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Pick of the week

Hardys Nottage Hill Shiraz 2006 ($5.45 for 187 millilitres). Crowd-pleasingly velvety with a peppery edge, this single-serving bottle with the screw-on cap that doubles as a glass is well worth the money.

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It's dumb to buy wine based on the appearance of the label. We all know this to be true, smart shoppers that we are, even if a few of us occasionally lapse under the spell of a cute marsupial or pencil sketch of an imposing chateau.

But what if someone were to recommend a wine based mainly on the shape of its bottle? Specifically, a single-serve, 250-millilitre plastic container with a screw cap that ingeniously doubles as an acrylic drinking glass.

Forgive me, but I'm about to do just that. Fellow Canadians, the Shuttle has landed.

Introduced two weeks ago in Ontario and about to roll out to Alberta (and eventually other provinces), it's made by Hardys, the popular Australian division of U.S. giant Constellation Brands.

The all-in-one glass and bottle, which started with the smaller 187-millilitre format, was first made for Cirque du Soleil's 2006 season in Australia. Wine sales at those events jumped 160 per cent. Hardys soon expanded to sporting events and other venues where glass is banned.

Not that I'm encouraging lawlessness, but the Shuttle also is a great format for venues where alcohol is banned, notably your local movie theatre. It fits neatly inside most purses, into back pockets (assuming baggy jeans and a fashionably untucked shirt) and under tall baseball caps.

Two wines, a red and a white, are available: Hardys Nottage Hill Shiraz 2006 ($5.45) and Hardys Nottage Hill Chardonnay 2007 ($4.95). Both, equivalent to one-third of a standard bottle, are worth the money. The white is a classically rich, round, fruit-forward and balanced Aussie chardonnay and the shiraz is crowd-pleasingly velvety with a peppery edge. Note to full-size bottle shoppers: the 2007 shiraz just coming onto shelves in 750-millilitre glass is particularly good.

Hardys' marketing team, which must be watching too many episodes of Mad Men, has come up with the slogan "Wine in a glass of its own." Cute.

But not everybody is high on the Shuttle. One local blogger recently posted a rant under the heading "Exciting new ways to make more garbage." I can't account for what Earth-killers do with their empties, but it must be said that the Shuttle is 100-per-cent recyclable.

The company's Toronto-based agent, Churchill Cellars, has been getting encouraging response from Canadian theatre and event operators, which could be the biggest blessing for consumers. My sincerest hope is that this product will finally accelerate the glacial intermission service at this country's scandalously understaffed opera and symphony halls. Five hours of Wagner without access to a glass of wine? Who manages these places, anyway? Former Soviet bread-line guards? No wonder they're always at the government trough.

In fact, I have an alternative slogan for the Hardys people. "The Shuttle: One giant leap for Constellation profits; one literal step forward for people in the refreshment lineup at the opera."

While I'm on the subject of Australian wine, let me segue back to the world of full-size glass bottles with a great value just released in Ontario: Pikes The Assemblage Shiraz Mourvedre Grenache 2006 ($18.95, product No. 0014332). It hails from the Clare Valley, arguably better known for the white variety riesling. This full-bodied red is rich and luscious, showing a velvety texture firmed up on the finish with a seam of acidity and spice as well as a men-at-work note of road tar.

Its excellent white sister wine, Pikes Traditionale Clare Valley Riesling 2007, is available in British Columbia in small quantities ($24.99, No. 291260).

Wise white-Burgundy shoppers have been hoarding wines from 2006, a standout vintage. Though not cheap for a "village" wine even by Burgundy standards, one great example of that quality is Joseph Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet 2006 ($64.95, No. 0051383). Here's a subtle, complex chardonnay with tantalizing nuances of mineral and apple lifted by the perfect level of mouth-watering acidity.

Red wines in Burgundy generally fared better in 2005 than in 2006, but a worthy and not-overpriced example from the latter is Domaine Remoriquet Nuits-St-Georges 2006 ($47.95, No. 069427). Relatively light in body for a pinot noir, it offers up pure cherry flavour and a hint of earth, finishing crisp with a thin layer of fine tannins that should give it the stuffing to improve for three years.

Another excellent offering from France that was launched recently is Domaine Huet Le Haut Lieu Sec Vouvray 2007 ($30.95, No. 0705764). Vouvray, a once-fashionable wine-producing district of the Loire Valley, yields whites that range from dry to sweet. This one, from an excellent producer, is dry, with nuances of apricot and herbs and a juicy finish. Very versatile for food, including cheese and chicken.

And my big value of the week, widely available in the West, is Marcus James Malbec 2007 ($8.99, No. 518431). This full-bodied Argentine red shows good blackberry fruit and spice, with a subtle note of smouldering underbrush and a satisfyingly mouth-filling yet balanced quality.