Cracka Wines

Different occasions call for different styles of wine, although discount wine tastes best of all. Most wines are quaffers; just made to sip and enjoy without too much thought. But then there are others that are there to impress, with their style and finesse, on special occasions. Sitting at the beach, a little quaffer will do very nicely indeed. But then as a gift for someone who likes a good drop of red, a bit more care is needed. The question here is how to find a good bottle out of the crowd?

One important factor that is a guide to a wine’s quality is where the grapes have been grown. Just like all plants, grape vines flourish in some environments and fail dismally in others. Would you eat mangoes or pineapples grown in Tasmania? Probably not, because the climate is not right for tropical fruits. Vines are exactly the same with certain varieties working in some regions to produce wines of real character while in others the resulting wines can just be a little bland. It all has to do with climate and soils but the important thing to remember is the classic grape/region combinations, for discount wine. Here is a guide to some combinations worth looking out for.
 
Chardonnay
Beechworth, Margaret River, Adelaide Hills, Geelong, Macedon Ranges, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Hunter Valley, Orange, Tasmania
 
Riesling
Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Frankland River, Canberra, Tasmania
 
Semillon
Hunter Valley, Margaret River, Barossa Valley
 
Sauvignon Blanc
Adelaide Hills, Margaret River
 
Shiraz
Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, Heathcote, Grampians, Pyrenees, Beechworth, Yarra Valley, Hunter Valley, Canberra
 
Cabernet Sauvignon
Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Margaret River, Yarra Valley
 
Pinot Noir
Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Gippsland, Macedon Ranges, Beechworth, Adelaide Hills, Tasmania.