Pages: (1)  2    >>

Finding the perfect wine that can go with all the rich flavors found on the Thanksgiving menu, the turkey, the stuffing, the gravy, the cranberries, and the various side dishes, can be challenging. Nonetheless, I think that a wine that is bright and fruity, and not too tannic nor alcoholic, is always a great choice. So when I recently tasted the 2009 Juris St. Laurent Selection, I thought that this year, it was time to invite Austria to our Thanksgiving table.     Owned by the Stiegelmar family, Juris farms 17 hectares of vineyards in the Neusiedlersee wine region, half way between Vienna and Budapest. This is the warmest part of Austria with climatic conditions well suited to red varieties, which explains the winery's special focus on St Laurent and Pinot Noir wines.     The Stiegelmar family has been cultivating grapes in this area since the 16th century. One of the winery's underground cellars was built in 1756, Mozart's birth year. It was dug 52 meters long, 12 meters below the surface, and maintains a stable temperature of 10°C (50°F).     
The underground cellars.     But over the past 10 years, Axel Stiegelmar and his father Georg have developed a modern winery. The transport of grapes, mash, must, and wine is done predominantly through gravity to avoid damage by careless transport. The storage building is Austria's first passive energy wine storage facility. The building, neither heated nor cooled by fossil or electric energy, has various temperature and humidity zones to provide optimal storage conditions for different wines at different stages of their production.     St. Laurent is a red grape of mysterious origins. It is said to belong to the Pinot family, although its exact ancestry remains unclear. It is an early ripening grape variety, sensitive to frost, sunburn, and botrytis. The name comes from Saint Laurent's name day on August 10, which is when the veraison of the grape occurs.     If the wine had the bright acidity of a Pinot Noir, it was spicy like a Syrah. It showed a very dark color with aromas of black cherries, moka, and gamey notes. On the palate, it was quite smooth and tasty with maybe a hint of sweet chestnut on the finish.     

Fritz Rieder in his beloved Schneiderberg.

This afternoon, our local friends, Andrea and Thomas, picked us up and escorted us to the Weinrieder Estate located in the center of the Weinviertel region west of Poysdorf in Kleinhadersdorf. For Andrea and Thomas, it was not their first trip to meet the Rieder’s and their excitement to see them again was contagious. Naturally, I was so excited since I have been selling their wines for a bit over a year and never visited. However, when the excitement comes from locals, you cannot help but feel like you are really onto something special!

As soon as we arrived, Melanie Rieder gently hurried us into the cozy little tasting room just off to the side of their very green backyard. The yard was modest, but appeared as if it were designed to entertain. Tasting with Friedrich Rieder is an experience in itself. He speaks, in German, about his wines with boisterous honest enthusiasm. Andrea translated for us. She was fast to translate, but he was faster. Ultimately language proved to be no obstacle. Friedrich loves to present his wines and is totally at home buzzing around a table of tasters telling their tale, because he is so animated. Whether you understand him or not, you enjoy listening. At one point before we got to the dessert wines, I requested to go back and re-taste a few wines. He did not recommend it. Why? His reasoning is that if you go back and taste them, it would destroy the progression. Before I could object he disappeared then returned with fully sealed bottles of the wines that I asked to revisit. We will savor his gifts once we are back home in California. This indeed will be a much better way to taste them again.

Here are few tasting highlights from the latest vintage taken straight out of my notebook:

2008 DAC Grüner Veltliner: Intensely aromatic, honey, melon, some petrol notes, great acidity. Slight sprits, raw coconut, great length 12.5% Alcohol By Volume (ABV)

2008 “Schneiderberg” Grüner Veltliner: Incredible nose, vegetal, but in a good way. Petrol, pork, coriander, smoke, ash. Slight bitterness, dense. Roast turkey, musty, challenging but very exciting, very peppery, patchouli oil, ginger… The grapes for this wine were picked the first days of December!

2008 “Kugler” Riesling: Quite clean, nutty, honeycomb, very good, powerful, yeasty. Lees aging? Buttery/creamy. Zesty energetic acidity. The whole table loved it.

The crown jewels of Weinrieder are their 20 hectares of vineyards situated on prime south and southwest facing hillsides of rich loam soil that the family farms themselves. The vineyards are unquestionably, sustainably farmed, there was an abundance of life in all of them. The wild grasses between the rows double as both fertilizer for the vines and home to the good bugs that protect them against the bad bugs. We saw multiple deer and hawks. At one point Friedrich was proudly pointing out his high-tech electric fence designed to protect his baby vineyard from vermin. At that same moment I saw the largest rabbit I have ever seen hop through the very fence! We all laughed hard.
After the vineyards, we visited their cellars. Certainly, his least favorite part of the tour, his attitude somehow reinforced the importance he places in the vineyards. On our way back to the house we stopped at a little ghost village full of Heurigers. These amazing little spaces serve as a cellar/wine bar/picnic and party places all at the same time. From them, producers present their latest releases to the public, along with simple, picnic style food. These Heurigers literally lined the streets. Sadly, many of them are falling out of use. It is just too easy to get around with a car these days. I would die for one block of them in Los Angeles!

Upon arrival to the cellars, we were treated to Weinrieder’s opulent Sekt. A spicy full bodied sparkling wine, exploding with ginger, pepper and clove. It was an excellent reviver before we dove into the delicious array of fresh bread, local meats, pickles, pates, garlic spreads and of course, plenty of great Grüner Veltliner and Riesling to wash it all down. This is exactly the sort of experience you would have at a serious Heuriger. During the relaxing early evening meal, Friedrich made a comment that I will never forget: “I do not like to drink anonymous wine”. It is a simple statement, but demands much of the enthusiast. Most importantly, it inextricably connects the aromas and flavors in the glass with both the people and the places a wine comes from. This to me is both the essence and importance of terroir. Until next time!

--Stetson

Juris Vineyard's Grapevines & Soil

The Juris Winery Tour

A visit to this winery started with a tour of the vineyards. Axel Stiegelmar of Weingut Juris, took us on a whirlwind tour of his vineyards. We had the pleasure of sampling his Pinot Noir and St. Laurent grape varietals. It was great to taste the grapes off the vine and you can really taste the difference between the two varietals before they become wine.

The Juris Vineyard is located on a raised plateau of pebbles and loam. This dry farmed vineyard produces small amounts of flavor packed grapes. Also, they utilize cover crop and no herbicides in any of their vineyards. If weeds become excessive, they plow to eliminate them and then spread straw down the rows and under the vines to prevent water loss from the constant drying winds.

Notice the double stalked vines in the photo above? This is their clever way of increasing plant density in the vineyard while keeping it easy to farm. The double stalked vines are actually two plants right next to each other. This method was first implemented by Axel's father, Georg Steigelmar, who continues to influence Axel.

After tasting the wines of Juris, it is clear that their goal is to produce wines that are regional, varietally correct, vintage specific and widely appealing. Some of Juris' wines can be consumed upon release and some should age. Their wines will reward both the eager and the patient in their own way.

Select Wine Tasting Notes from the Visit to Weingut Juris:

2007 Juris Villa Syrah Barrel Sample, Lake Balaton Region, Hungary: The grapes are grown by Axel's father in Hungary. Axel handles the wine making at Juris in Austria. It is a dark Northern Rhone in style wine with aromas and flavors of luscious black fruit, pepper, fennel and eucalyptus. From the barrel, it had a lean mouth feel with angular structure. I can't wait to taste the finished wine. It's quite distinctive.

2007 Zweigelt Selection: Fresh, fruity, earthy, clean and complex with nice tannin structure. There were flavors and aromas of black cherry, forest floor and dried leaves.

2007 Pinot Noir and St. Laurent Selection: I have tasted St. Laurent and of course Pinot Noir before, but tasting them in Austria was a completely different experience. These wines are built to age.

2006 Pinot Noir Reserve: This wine has been nominated for top red wine in "Salon Guide". This stands out as one of my favorites. It's really stylish, young but profound. The flavors and aromas that stood out were sweet spice (cloves), and oak.

2006 St. Laurent Reserve: This was the top wine for me. It's balanced and exotic. I can't wait to see this available in the US.

Both of the 2006 Reserves were off the charts good and very special wines.

--Stetson

Stetson and Krystin in Vienna, Austria

We're on a journey through the wine regions of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. We're here in Austria right now and we have a lot to say (maybe too much), but not enough time to say it. So, enjoy watching our video describing what we've learned and found so far on our wine adventure.

--Stetson and Kristyn

Axel Stieglmar, Weingut Juris, measuring the ripeness of the grapes (brix) with a refractometer

Axel Stiegelmar of Weingut Juris promptly greeted us at the airport and whisked us away to his vineyards in Gols, near Lake Neusiedlersee in Burgenland Austria. Literally, our first stop was this vineyard. Here he checks the sugar on his St. Laurent with refractometer. Everything is looking pretty good for the 2009 vintage!

After getting a great tour of his expanding vineyard holdings we explored the winery, did a bit of barrel and new release tasting, and then had an amazing lunch at Restaurant Alain Weissgerberg. It was a genuine pleasure to share this afternoon at such a fabulous restaurant with Axel and his wife Herta. They truly love food, wine, and the sharing of both. Axel even opened a bottle of Tricata, his Amarone style Blaufränkisch. It's an unusual approach to an unusual grape but one that surprisingly works. This wine flaunted its incredible range as it opened up. Come the holidays, this would be an absolute show stopper of a wine!

--Stetson and Kristyn

We are about to enjoy a night of burgundy and food before we head off to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Our bags are packed and ready to go. I doubt we will be sleeping tonight, but that it is what the flight is for! We will try our best to blog about our journey daily, but if you don't hear from us...squawk!

A very special thanks to Frank and Zsuzsa of Blue Danube Wine Company who have made this trip possible. Words cannot describe how much we appreciate it.

--Stetson and Kristyn

Invitation to a tasting at the Weinrieder estate.

Weinrieder has done it again! The Wine Enthusiast selected the Weinrieder Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben 2006 as the Editor's Choice of the new Austrian vintage and awarded it 92 points. They also liked his Kugler Riesling 2007 with 91 points and even gave his great value wine, the Weinrieder Grüner Veltliner DAC respectable 86 points. Not bad for a wine that costs less than $15. Visit our online shop now and buy them before they are gone.     Also very noteworthy, the terrific Eisweins (icewines) Weinrieder produces. If you had never tasted this specialty wine before we definitely encourage you to do so now with hisRiesling Eiswein from the Schneiderberg vineyard in Poysdorf just north of the capital Vienna. You are in for a special treat and an explosion of tropical fruit on your palate. On par with the ice wines from top Canadian producers like Inniskillin and Jackson-Triggs but much more refined and with an elegant lightness. Plus, the Weinrieder Eisweins cost a fraction less than their Canadian or German rivals.

The main winery headquarters and tasting room.

The same day that we paid a trip to the Hungarian side of Pfneisl (which is actually the separate company of Pfneiszl), we also took a trip across the Austrian/Hungarian border that no long exists due to the 2007 Schengen enlargement. After a bit more of a trip, we were able to see how wine making was for the Austrian side of things. As we quickly saw near the small town of Deutschkreutz, winegrowing appears to be going very well. The family has been making wine for over a century in this area and to date now harvests from an astounding 70 hectares (175 acres) of vineyard land. It's quite overwhelming to stand in the middle of it. This is of course made all the more impressive by the extremely modern tasting room and headquarters that they constructed, which you can see in the photo above. The structure has won numerous design awards and is often featured in roundups of impressive winery architecture.     Naturally, buildings are great because you need somewhere to age and taste the wine, but what is of course most important is the wine itself. Pfneisl offers a lovely range of wines with potent reds that are typical of the Burgenland area, punctuating their repertoire. Overall the wines are telling of a winery that has been in business for a long time. There is common consistency to everything that they do. Whether you're tasting a Shiraz, Merlot, or a Cabernet Sauvignon, you know that it's from Pfneisl. It's an admirable quality that speaks well of the wines, although I often enjoy my wines a bit more wild, which you see a great deal more in the ones from Pfneiszl in Hungary.     We had a brief tasting, but it included their 2005 Shiraz, which is aged in American oak. It's a very smooth, enjoyable wine. The flavors are consistent to the point of being a bit bland, but they stop just short, giving some strong, underlying elements. The oak is rather strong, but it does give way to subtle blackberry aromas in the nose.     The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon puts forth a lot of dark oak aromas on the nose. Surprisingly, these give way to a lovely, smooth body that makes for great sipping and could easily be paired any number of foods, especially spicy dishes like Thai or Indian curries. As the wine opens up, it develops a sweet pine quality to the nose that is very pleasing. Naturally, the finish is smooth.     We then moved on to the upper echelon wines which started with the 2005 Pentagon. This wine is a blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinot, and Blaufränkisch/Kékfrankos. It wasn't any surprise that after tasting the single varietal Cab Sauv, that this was once again very, very smooth. It opens up with a touch of bite coming from the oak, but mellows out with air with the body being easygoing the whole time. There is a bit of sweet berry to the finish. Oddly enough, to me it seems like the Pinot comes through quite a bit, despite it being in the least amount of the blend.     We finished with the Hexenberg. This is a 55/45 blend of Merlot and Shiraz. The aging regimen includes three years in French barrique which the first half of is in new barrels before being switch the those that are aged. We were told it could even stand for another decade of aging if one wished. Again, the wine was smooth and silky. It had a complex makeup to it that only slightly betrayed like boysenberry in the body, but to a slightly higher degree some young citrus as well, which was a surprised. The finish is dead-on clean and perfect. It's an excellent wine, but when trying to decide which I would choose between this and the Pentagon, I would have a tough choice as they are both excellent.     Everything concluded a great series of wines from an established winery. While often hard to find outside of Europe if in the area and you see a bottle, give it a try, you will absolutely not regret it a glass, or two, or... maybe even a whole bottle of any of these wines.

Café Venezia's main dining area

Last Thursday on November 8th, Blue Danube Wines supplied the wines for an Austrian Wine dinner at Café Venezia in Berkeley. It was a great opportunity for those not yet familiar with Austrian cuisine, to taste it while sipping some of the finest wines of that country.     Café Venezia is a nice, spacious restaurant on University Avenue that sits pleasantly far enough away from the student buzz of UC Berkeley, yet close enough to the town center to be very much a part of Berkeley. With high windows that look out to the street, you're beckoned in to a warm interior that is held up by a wonderfully friendly wait staff. The interior picks up on the restaurant's namesake with kitsch murals and a clothesline of laundry, while at the same time allows one to sit down, have a good meal, and feel pleasantly at home.     The four course dinner started with a tasty charcuterie plate of typical Austrian meats and cheese, paired with a new release of Grüner Veltliner from Schmelz winery. Grüner Veltliner, which accounts for over a third of Austria's vineyards, is one of the country's most famous varietals, having beaten world-class Chardonnays from the likes of Mondavi and Louis Latour in blind tastings organized by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. The fresh, crisp, Grüner Veltliner Steinwand Federspiel from 2006 that we had matched perfectly the strong flavors of the smoked pork meat and Austrian paté.     The second course was definitely our favorite, with an expertly cooked Viennese schnitzel and a side of surprisingly delicious giblet gravy. The crispiness of the breading and the tenderness of the meat were just perfect. The wine paired with it was another one of our new releases from Schmelz winery, a Riesling Wachauer Weingebirge Federspiel from 2006, which was a bit drier than the Grüner Veltliner with a long finish that had a hint of white pepper. Riesling is the second most produced grape varietal in Austria. So with these two wines, we covered the most typical and well-known whites of the country.     Then came the reds with the slow-roasted goose cooked in the traditional St. Martin's Day style, stuffed with apple, orange, pear and marjoram. The wines we chose for such a full-flavoured dish were the the Zweigelt Siglos 2005 from the Heinrich winery, and the Cardinal Cuvée 1999 from Giefing. We started with the Zweigelt, the most widely-grown red grape variety in Austria, made from the famous Siglos vineyard of the Heinrich family. This light wine, somewhat similar to a Gamay, combines the bite and fruity character of the Blaufränkisch grape with the body of the St. Laurent, and so it is a very good pairing with poultry.     The Cardinal Cuvée, a blend of 60% Blaufränkisch, 25% Zweigelt and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, had a much deeper, full body. This wine has a harmonious taste of sweet wood and spicy, chocolate aromas with a hint of dry plums. Made of grapes from the oldest vines on the Giefing estate (40-50 years old), and aged for 26 months, the Cardinal Cuvée is not surprisingly the flagship wine of the winery.     But after all these delights we still one last thing in the menu: dessert. And it was, of course, a good old apple strudel paired with a late harvest sweet wine, the Welschriesling from 2001 by Rosenhof. This fragrant, lively wine, with its fruity finish and a hint of almonds and autumn leaves, was the perfect ending for a perfect dinner.     All in all it was a surprisingly well-balanced and harmonious meal considering. And although Café Venezia is obviously an Italian restaurant, it has a very creative chef that every so often likes to immerse herself in the cuisines of other countries. Thus, after extensive research, chef Cindy Deetz manage to recreate the flavors of a few classics of Austrian cuisine as if she was used to cooking them like her famous Sicilian spaghetti with meatballs that are a house favorite.

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...

Pages: (1)  2    >>