Why bag-in-box wines are here to stay | Hannah Crosbie on drinks

Wine boxes are on the rise: they’re cheap, durable, sustainable and the quality is only getting better

Slap the bag? The wheel of goon? Or, perhaps, goon of fortune? If any of those collections of words mean anything to you (keep your double entendres to yourself, please), you may have fuzzy yet painful memories of bag-in-box wine. The cheapness and the format – not to mention the sheer volume you can buy it for – makes bag-in-box ripe for drinking games.

These fond (?) memories might result in an assumption that all bag-in-box wine is of a lesser quality, something designed for inexpensive and quick intoxication, rather than tasteful enjoyment. But interest in bag-in-box is on the rise, with the UK market expected to rise to more than £300m by 2030 – almost double what it was in 2021.