It is one of South Australia's little known inventions, yet most of us would have used it at one time or another.

Angove's employee Bill Marshall pours a glass of wine from an early version of the cask. Read more. ( Supplied: Angoves Family Wines )

This year the bag-in-box, often known as the goon bag, goon sack or boxed wine, turns 50.

Riverland winemaker Tom Angove had been searching for an alternative to the half-gallon flagon; where some suggest the word 'goon', a contraction of flagon, came from.

Managing director of Angove Family Winemakers John Angove was 18 when his father came up with the idea, which was patented in April 1965.

"He kept on talking about the old goat skins and the flexible package that they used to have when Adam was a boy," he said.

"It evolved from that ... [he thought] 'well why don't we put it in a plastic bag? And if we could support the bag somehow, you know it might work'.

"So he put the plastic bag inside a cardboard box and it just grew from that.

"It was a pretty amazing idea and I remember as a youngster thinking 'god Dad that's crazy, that'll never work, who's going to buy wine in a plastic bag?'"

As it turned out, many people did and still do.

Mr Angove said although the bag-in-box has changed forms over the years, the concept has remained the same.

"The fundamental concept of the airless flow, in other words when you take out of that flexible package there's no air goes into it to replace the space that the wine was taking up, that fundamental concept is what's made it such a success and that's not changed at all," he said.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 52 seconds 4 m 52 s Tom Angove from Angove Family Winemakers and Scott Bell from Accolade Wines talk about 50 years of goon bags ( Caroline Winter ) Download 2.2 MB

"I suspect in those early days Dad wouldn't have dreamt it would have become what it's become but it's certainly part of every wine market in the world.

"From our perspective we're not in that bag in box market at all, we've sort of vacated that several years ago now with the view that our focus is premium wine from premium regions around Australia."

Boxed wine has been a hit the world over, but often has the perception of being 'low brow' and a cheap way to get drunk.

However some winemakers are working hard to change that.

Scott Bell is general manager of cask wines for Accolade Wines, parent company to a range of wine brands in Australia and New Zealand.

"You know a little known fact still to this day is that one in every three glasses of wine drunk in Australia comes out of a cask, so it's still a strong category," Mr Bell said.

"We've got some of the most loyal consumers in wine altogether.

"It's convenient, there's no glass, it's easier to carry, it stays fresh for longer than a bottle, it's a reduced carbon footprint and of course, value for money versus the bottle option."

Mr Bell said while there are many benefits of boxed wine, as an industry there has not been enough information given to consumers.

"There's been a lot of development in the quality of the bag and the tap, which allow for better qualities of wine, but also as an industry we haven't given the humble cask the respect that it deserves over the years," he said.

'Bulk Carrier' by Norton Flavel. Affectionately dubbed the 'goon bag' by the public, this inflatable sculpture was one of the most popular and most photographed at WA's 2014 Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. ( ABC: Emma Wynne )

"Certainly our research has shown that people are drinking more at home and when they're drinking at home they're drinking better and less.

"So on the back of that research a lot of wineries, including ourselves, are putting better quality wines into a cask, so into the two litres and our recent Magnum 1.5 litre launch, where you can get a vintage varietal wine in a box, from regions of Australia and NZ like Marlborough, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Coonawarra."

Whether you love it, or hate it, use the bladder as a pillow, in a game the so called "goon of fortune", or have bought the rare designer boxed wine handbag; it seems the bag in a box is here to stay.

It is something John Angove said his father would be very proud to know.

"There's a terrific sentiment towards it and to see that it is such an important part of the global wine industry now, from a little idea dad had just dreaming at his desk one day, it's pretty amazing."