The australian flavour in europe

[doddles]

OOps! I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that Bordeaux wines are bad because they need aging! I agree completely with what Mr Dutton said. Having had the chance to taste a few 10 year old Haute Medocs and St Emillons, I can say with certainty that they can be wonderful wines. And as he also said, quite unlike anything Australian (or elsewhere for that matter). I love the stuff. I was just trying to point out that it's difficult to reliably find cheap Bordeaux wine that is ready to drink now. By all means buy some now to drink later, or if you have the money, buy some old stuff to drink now. But if the original poster was looking for something good to drink now that won't cost a lot, you could do worse than to try some Spanish red or some Rhone red.

And then there's always the dozens of other French regions to sample as well :-)