Chardonnay: Thinking Outside the Box

Dec. 12, 2005 issue - It may go down as the high-low moment with the steepest peak and deepest valley. Last week chef Daniel Boulud invited journalists to his Park Avenue apartment. There, between bookshelves (Larousse Gastronomique, Mike Lupica's "Full Court Press"), a server passed canapes of tuna tartare and lobster atop avocado puree; guests talked of learning Italian and the work of Philip Glass. Boulud, in chef's whites embroidered with DB, mingled, asking his wife to open a fenetre when it got a little stuffy. And what was Daniel Boulud drinking? Daniel Boulud was swirling and sipping a glass of crisp Chardonnay with hints of green apple from the Macon region of Burgundy that—ready?—was pumped from a box. Yes, Daniel Boulud, four-star restaurateur, was drinking boxed wine.

Or, rather, tubed wine. Boulud, Daniel Johnnes (an author and Boulud's wine director) and vintner Dominique Lafon have partnered on an inventive wine concept: a three-liter cylinder that holds the equivalent of four bottles of wine—wine you actually want to drink. Once opened, the Chardonnay keeps fresh for four weeks. So you can have a glass or three after work and, at $37, pay what would be about $9 a bottle. The men call it dtour: their names all begin with D, true, but the endeavor is aimed at providing an alternative way (a detour—get it?) to enjoy a drink often reserved for special occasions. "I've gotten into discussions saying, 'Would you ever drink boxed wine?' " says Johnnes. "It usually comes down to 'Not that crap.' But it's crap because it's crap in the box. Find a good-quality wine, it's brilliant technology." And it doesn't hurt to have behind it Boulud, who, The New York Times reported last week, fetches $2,000 a head for private dinners. He relishes the paradox. "In their souls, chefs are not the way their clients are," Boulud tells NEWSWEEK. "I'm from Lyon. This is little-bistro wine."

—Bret Begun