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Lieb Cellars is adding new varieties to its Bridge lane line. (Credit: Rachel Young)

Last year, Lieb Cellars in Cutchogue rolled out a line of tasty yet affordable boxed wines and kegs under their Bridge Lane line. Now, they’re adding new varieties to the mix.

In February 2014, Lieb launched their boxed wine series in red and white blend versions only. This upcoming March, the Oregon Road tasting room will add boxes of 2014 Bridge Lane white merlot, chardonnay and rosé, general manager Ami Opisso said.

Lieb will also release keg versions of the line’s new 2014 white merlot, red blend and white blend at the same time. Kegs have so far only been available in merlot, chardonnay and rosé, Opisso said. Merlot kegs will no longer be offered.

That means all five current Bridge Lane varieties — the white blend, red blend, chardonnay, rosé and white merlot — will be available by the bottle, box and keg.

“We produced 3,500 boxes last year and are almost sold out of them,” Opisso said of the venture’s success. “We’re producing 5,000 this year.”

“We were looking to do something different,” she said of the winery’s decision to begin selling boxed wine and kegs. “The Bridge Lane series is meant to be sort of everyday, approachable, unpretentious wine and alternative formats make so much sense because the industry is going in that direction.”

The Atlantic reported on the trend in August.

“Wine critics and consumers are starting to embrace premium boxed wine coming out of California and Europe,” Opisso continued. “We felt like we wanted to get ahead of that trend.”

Each Bridge Lane boxed wine costs $40 and contains the equivalent of four bottles of wine. Kegs cost $260 and contain the equivalent of 26 bottles. Boxes retain their freshness up to one month after being opened and kegs have a shelf life of a few days, tasting room associate Julia King said.

Lieb will host a release party for its new boxed wine and keg varieties sometime in May, Opisso said. Keep checking northforker.com for additional details.

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