WRITTEN BY PAUL GREGUTT PHOTOGRAPHED BY BARRY WONG

	Among the newfangled types of packaging for wine are, from far left: Almaden's sangria in a tetrapak (like juice); two bottles of Italian bubbly with crown caps (like beer bottles); a retro California "jug" wine, but made with good grapes; a 3-liter cask from California's Black Box line, and twin cans of Australian wine with pull tabs. At center stage is, appropriately, the new "Sofia" sparkling wine in a pink can, made by Francis Ford Coppola's winery and named for his Oscar-winning daughter. The plates are by PG.

Seems to me that my "Oxford Companion To Wine" ought to put it right in the neighborhood of entries such as "Parker, Robert M., Jr." and "partial root-zone drying," but no dice. I've checked out various other wine-writer gurus — Jancis Robinson, Oz Clarke, Kevin Zraly, Karen MacNeil — but apparently there isn't a party person in the whole group.

So I asked myself, "What's a party wine?" Back came the answer: It's a wine that looks, feels and tastes like a party. A wine that lubricates the social intercourse, that easily accommodates the food, location and party ambience, and that makes no special demands on purse or persons.

A wine that's a pal, not a pain.

Summer parties are usually set outdoors. You're on a deck or a patio, a boat or a camper. You're in the woods, on the beach, in the mountains, on the road. You're battling bugs. The grill is smoking like Mount St. Helens. The air smells like sunscreen, charcoal-lighter fluid, smoke and sweat. The sun is blazing, and the radio is blaring. Who has time for snooty wines?

When you're buying for a party, you want quantity, not quality. The cheese dogs don't really call for the Chateau Mouton. But what you also want is convenience. So you don't have to fuss with corks or worry about breakage. Especially on a hike, you don't want to be schlepping excess weight, risking broken glass or worrying about trash.

The wine industry hears your plaintive cries. Wines are being friendlied up, and packaging is being revolutionized. Here are some of the trendiest new looks in party wines:

Wines in Boxes and Casks

Bag-in-a-box or "cask" wines are clearly products whose time has come. Although 5-liter boxes of nondescript, generic wines have been sold for some time, the arrival of upscale, varietal wines in 3-liter packages has dramatically changed the playing field.

Black Box, Hardys Stamp and Banrock Station are three brands that offer excellent 3-liter boxes (equivalent to four bottles). Hardys and Banrock's Australian chardonnays and shiraz ($16/box) are especially good. The Black Box line, from California, sells for around $22 and includes a terrific 2002 Paso Robles cabernet. Another California winery, Delicato, offers well-made, vintage-dated shiraz, merlot and chardonnay in 3-liter "Bota Bags" for $16 — about $4 a bottle.

These boxes are not just fun, they're practical. Much lighter than bottles, they are usually stamped with a "packaged on" date, a guarantee of freshness. They open easily, and there is nothing cheap or cheesy about the functionality of the airtight bag or the dripless spout. Boxes pack well, and once chilled, they hold their temperature for a long while.

Wines with Crown Caps, Screwcaps and Zorks

Screwcaps are quickly shedding their downscale image, as more and more quality wines (and wineries) are embracing them. They're easy to open; no foil-cutters or corkscrews needed. They re-seal quickly, don't leak and can be quite attractive. At a party, keeping the lid on your opened bottles is a good idea, and screwcaps make it easy. You'll keep the fruit flies and other bugs out of the wine, and avoid a lot of spills.

An unusually clever package is the Three Thieves California cabernet, a vintage wine that comes in a 1-liter jug and features three silhouetted gunslingers on the cap and label ($10). Decent juice, too. Some other screwcap wines to look for: VF 2002 "Lasira" Costières de Nimes ($9); Chateau Ste. Michelle/Dr. Loosen "Saint M" Riesling ($12) and anything from Bonny Doon.

Beer-bottle-style "crown caps" have now turned up on some sparkling wines, including an attractive lineup from Mionetto. IL Prosecco, IL Moscato and IL Rosé come in colorful bottles available in both 375 milliliter and 750 milliliter sizes. Unpretentious, easy to open, charmingly fruity and just plain fun, they sell for $7 and $11 respectively.

And then there is Penny's Hill Red Dot Shiraz ($18), the first wine with the patented Zork seal! This is terrific Aussie shiraz, but the party angle is the Zork wine closure. Unwrap the tear tab and the Zork pulls out, with a pleasing, cork-like pop. It is just as easy to push back in and contains not a trace of cork, so no worries about cork taint, mate.

Wines in Cans

Named for the Oscar-winning director, Niebaum-Coppola's "Sofia" Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine comes in a single portion (187 milliliter) Mini — a pink aluminum can that sells for $5 ($20 for a four-pack). Like Pommery's POP ($5 for a 187 milliliter bottle) and Piper-Heidsieck's Baby Piper, the Sofia Mini aims to bring bubbly to the 20-something "Sex in the City" crowd and doesn't mind being sipped through a straw.

Also in cans are three flavors of vintage-dated Aussie Wine: 2003 Sweet White, 2002 Chardonnay and 2002 Cabernet-Shiraz. They come four to a liter box ($12), and open with an aluminum pull tab. Flavors are simple and do carry a hint of metal. Convenience is the selling point.

Wines in Tetra-paks

Straddling the line between wine and fruit juice are products such as Almaden's "Red Sangria." Swaddled in 500 milliliter "tetra paks" ($3.50), it's a fruity, moderately sweet and quite pleasant beverage, with foil seal tabs that are as foolproof as it gets. Almaden also markets Mango and Raspberry sangrias in 5-liter boxes ($10). Take one of these, dress it up with fresh fruit, mix in a bottle of real wine, and you've got yourself a party.