Your favorite red wines

[FoieGrasIsEvil]

@silenus

*A lot of people in this country pooh-pooh Australian table wines. This is a pity as many fine Australian wines appeal not only to the Australian palate but also to the cognoscenti of Great Britain.

Old Smokey 1968 has been compared favourably to a Welsh claret, whilst the Australian Wino Society thoroughly recommends a 1970 Coq du Rod Laver, which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: eight bottles of this and you're really finished. At the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club, they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour.

Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is Perth Pink. This is a bottle with a message in, and the message is 'beware'. This is not a wine for drinking, this is a wine for laying down and avoiding.

Another good fighting wine is Melbourne Old-and-Yellow, which is particularly heavy and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat.

Real emetic fans will also go for a Hobart Muddy, and a prize winning Cuivre Reserve Château Bottled Nuit San Wogga Wogga, which has a bouquet like an aborigine's armpit.*

Funny!

Obviously anyone that knows even a shred about wine knows that Australia has become a leading quality (and in some cases, dreck quantity) producer of many wines.

Speaking of which, and to dovetail back into the OP, Australia is a very good place to start trying lower acid red wines, particularly Shiraz, because so many of the primary regions have such warm growing seasons, which really influences the finished product.

[Dag_Otto]

@purplehorseshoe

I’ve also never had a Cote du Rhone I didn’t like.

+1

As for brands, our usual wine around the house is La Vieille Ferme Côtes du Ventoux (an appellation in Côtes du Rhône) Rouge. In my area it is fairly common and about $US 7-10 per bottle

[OpalCat]

Manage a Trois is a nice wine, and it’s usually $9-$13 a bottle or so.

[Dag_Otto]

Just found something that may be of help: Wine Welfare.

[Snickers]

Listen to Glory for she speaks truth. Layer Cake Shiraz is very nice.