Try this luscious Shiraz from the bottle or (gasp!) the box!

While living in Italy I was shocked when visiting my landlord and landlady to have them serve me wine from a box that looked like a milk carton. The second surprise was how good the wine was. It was much better than most Italian wines available, at that time, in the States.

Over the next years I rethought my presumptions about quality wines and their packaging. Box wines have been available here in the United States for many years. The quality has not always been good. Leave it to our new world friends in Australia to come to our rescue.

BRL Hardy is one of Australia's leading wine companies and one of the ten largest wine companies in the world. While a "new world winery" they have been producing wine for 150 years. In their Hardy's Stamp of Australia brand Hardy's has brought us a friendly wine in either a bottle or a 3 liter "wine cask" (box).

I recently picked up the 3 liter box. For under $20 is gives you the equivalent of four 750ml bottles of wine. Not a bad deal price wise. It makes it less than $5 a bottle and you can serve it one glass at a time. But, is it worth even this low price? Yes!

The Stamp of Australia Shiraz is a deep, black plum red. There is a rich aroma of dark berries and spice.

The textures are bold, dusty dry, and chewy. The flavors are very dark and rich. You can taste the dark berries and plums. You will experience great fresh-fruit and dried-fruit flavors. The are also lucious chocolate flavors and a nice medium finish.

This forward fruit makes it perfect fireplace wine and a worthy match for spicy grilled foods. Pick up a box of this wine for your next poolside party. Your guests will be pleased and you won't have to worry about broken bottles and barefeet.