When The Curmudgeon's Happy, We're All Happy

It's good to be a wine drinker these days. So much decent wine in an evolving variety of handy formats, it's enough to make even the ol' Wine Curmudgeon crack a smile.

What brings on this streak of oenological warm and fuzzies? Well, the Wine Curmudgeon recently was down in Sandestin, Fla., participating in a wine judging event. After two days and more than 150 wines, it was time for some R&R. Mrs. Curmudgeon joined her husband on the weekend and brought their two daughters down to the beachside resort where the judging was held. After a rousing game of tennis on Saturday morning, the family mounted their trusty bikes and headed to the resort's quaint village for lunch.

We picked up a few overpriced, poorly prepared submarine sandwiched placed in gargantuan Styrofoam boxes (the Wine Curmudgeon sure misses the delis of his youth up in New York). While our chef flailed at the sliced meats, bread and condiments, we spied a four-pack of Trinity Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon on display. Reasonably priced, we thought, "What the heck! We'll drink what we want and save the unused bottles for another time." (In fact, the Wine Curmudgeon has taken to using the cute 187 ml bottles in his pot roasts and various sauces. He finds them very practical to have around.)

The Family Curmudgeon rolled away carrying our lunches on our handle bars and found a nice spot in a tree house overlooking over the marina. We ate our sandwiches and laughed as we pretended to be pirates. In the end, Mr. and Mrs. Curmudgeon polished off all four bottles (no great feat, as the four amount to one regular-sized bottle) as the girls played on the boardwalk below. We were not overwhelmed by the quality of the wine, but the wine was as good as it should have been, especially coming out of plastic cups. We were, however, tickled by the easy-to-use screwtops and the flexibility of the size. Back in the day, wines like these would have tasted awful, barely tolerated by wine-os.

While the wine world and alcohol regulators sure give the Wine Curmudgeon enough reason to remain curmudgeonly, decent wine in small, screwtop bottles is not one of them.

2003 Trinity Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon, Four-Pack (California)

• One Thumb Up

• $8

• A pleasant, medium-bodied cabernet with bright red and dark berry fruit flavors and a touch of green bell pepper. A little flabby, lacking some tannic umph, but just what the doctor order for any picnic.