There it was, a picture of a single wine bottle, the full length of the newspaper page: Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz.

Couldn’t keep my eyes off it, and surely no reader of the Cape Times will miss it either. In a long drinking life of being on the watch for wines (and its bargains) I don’t recall seeing a single bottle of wine advertised this prominently in newsprint. Bold and pushy, under the Pick ’n Pay banner, the supermarket’s pay-off line ‘Inspired by you’ adds a clever tickle to the advertisement (suggesting itwill comply to most people’s taste).

There is no pussy-footing around. This is a red semi-sweet wine (made from Paarl grapes under the direction of Bruwer Raats for exporter André Shearer) aimed at ... well, who?

The packaging and name says it all and one must hand it to whoever thought it out. In the supermarket, the display is pretty eye-catching too, the red gingham screwcap (as always, sensible) fitting in nicely with a kind of old-fashioned grocery look. And, naturally, being priced in that old one-penny-off trick at ‘R39,99’, you’ll not think it strange for a housewife to slip it into the shopping trolley next to the tea and biscuits.

Needless to say it sounds awfully snobbish to say some of us won’t be tempted. Sweet and/or semi-sweet red ain’t my glass of wine. (Although many of today’s fruity blockbusters, often of the shiraz inclination, are pretty close to being sweet, despite the label remaining mum.) And any red parading as chocolate or coffee or whatever, except truth, is given a miss.

But there is certainly a buzz on the web about it, mainly, at this stage from Americans who have had the first taste (at $9.99) thanks to the Shearer business.

While it may not be to everyone’s taste (some people even like terrible sparkling shiraz from Down Under), the advertising and promotional strategy can’t be faulted. Wine advertising, to be honest - if it gets into print media at all these days - is dreadfully dull in its all-to-often pompousness. A little fun, humour and chutzpah makes a nice change. I won’t buy Jam Jar, but hope it sells a lot.