lsanderson | Food -- running a little late.

Boxed Wine in the Round, With a Spigot
By DANA BOWEN

Even shoppers who distance themselves from the boxed-wine aisle have probably wondered: can they package the good stuff that way?

They can, and Daniel Johnnes - a Renaissance man in the wine world - has. He had some help from his friends and partners, the chef Daniel Boulud and the vintner Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Comtes Lafon in Burgundy.

Next week, 2,400 cardboard canisters with three-liter plastic bags of their first Dtour wine - a 2004 chardonnay from Mâcon-Villages - go on sale at stores in New York, New Jersey and Maryland, selling for around $37 (stores are listed at dtourwine.com). The wine will also be poured at Mr. Boulud's Midtown restaurant, DB Bistro Moderne.

Bringing Home the Bacon-Making
By MICHAEL RUHLMAN

CURING meats was once a matter of survival. It has avoided obsolescence in an age of easy refrigeration simply because it makes food taste so good.

Some of the most delicious cured meats - hams, dry sausages, smoked salmon - are a bit of a challenge for home cooks.

But bacon and corned beef are simple to make. And as agribusiness diminishes the quality of our meat and food producers speed up the curing process, home curing can bring back the flavor and texture of old.

Recipe: Pickling Spice Recipe: Corned Beef Recipe: Savory Bacon

Wine's New Address Is Far From Stodgy
By ERIC ASIMOV

UNCOMMON wine shops are turning up in the most improbable places.

Online, Not in Line, for Holiday Treats
By MARIAN BURROS

I've spent the last 12 months turning over a lot of clouds in search of silver linings to find enough delightful food to rave about this holiday season.

It has been harder than expected because, even after seven years of looking for holiday gifts online, I still encounter some problems in ordering. More than once after logging on, I had to telephone to ask questions that a Web site left unanswered, a step that some busy holiday shoppers won't take.

My main complaint is that food sites sometimes fail to give enough information about their products. Some items require more than unwrapping, and no company should assume that the customer knows how to roast its heritage chicken or that there's more than one way to make its potato pancakes.

But even if you have to make a follow-up call, each product described here is quite special. The cost of shipping, which keeps going up, may give you pause, at least until you factor in the value of your time and the high cost of gasoline.

Unless otherwise noted, Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted; the date in each listing is the order deadline for delivery by Dec. 24, although some places will extend it for customers willing to pay markedly higher delivery charges. Prices do not include shipping charges unless noted.