Wine to Go; Wines for Summer

Wine by the glass is a novel concept that has nothing to do with that expensive pour you recently had at a restaurant.

Perhaps you’ve noticed the displays in your local town’s pharmacy. Single-serving wines are now available at some of the major drug store chains.

The Oregon based company behind the little glass to go is Copa Di Vino, or wine by the glass. The glass is made of recyclable plastic. It has a plastic cap and a foil seal.

Founder James Martin got the idea while in France, according to the product’s website. Martin was traveling on a high-speed train in when he first saw wine bottled by the glass.

Locally, the pharmacy had the Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Merlot. But the company also offers Riesling, and White Zinfandel. You can buy it by the case for around $36 or individually for about $3.

I tasted the Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio for this column. The Cab was a typical under $10 a bottle Cabernet. The wine was varietally correct with a bit of unpleasant astringency. But it also was not unlike many under $10 Cabs I’ve tasted. The Pinot Grigio was equally okay. I thought it was a bit on the tart side for the normally mild mannered wine .

Would I recommend either strictly based on taste, no way. But for convenience knowing, what you’re going to get, perhaps.

Obviously, the idea is to enjoy a fresh glass of wine without opening an entire bottle. You can do the same thing though with the much-improved boxed wines now available.

But who is the target audience for this product? If the family is headed out on a picnic and you don’t want to mess with cups, glasses, a bottle and opener then it makes some sense. Do we need wine by the glass at the corner drug store? I’ll leave that for consumers to decide.

Great Summer Sippers – Summer time is white wine and Rose time. Here are a few I’ve sampled lately that are widely available and very affordable: Santa Barbara 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, $12, light wine with good acid; Clayhouse Adobe White, $14, a rich smooth blend ; Arona Sauvignon Blanc, delightful with crisp acidity; Gerard Bertrand 2010 Gris Rose’, $14, wonderfully dry Rose’, Bieler Pere et Fils Rose’, $11-$14, Southern France blend that tastes like expensive wine.

Off to Bordeaux – Check out my wine blog (www.redforme.blogspot.com) between June 27-30 for updates from France during the Bordeaux Fete le Vin or Bordeaux Wine Festival. I’ll be there as a guest of Bordeaux producers for the every other year celebration of the world’s most famous wine region’s wines. I usually blog each night during such trips and try to post lots of photos. This festival draws more than a half million visitors. Our press group will be visiting a couple of Chateau in the Saint Emilion region near Bordeaux and learning about the burgeoning wine tourism.

Howard W. Hewitt, Crawfordsville, IN., writes about wine every other week for 18 Midwestern newspapers.