Don’t give this boxed wine the fish eye—it’s good stuff!

And when you can pay $4 per 750 ml (the size of a regular bottle of wine), you’d be foolish not to declare to everyone you know that wine boxes are cool, wine boxes are green, never whine about a good wine box. So, speaking of good, here’s what Consumer Reports recommends.

• Fish Eye Chardonnay 2007, $16 (about $4 per 750 ml). A nice mix of fruit and oak: Juicy fruit and apple flavors balanced by hints of butterscotch and vanilla.

• Banrock Station Chardonnay 2007, $19 (about $4.75 per 750 ml). Full, rich and slightly sweet; apple, pear and honey flavors accompanied by vanilla and buttery notes.
• Black Box Monterey County Chardonnay 2008, $25 (about $6.25 per 750 ml). Understated, clean and balanced, with crisp acidity and light citrus and apple flavors.

If you can’t find the vintage tested, try another. Manufacturers strive to achieve consistency from one vintage to another.

Merlots tested by the CR team didn’t fare as well. The 2008 Banrock Station merlot, $19, and the 2007 Black Box California, $25 were deemed to be lower in quality: not very complex with overripe fruit. But, the tasters concluded, “if you’re having a big party and not a wine tasting, they could fill the bill. ”

So here’s your summer entertaining idea: A boxed wine tasting party. Let the group vote, and then let everyone pick numbers from a hat. In order, the guests get to take what’s left of their favorite boxed wine home. If your guests are big drinkers, can the prize drawing or buy extra boxes.

See THE NIBBLE’s Wine Section for more tips and entertaining ideas, including wine and cheese pairings, wine and chocolate pairings and wine and dessert pairings.

This summer’s hot period movie is “Cheri,” adapted from Colette’s 1920’s novel of the same name and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Friend, and Kathy Bates.

Colette transformed from a convent girl to one hot mama, inciting a near riot by kissing a female lover in a 1907 performance at the Moulin Rouge in Paris.

This inspired Noilly Pratt Vermouth to create a cocktail for the film’s premiere called Le Baiser de Noilly (“Noilly’s Kiss”).

The NYC premiere was Tuesday night, and the stars and other revelers sipped away.

Girly pink in color, it’s perhaps an appropriate tribute to Cheri, the aging prostitute in 1920s Paris (Pfeiffer) who educates a younger man (Friend) in the ways of love. Oh la la!

> The history of gin.

> More gin cocktails.
 
 
RECIPE: LE BAISER DE NOILLY PINK COCKTAIL
 
Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the ingredients except for the raspberry in a cocktail shaker. Shake and double strain into a glass.

2. RUB a piece of pink grapefruit peel on the rim of the glass to impart the flavor of the oil from the peel.

3. SPRINKLE the grapefruit zest on top of the drink, letting the oil from the grapefruit’s skin absorb into the foam to make the cocktail even more flavorful.

4. FLOAT the raspberry on the drink and serve.
 
 
 

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[1] Enjoy this pink “kiss” (photo © Noilly Prat).

[2] Bombay Sapphire gin (photo © Bacardi Limited).

[3] Pineapple juice is a great pairing with gin and vermouth (photo © Dole Food Company).

Enter to win the Guiltless Gourmet Sweepstakes

Imagine yourself in Beaujeu, the historical capital of Beaujolais in the heart of the Beaujolais “crus” region. Traveling on to the village of Vaux-en-Beaujolais (a.k.a. Clochemerle), past the Romanesque cloisters of Salles-Arbuissonas and Villefranche-Sur-Saône—the economic capital of Beaujolais. Visit the “land of golden stones,” le Pays des Pierres Dorées, where you’ll find the village Oingt, which has been called the most beautiful village in France. Your Beaujolais tour ends in the gastronomic capital of Lyon—France’s second-largest metropolitan area, which is older than Paris, has more Roman ruins and a host of 1-, 2- and 3-star Michelin restaurants,including the 3-star Paul Bocuse.

Start at the top of Beaujolais and taste your way down to the restaurant capital of Lyons.

• Read more about wine in THE NIBBLE’s Wine Section.

Lemon-infused olive oil is one of six spectacular flavors.

When we first looked at our task—tasting six different flavors of the Sonoma Farm brand of extra virgin olive oil, plus unflavored EVOO and a dipping oil—it seemed like work. By the end of the tasting, we were drunk with happiness on olive oil, drinking tablespoon after tablespoon. (The FDA recommends two tablespoons a day for heart health; we had a month’s worth.)

What did we experience? Lemon, lime and blood orange wafting out of the EVOO bottle, as if fresh juice were pent-up and waiting to escape. The fresh garlic, hot pepper (cayenne) and rosemary/basil olive oils jockeyed for position as well. Honestly, we couldn’t even pick a champion—they’re all winners. And that’s before we got to the regular EVOO, the dipping oil and the regular and strawberry balsamic vinegars.

• What’s an artisan oil? An estate oil? The difference between virgin, extra virgin and just plain “olive oil?” Should you care if your olive oil is cold pressed? Read our Olive Oil Glossary.
• How can you talk the talk and truly know what you’ve bought? Learn enough that you can start hosting olive oil tasting parties! Read the article and taste like a pro.
• What does it mean when an olive oil is earthy… peppery… fruity… herbal? Each oil is different. If you prefer herbal to earthy, get to know how to ask for olive oil like you ask for wine. Read the scoop.