Luchador

Here's the real story about the origin of Luchador (as told by the winery owner). "My longest term employee (a warehouse manager who has worked for me for ten years, since he was twenty-one), came into my office and said, 'My friends and I usually drink beer whenever we watch the Lakers, but now we're drinking wine. Why don't you make a wine for us?' How do you want it? 'Big.' How much do you want to pay? 'About $15.00 bucks.' So I made it. Even though it doesn’t say it on the label, Luchador is a classic, regional Barossa Shiraz. It's the baby brother of Chris Ringland CR.

For those of you who don't know, a Luchador (think matador, one who fights bulls) is a wrestler in Mexico. I'm not sure what inspired me to put a Luchador on a Barossa Valley Australian Shiraz label, but I did. I love it. The label is designed by a very cool team of designers called Morning Breath, who are well known for their CD design for artists like Stone Roses, Eminem, and Jay-Z. As it says on the label, "This wine will body-slam your tongue." A Mexican friend of mine took a bottle to a family party of about 200 in East Los Angeles and someone commented, 'I’ve never seen a wine with Hispanic appeal before.' I love it when stuff like this happens. Good is good and appeals all over, just like Bitch and the Roogle."