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Prof. Dr.Tim P. reports from his recent trip to the Austrian wine regions:     After your tenth or twentieth or two hundredth winery visit, they all start to look the same—tanks over here, barrels over there, crush pad in the back, tasting room out front. The same is true for wine bars and wine lists: even the most creative combinations end up sounding familiar after a while. The next fancy wine tasting bears an uncanny resemblance to the last fancy wine tasting.
    
    And then there’s the Loisium, a wine experience absolutely in a class by itself. No; make that its own universe. It’s quite a package: whimsical, ultra-modern architecture linked with ancient wine cellars; spacey sound and light environments; a blend of wine history that’s half fact and all fantasy. You might expect this kind of edgy wine trip to pop up in New York or London or maybe Berlin — not in the middle of a vineyard in Langenlois, Kamptal, way out in the Austrian countryside, where it opened in September 2003. more...

Matt Markovich writes in the San Francisco Bay Guardian the wine column Bottle Rockets (yes, that's what they call it!). This week he is reporting on a recent trip to Dubrovnik in Croatia. Clearly, Matt had a great time sampling a number of Plavac Mali red wines. This is the ancestor of the Californian Zinfandel which in turn is the reason Matt entitles his article Original Zin.     But his real love is for a particular Croatian white wine, the Pošip Čara made on Korcula Island where the famous world traveler Marco Polo was born. Matt sings the praises of this wine:     Despite tasting around, we found ourselves ordering Posip Cara (poe-ship charrah) again and again. The experience of taking sips and gulps of chilled Cara in the hot sun was like taking a slurping, juicy bite from a perfect green apple. Always smooth, never too tart, and free of any alcohol bite or bitterness, it made me curse the fact that it's apparently unavailable in the States.     Do we have good news for him and all other lovers of this fine Croatian wine. You can buy it in the US! We do have it in stock and a number of restaurants carry it on their wine list. So get in touch with us and we'll get a few bottles of the Pošip Čara to you, pronto!     And since we are at it, let's also quote the newest edition of the illustrious UK wine magazine Decanter reporting from "the world's best wine competition":     "Thank goodness for the Croatian whites, which sang of their roots and pierced the tastebuds; great wine making and not just a happy origin."     What more is there for us to say than: the same is very true for the Croatian red wines.

This weekend we had guests from Styria, the only Austrian wine region where Gruener Veltliner is not king but where Sauvingnon Blanc, Muskateller, and Morillon (Chardonnay) shine. It also happens to be the birthplace of California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Styria's top wine maker Gerhard Wohlmuth came with his wife Maria and their friends from their home town Kitzeck. They were invited to present the Wohlmuth wines at the big Annual Styrian Ball which took place in Sacramento's Sheraton Hotel. And since wine is their life they were eager to tour the Californian wine country. One day it was Napa Valley, then it was on to Sonoma's Russian River, and finally to the Lodi Wine Center in the Central Valley.We started the day with a visit to the historic Niebaum-Coppola estate. Here are the Wohlmuths and the Schauers in front of a spectacular stained glass window. We all agreed that the flagship Rubicon 2000 was one of the finest wines we sampled that day, together with a rare Mondavi Fume Blanc Reserve, exclusively made from grapes grown in the I-bloc.     But Wohlmuth was as eager to let the Californians taste his wines as he was to taste theirs and to convince everybody that he is a world class wine maker himself. So we organized a small tasting group with wine writer Mike Dunne from the Sacramento Bee and a few Sacramento experts on good food and even better wine, including wine merchant David Berkley and Austrian born chef Ivonne Morgan from Cafe Vienna. The picture of course shows wine connoisseur Darrell Corti giving Gerhard Wohlmuth valuable

Today, we are the recipient of a lucky double whammy: This morning we read in the Sacramento Bee Mike Dunne's favorable notes about the Irsai Olivér made by the Hilltop Neszmély Winery, then the letter carrier delivered the new Newsletter edited by bottle shop owner and tasting bar manager Victor Pugliese of Vin, Vino, Wine, our favorite wine shop in Palo Alto.     Victor has published the VVW News for almost two decades. During that time it has been a monthly guide for us into the wide world of wine. You can imagine how proud we are when he surprised us by selecting one of the Hungarian wines we distribute as his featured White Wine Value of the Month. Here is what he had to say about the Királyleányka:     "The world is a big place. One of the cool things about it is that you'll never master it, you'll never know everything. There are always new discoveries. In that spirit, and in the spirit of bringing you the best, most interesting wines we can find, here is a new discovery for us, a Hungarian white, from an Eastern European grape called Kiralyleanyka.

    It comes from the Neszmély district along the Danube, between Vienna and Budapest. It is in the style of a very good Pinot Grigio, or Gruner Veltliner - bright, zesty fruit, a sprinkling of spices and herbs, a hint of minerality. It is dry and unoaked, with a svelte texture and simple deliciousness that is remarkable for its price.

    The label is a bit kitschy and international, understandable, perhaps, when you think about the hurdles a purely Hungarian language package must have in foreign markets. But the wine in the bottle is what counts, and it is both a bargain and a gem."     We could not have said it any better. Interestingly enough, it is this wine with the funky name which was selected by another wine merchant with a distinguished track record and excellent tasting buds: David Berkley of the fine wines and speciality foods store in Sacramento which carries his name and relies on his reputation. The best advice we can give you, our dear reader, is to follow the advice of experienced wine merchants like David and Victor and let them assist you in making new discoveries. Expanding the dimensions of your wine world and adding new flavors to it can be so much fun!

Thanks to Mike Dunne, restaurant and wine editor of the Sacramento Bee, we have the honor to publish our first Blog-Back. You may ask: What's a Blog-Back? Well, in his wine column, Dunne on Wine - Blogging through a week in the life of a wine writer,     just out today, Mike writes about a tasting of the Irsai Olivér. This is a new Hungarian white wine which he tasted at the famed Corti Brothers store in Sacramento. Blue Danube Wine Company happens to be the distributor of this fine wine, one in a line-up of eight fresh and fruity wines from the Hilltop Neszmély winery in Hungary. And he is so kind to link to our wine blog, the very one you are reading here.     So we take the opportunity to say: "Egéségedre, Mike, i.e. Good Health to you (in Hungarian) and Thank You, too." And Blog-back to his column at the Sacramento Bee so that our readers might check out his informative writings.     We also want to make sure you are aware that you can purchase a bottle of the Irsai Oliver at Corti Brothers in Sacramento and a few other places around the Bay Area. Just look here for more info about the stores. If you are interested to learn more about this wine and other Hungarian liquid beauties like Királyleányka, Muskat Ottonel, Kékfrankos, and such we invite you to our home page: www.BlueDanubeWine.com

After many long hours of trying to find information on Croatian wines I've finally come across Svijet u Čaši the web site of a magazine published in Zagreb. It's in Croatian only which is why I have started to learn a little Croatian. The name means "The World in a Shot" or shall we say "The World in a Glass". I hope I am not making too much a fool of myself with this translation.     Anyhow, the web site has tasting notes, a detailed map of Croatian wine regions, and a buying guide. The latter does not mean much here in the US other than some indications as to who is hot, excuse me, Who is Who of Croatian wine making. If you are interested to taste the real thing and not just look at the virtuality of top Croatian wines you should look at our excellent selection of Graševina, Frankovka, Dingac, Postup, etc, definitely one of the very best in the U.S. of A.     I started a subscription to the paper edition and will keep you abreast as to what I can learn from it. For now, go to the web site and brush up on your Croatian.

Prof. Dr. Tim P. says: One of the hazards of wine writing is watching bottles pile up all over the house waiting to be tasted. (Somebody has to do it.) Since I firmly believe that multiple opinions are always better than one, I periodically pull together an informal panel to work through the backlog.     I recently did a miscellaneous session—some wines I needed to write about, some I might mention somewhere, some I just felt duty-bound to sample because they had shown up at my door. My two tablemates were a serious student of wine somewhere on the trail of a Master of Wine certificate and the co-author of a forthcoming book on pairing desserts and desert wines. All the bottles were wrapped in brown paper bags (showing what a high-class event this was).     The whites were a particularly odd quartet: two Hungarian whites from indigenous grapes (the Woodsman's White and Carpenter's White in the Craftsman series) and two barrel-fermented California Chardonnays. Trying to be helpful, I noted that the four wines were really two and two. "We noticed!" my pals chimed in unison; the contrast between the pale straw of two glasses and the golden oak tones of the others needed no announcement. We tasted through all the wines before talking—though occasional comments did pop up, things like, "Many trees died for this wine."     Both of the Hungarian whites had intriguing, aromatic noses; we came up with peaches and almonds on the Királyleányka (Woodsman's), white peaches and kiwi on the Irsai Olivér (Carpenter's). The Woodsman’s had a surprisingly rounded mouthfeel, the Carpenter’s left a distinctly tart impression; both had personality. The two Chards were well-made, higher in alcohol, noticeably oaked, and sweet with caramel and cotton candy in the mouth. And roughly triple the price of the Hungarians.     On to the reds. We had three Merlots (not my favorite grape, which is why I have friends come over), two Merlot blends, and a complete ringer, a California Tempranillo laced with an idiosyncratic mix of other grapes. The Craftsman Journeyman’s Red (Merlot and Kékfrankos) was fourth in line, after three Californians at different price points, and I couldn’t help but mumble, "Finally, a red wine that’s actually dry." Then on to the next sweetie.     Again, there was nothing wrong with any of these wines—they were all clean, full of cherry fruit, varietally correct, right on the target their makers aimed at. The Journeyman seemed to come from a different universe: lighter in color and body, thoroughly dry, begging for food, opening with fruit and ending with black pepper. It wasn’t "better" is some absolute sense; it just stood out in an all-too-familiar crowd.     The contrast was so clear that when we got to the rogue Tempranillo, slightly drier and less heavily oaked than the rest of the Golden State lineup, we declared it positively “European.” All in all, a pretty educational hour for a random batch of wines and a trio of jaded palates.

Everybody knows that we (Californians) have a governor with an Austrian background (and an Austrian accent !). And everybody knows Aaanold from one movie or the other or has seen him on TV. Probably only few fans have heard that Mr. Schwarzenegger's fav wine maker is Gerhard Wohlmuth, both of course hailing from the same Austrian wine region, Styria. Arnold's longing for home cooking in the US was so strong that he opened his own restaurant in Santa Monica, Schatzi on Main that dishes out traditional Austrian cuisine.     If you're talking about Austrian restaurants in the US you have to mention the expanding food empire of Wolfgang Puck. Many people have eaten in one of his restaurants, or have baked one of the gourmet pizzas sporting his name, or have watched one of his entertaining cooking shows on TV. Of course, Wolfgang is an Austrian hero too, born in the southern province of Carinthia. Thoroughly trained in France, Wolfgang continued in LA to pioneer Californian fusion cuisine with his distinct Austrian background as a major ingredient.     Then there are various wine makers who have this particular ethnic heritage in common, among them one of the founders of the Canadian Inniskillin estate. I doubt that many afficionados who love their famous ice wines are aware that the head wine maker, Karl Kaiser, is a native of Austria. It was KuK who learnt about making Eiswein during his time as a high school student in a Cistercian monastery boarding school in rural Austria.     But who would have imagined that there is an Austrian couple toiling away in the midst of Piemont's vineyards to produce Barbera and Moscato wines. Anneliese and Harry König are also managing a boarding house in historic surroundings, officially called the Azienda Vitivinicola Casa Re. Judging from their web site it must be a very cosy kind of place, so if you are travelling in Italy and you want to meet some real Austrians, go visit them. Then come back and tell us how the Austrians are doing in the heartland of Italian wine making.     We know this much already: if it has anything to do with food and wine, or tourism and hospitality, Austrians tend to overachieve. It does not matter in which corner of the world they happen to be, Austrians are always at home in a kitchen or a cellar and they are always willing to share the goodies!

This year's VinExpo Americas was the second exhibition of its kind in the US produced by the same folks who bring us the big and fancy Vin Expo in Bordeaux, the mother of all wine trade shows. It was held at the beginning of June in Chicago in a move away from New York where the first one was staged. Approximately 6000 professionals visited the show. A recap by the organizers is available online at the link build into the headline above.     Blue Danube Wine Company exhibited in the booth expertly put together and managed by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. More than a dozen Austrian wineries were directly represented, joined by approximately a dozen US importers of Austrian wines. In all, more than 100 different wines were poured, providing visitors a fairly comprehensive insight into the different style of wines produced in the various wine regions in Austria. Judging from the feedback we received it is fair to say that visitors were surprised to discover that Austria has much more to offer than the ubiquitous GruVe which has started to make inroads in American wine shops and wine lists. They were also impressed by the overall high quality of Austrian wines which were well represented in this tasting. Alltogether, VinExpo served to support and expand the ongoing success Austrian wines are currently enjoying in the US market.     Also of note in the magnificent huge hall of the McCormick Center located beautifully at the shores of Lake Michigan was the very first appearance of a good dozen Hungarian wineries on US soil. In a last minute effort they had decided to make the big step across the seas and put their little toe in the deep and complex waters of the American wine market. Among the estates represented were some of our favorites: Attila Gere and Joszef Bock from red wine paradise, Villany, Tibor Gal from the Bikaver town of Eger, and Huba Szeremley from the famed vineyards of Badacsony at Lake Balaton. Sadly, most of these wines are still not available here.     We participated at VinExpo mainly to increase availability of these wines across the US. This really requires establishing a wider distribution network and finding partner companies who can cover one or more of the 50 states of the Union. Construction has started, let us know if you want to distribute any of the wines we import or if you know a distributor who wants to expand his portfolio with wines from Central-Eastern Europe.

Just a short while ago we visited Tokaj, the historic Hungarian wine region, for the very first time. Here we witnessed a window into the very dynamic renaissance of wine making, fueled by highly motivated and very competent wine makers, the financial interests of (often foreign) investors, and the existence of a rather unique terroir and a proprietary style of wine making.     As my time allows I will report on this trip in short installments, today, let me introduce my co-travelers: my wife Zsuzsa Molnar, and our dear new friend, capable trip organizer, and wine collector extraordinaire, Charles Cruden. Zsuzsa is holding a new publication on Tokaj's Terroir in her hand, while Charles is making arrangements for the next appointment on his indispensable cell phone.     Of course the man in the center of it all is Istvan Szepsy, the wine maker of Kiralyudvar who has been providing so much guidance and leadership for the emergence of the contemporary Tokaj. Our Thank You goes to him and all of his colleagues who are extremely hospitable, cheerful, and passionate in their mission to show the world: THIS IS TOKAJ.

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