brief period of operating online, he recently opened a brick-and-mortar location where guests can buy glasses and flights of boxed wine, or take boxes home.
“When we looked across the spectrum of boxes and bottles, non-alcoholic and ready-to-drink, we saw customers gravitating toward the boxed medium,” he explained. “We had never seen a boxed wine shop before. And I was very adamant that we needed to do something just a little bit different if we were going to succeed.” Wine Spectator has more on the growing premium boxed wine category.
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