FAQ

In everyday language, the bag-in-box, or "bib" for those in the know, refers to a type of packaging used for liquid food products such as wine, milk, fruit juice, olive oil, etc. It takes the form of a bag equipped with a tap, usually housed inside a cardboard box.

Technically, it should be called a "wine fountain" or "cask-in-box," but having tried it myself, I dare you to make yourself understood…

There isn’t one. BIB is an acronym for bag-in-box. It’s a nickname, in a way.

Bib is the term most often used by wine professionals and enthusiasts to refer to a bag-in-box (or a box wine).

The "cubi" is the ancestor of the bag-in-box. And the difference between the two is roughly the same as that between the 1958 Fiat 500 and the one today.

In other words, "cubi" and "bib" do share a family resemblance, but in reality, they have nothing in common.

The "cubi" is what your father used to bring back rosé from vacation in the trunk of his R25: a thermoformed pouch or a low-quality jerrycan equipped with a simple tap that let air in and oxidized the wine very quickly.

The "bib," on the other hand, is an extremely technical vacuum-sealed packaging that ensures its contents are not altered by air, light, or the container itself.

It is composed of a multilayer leak-proof pouch and a tap that prevents air from entering.

Because in reality, bag-in-box and bib are registered trademarks used as common nouns (like velux, frigidaire, tabasco, coton-tige, scotch, bikini, bodyboard, etc.).

More precisely, bag-in-box™ was registered in 1977, and bib™ a few years later. Today, they are operated by the French company Smurfit Kappa Bag in Box, one of the leaders in the packaging industry.

These two trademarks are protected in French, Danish, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Benelux territories.

There are at least three:

It is more economical. For the same quality, the savings are around 20 to 30%, because it costs less to produce and transport.

It is more eco-friendly. Depending on its
manufacture and capacity, for an equal volume, the carbon footprint of a bag-in-box is up to 8 times lower than that of a bottle.

It is more practical, in that the wine remains intact for at least 4 weeks after opening. No more bottles ending up in the sink 3 days after being opened!

Yes, yes, and yes again! For several reasons:

Its weight represents only 5.3% of the total weight of the finished product, compared to 35% for the bottle.

Its packaging allows for optimized transport, with very little wasted space in boxes and on pallets.

Its packaging is recyclable: the cardboard in all cases; the inner pouch in most cases.

For an equal volume, its carbon footprint is 8 times lower than that of the bottle.

Before opening

The shelf life before opening varies depending on the care taken during packaging, the quality of the bag-in-box, the intrinsic "robustness" of the wine (white wines, for example, are more fragile than red wines), and storage conditions.

But to put it simply, let’s say a bag-in-box purchased from Let it BIB should be consumed within 3 months, provided it is stored in a place not subject to temperature fluctuations
(ideally below 20°C), and away from direct sunlight. So, in your living room, there is little risk, but keep it away from the windows…


After opening

This is where the magic of the bag-in-box happens…

Once opened, you can indeed keep it for at least 4 weeks (and often even longer) without its organoleptic qualities (taste, smell, appearance, color, and texture) being altered…

Sometimes, the opposite even occurs: if you are patient enough, you will find that your wine is actually even better a week or two after pouring your first glass!

Yes and no... It depends on which bottling you're talking about.

If it's bottling to serve the wine in the minutes, or at most the few hours following the bottling... The answer is: yes, no problem!

On the contrary, letting the wines breathe before serving will only make them better.

However, if it's bottling with the intention of cellaring the wine to drink in the following weeks, or even months, as you consume it daily... The answer is: no, definitely not!

Why? Because the wines we sell, organic and/or natural, are not or very little protected against oxidation. Therefore, the transfer from the bag-in-box to the bottle would necessarily lead to an alteration of its organoleptic qualities.

No, rest assured, there is no problem. Let us briefly explain how this phenomenon occurs.

The specifications for organic/natural wines only allow for a minimal addition of sulfite for preservation (and a good thing too!). Instead, winemakers rely on the carbon dioxide (CO2) naturally produced during fermentation to protect their wine, as CO2 is a natural preservative with no health risks (and guaranteed not to cause a headache the next day!).

In other words, the wine is not completely degassed before bottling, and micro-bubbles of CO2 invisible to the naked eye remain dissolved in the juice.

The downside: in a box, most of the time following exposure—even brief—to temperatures above 20°C, these CO2 bubbles have the annoying tendency to group together and form a single large bubble, causing the inner bag to bulge, which turns your box into a rugby ball.

But don't panic, it's nothing serious and it is not a defect! If the heat exposure was brief, the organoleptic qualities of the wine remain intact and, from the first glasses served, your box will quietly return to its original shape.

Just a small warning: watch out for splashes when you serve the first glass, as the wine is consequently under slight pressure...

Yes, and yes again! The wines are the same and just as good as the same vintages packaged in bottles.

However, a few years ago—and this is still very often the case in supermarkets—the wines found in bag-in-boxes were of lower quality than those that were bottled. It wasn’t that the packaging degraded them, but rather that the wine industry used to reserve its mediocre, not to say shoddy, vintages for bag-in-boxes (hyper-high yields, winemaking with chemical intervention, etc.).

That is the reason why bag-in-boxes suffered from such a bad reputation for so long.

Fortunately, attitudes are evolving in the right direction at high speed. Today, many independent winemakers committed to organic practices offer their delicious wines in both bottles and bag-in-boxes.

All that was missing was a player in the wine world to take an interest... With LET IT BiB, that’s now a reality!

Without hesitation: yes!

With a carbon footprint 7 to 9 times lower than a bottle, a bag-in-box is significantly more environmentally friendly right from the start. That brings us closer together.

Furthermore, there are no contraindications to putting natural/organic wines in a bag-in-box either. Including those with no added sulfur.

However, as with all other major stages in the production of these living wines, one must be careful. But rest assured, it’s nothing to stress over…

The only rule to follow: do not expose your bag-in-box to excessively high temperatures.

Because it’s a fact!

Today, bag-in-box wine accounts for a little over 40% of wine consumption in France. In Germany, it’s 50%; in Sweden, 70%.

An ultra-sophisticated wine bar exclusively dedicated to bag-in-box wine, the first of its kind in the world, has just opened its doors in London.

The young Belleville-based brand Obag, which offers lovely bags to proudly carry your box anywhere, or to dress it up for the table, is taking the women’s press by storm.

Many top restaurateurs (I have the names...), who currently sell mostly wine by the glass, have convinced their winemaker friends to provide them with their best vintages in boxes to avoid throwing away (or drinking?)
all the opened bottles at the end of service.

Even France 2 and TF1 featured it as a segment on their news broadcasts last summer!

The same has been true over the past few months for Elle, Le Figaro, Cosmo, L’Express, Paulette, L’Homme tendance, VSD, and Le JDD.

We weren't necessarily aware of all this when we decided to launch LET IT BiB. But it’s reassuring to feel that we’re on the same page...

BIB IS THE NEW COOL, MY FRIEND !

Do not hesitate, submit it to us at sos@let-it-bib.fr.