A Winner

       Tonight I've found myself with a bout of insomnia and a bottle of The Winner's Tank. This brings me to an interesting chapter of the recent history of wine. For countless years France has been considered the end all be all of wine but recently other regions of the world have been gaining notoriety on the world stage. In the past century people discovered and utilized the necessary micoclimates for the picky vine in places like California, South America, South Africa, and in this case Australia . I'm not talking about those colorful bottles covered  in kangaroo's. It took some serious vintners  to concoct this elixir.

The Winner's Creek 2007 Shiraz from Langhorne creek is a smooth and mellow medley of  agreeing flavors. It captures the essence and feel of dark chocolate and black cherries without the sweetness. There is a pungency like evergreens in the nose. Its somehow modestly complex. Its a pleasure to roll around on my tongue. For $18 it's a downright steal.

The emergence of these new regions provides a unique opportunity to find some excellent wines for very reasonable prices. Though there are a few established names in these areas which fetch a hefty sum, there are even more winemakers out there trying to make a name for themselves. Finding gems like these is easy if you try and for under twenty dollars it's a risk worth taking. If only by trial and error, you will find some real winners.