After years of drinking French, Bulgarian then the dawn broke and along came Californian wines, then some great Australian and NZ wines, also Chilean wines, the French wines don't get a second glance today and their prices induce fits of involuntary high-pitched giggling.
I do think SA wines are wonderful, especially bought in SA. Glasses there are cheap and generous rather than the mean-spirited thimblefuls begrudgingly served by robbing English publicans.
China makes some very good, almost authentic wine bottles and labels but the toxic plonk inside could pass for rocket fuel. Yes, there is a flourishing market in counterfeit wines in China.
I think $7 tax is breathtakingly unfair. In UK one can buy a reasonable wine for that.
But I agree with plonker, I too have bought good wines from the merchant next to PP Cold Store but only paid $13 per bottle. Gotta haggle though, don't be shy, this stuff does grow on trees.
