>>A case of Cote Du Rhone would be great!

Suggestion: try Antipodean. For bold red, get hold of a mid-priced Australian Shiraz (Syrah.) Compensation for living in a desert with awful venomous creatures is a climate that allows the biggest kick-in-the-teeth sunshine reds around. For something more interesting, see if you can get hold of a New Zealand Burgundy (Pinot Noir.) Happy to comment on brand separately if you can find either in your local liquor store or supermarket. NZ's moderate climate simply cannot compete with those huge Australian sunshine reds but the Pinot Noirs compare *extremely* favorably to the Californians you're probably used to and to the expensive French examples as well. Often I meet Yankees who say they don't like Pinot Noir, but that's because a lot of it is rubbish. Try a kiwi!