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

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

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 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