Word: australia
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...long ago, the ditsy wits of the Monty Python shows could get a quick laugh by disparaging some plonk from Australia as "a wine for laying down and leaving there." No longer. The wines from Down Under are moving steadily up in quality, and they are enjoying a new popularity in the U.S. Riding a trend for Aussie chic that has made household names of Qantas, Pat Cash and "Crocodile" Dundee, U.S. sales of Australian wines topped 1 million gallons last year, more than triple the volume of 1986. "People who have experimented with Australian wines have been very happy...
There is one striking exception: Penfolds Grange Hermitage Bin 95, which many critics consider Australia's best. A brambly, mouth-filling red that compares favorably with a Hermitage from France's Rhone Valley, the Grange Hermitage sells for $40 or more retail (when you can find it). It has already become something of a cult favorite -- witness its presence on the wine lists of such prestigious restaurants as New York City's "21" and Antoine's in New Orleans...
...drug dealers. They have to be manipulated to New York City in order to menace Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski), Mick's perpetually adoring girlfriend. Then an unlikely band of citizens has to be recruited to help him rescue her. Then the criminals must be lured all the way to Australia so that Mick can prove what we already know: that their street smarts are no match for his outback smarts. Then, then, then. It's a little like listening to a child improvise a tall tale; the innocent charm quickly wears thin...
...sunny sidewalks and streets of Port Vila (pop. 18,000), capital of the island republic of Vanuatu, about 1,000 miles east of Australia, became a South Pacific battleground last week. Chanting "Change the law or there will be a revolution!" about 2,000 marchers, some armed with iron bars and clubs, clashed with 140 police and soldiers. One man was killed and nine were injured. Looters then turned the city into a shambles of debris and shattered glass. A beleaguered Prime Minister Walter Lini requested help from the Australian government, which quickly airlifted in riot-control gear...
...driven by what an industry expert describes as a "Germanic passion for technical perfection." Lufthansa, which already has a fleet averaging just 6.2 years old, last March ordered 20 new Boeing 737s and took options on 20 more at a potential cost of $1 billion. Also renowned: Australia's Qantas, which has not had a single fatal accident in more than 30 years, and Singapore Airlines, whose planes average less than four years old. JAL, in the aftermath of its 747 wreck, began assigning teams of mechanics to specific planes and, to instill pride, even inscribing their names...