MYSTERIOUS BLACK BOX

Do you know what a black box is? There are many black boxes. In aviation there is the flight recorder used on commercial aircraft to record flight data. In electronics it is a sealed piece of replaceable equipment. In computing it is a closed-source program. In philosophy and psychology it is the human mind. In cryptography it is used to capture the notion of knowledge obtained by an algorithm through the execution of a cryptographic protocol such as zero-knowledge proof protocol. Well, everyone knows about these black boxes but I am referring to one that I recently learned about in the ‘Wine Spectator’ magazine. It is a relatively new ‘Black Box’ that is used to market quality wine at a reasonable price.

Box wine is a wine that is packaged in a plastic bladder inside of a cardboard box. No cork, no bottle, just a spigot that you press to draw a glass of wine. Up until recently it was cheap wine of questionable quality. But now, the ‘Black Box’ company is selling high quality wine in a box. I recently purchased a Black Box of Cabernet Sauvignon for the price of $20.00. It holds the equilivant of four standard bottles of wine. So, I got a wonderful wine for $5.00 per bottle. Wine of this quality normally sells for at least $15.00 per bottle. I figure that I saved $40.00! Bag-in-box packaging is not inferior to bottles, but is preferred by some wineries because it is far less expensive, lighter to ship, and more environmentally friendly than bottled wine. Unlike bottled wine, which goes bad a few days after opening, boxed wine stays fresh for weeks after opening since the vacuum-sealed pouch does not allow the wine to be exposed to air. I have become a big fan of ‘Black Box’ wine. Try it; you’ll like it. And it will save a lot of money for you!

Happiness

                                              A Box of Wine
                                              A Loaf of Bread
                                              And You Divine
                                              Until I'm Dead