Tis the season for holiday parties! But when so many gatherings are BYOB, what should you bring?

Thanksgiving is a food-centric holiday, but December holiday parties are all about drinks. And there is no better kind of drink to bring than the easily portable, highly sharable, kitschy conversation-starting box of wine.

That’s right. I argue that there are virtually no downsides to bringing boxed wine to a holiday party. First of all, it makes the most sense in a situation where the emphasis is on having fun and keeping the drinks flowing. For the amount of wine you get, it’s the best value.

And the cardboard box is shatterproof, which is an asset at the end of the night when everyone has had a bit too much to drink. Better yet, leftover boxed wine can remain fresh in your fridge for six to eight weeks! That means long after the music has stopped playing, you can choose between chicken braised in wine for dinner or another glass to toast to your brilliance.

Worried about being judged? Even an op-ed in The New York Times has endorsed boxed wine. Boxed wines are better than ever. Italian vino manufacturers have begun to box some of their varietals, and it’s an economically and environmentally conscious choice, too. The total energy required to create a box of wine is one-third of the energy required to produce a glass wine bottle, according to Forbes.

If the environmental argument isn’t enough, consider the science: a 2009 paper in The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry on the effects of methoxypyrazines, natural chemicals in grapes that alter floral and fruit flavors and ruin the taste of wine, found that certain wine box packaging contained up to 45% fewer chemicals than wine bottles.

So even the same wine stored in a box instead of a bottle may actually taste better.

(For more on holiday cocktail party strategy, check out Dan's recent appearance on Weekend Edition, in which he explains a concept called the Tippling Point.)

[Editor's Note: The New York Times article referenced here was written by a guest op-ed writer. We have changed the wording to clarify that point.]

Elite Truong is a snack maker and support manager at Eater.com. In her free time, she sings the praises of boxed wine and searches for dumplings all over New York.

Photo: Flickr CC / Joe Shlabotnik