Unfiltered, Unfined

First Seminar at the Austrian Wine Summit, First Slide

My wife Yael just joined me in Austria, and all is right with the world. Not that the Austrian Wine Summit I’ve been attending for the past four days didn’t take care of me. Far from it; everything they planned was executed with flair and panache and I had a great time.

Perhaps a recap of Austria is first in order. After I left Weingut Kracher (see last week’s column, Eurowine Tour 2009: The First Day) I visited with a couple of old friends, Gunter Triebaumer in Rust and Gerhard Pittnauer in Gols, who live in towns bordering the Neusiedlersee, a 36 kilometer-long lake in eastern Austria that’s only one-and-a-half meters (five feet) deep, so shallow that an average-height man could walk across it without wetting his chin. The specialties of the region include Alsatian varietals such as Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, Burgundy-derived vines including Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and native Austrian grapes like Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch.

Gunter Triebaumer in Rust, Burgenland

Gunter Triebaumer is a hearty soul with a rich tradition of winemaking in his family (his uncle is one of the most famous vintners in Austria). Now that I’ve tried a lot more of his wines, I can heartily recommend the Triebaumer Blaufränkisch Reserve, full of dark cherries, cinnamon and cloves, black and white pepper and a hint of citrus pith. Velvety, smooth and quite concentrated, this is a serious red wine suitable for almost any sort of dinner protein.

Pittnauer vineyards near Gols, Burgenland

As for Gerhard Pittnauer, very early in our visit I found out we were almost exactly the same age (born in the same year), and that was an immense help in our bonding. Try not to miss his St. Laurent, a grape that many consider to be a parent of Pinot Noir, with white pepper and raspberry filling the nose and bitter chocolate and honey rounding out the well-defined finish. St. Laurent is pretty much a completely unknown grape in the United States, but I like the Pinot Noir-like moderate weight and sweet tannins that are surrounded by tremendous depth of fruit.

After catching up with Gunter and Gerhard I attended the four-day Austrian Wine Summit that started in Vienna and then expanded in waves by bus across most of the country’s wine regions. Rather than write thousands of words about each region and turn this column into a novella, I figured I should recommend the wines I liked most and leave the detailed descriptions for my upcoming book, Unfiltered, Unfined: Europe. I’m not sure if all of these bottles are available in the U.S., but most should be.

Neutral Oak Barrel in the Cellar at Domane Wachau

Grüner Veltliner is a signature Austrian white wine grape, so I recommend you try the balanced Sommer Gruner Veltliner M. Bergweingarten, handily wonderful and fine, with yellow apple, peach and pear notes, followed by creamy butterscotch and slaty minerals.

Want more great Grüner? Then go for the Ewald Gruber Grüner Veltliner Reipersberg, again dominated by slate, but this time followed by elegant lime and lemon notes.

No discussion of Austrian wines would be complete without a mention of Riesling, after Grüner Veltliner the country’s most widely planted white wine grape. Seek out the Hirsch Riesling Heiligenstein from the Kamptal region. Smoky and touched by light fusel oil, this wine speaks of yellow apples and apricots, perfect for a hot summer day.

Also grab the Traisental Riesling Berg, with green grape and tangerine flavors, followed by olives and a light touch of citrus. Built for the long haul, and very reasonable for the level of quality.

Yet another terrific version is the Hirtzberger Riesling Singerriedel, with pineapple, honey and green olive aromas, followed by lanolin and peach on the high-acid finish. Not for the faint of heart but delicious nonetheless.

Boating on the Danube

The final dry Riesling in this column was tasted at a dinner in Niederösterreich (Lower Austria, referring to mountainous height rather than geographical direction) featuring aged wines, and was for me the hit of the evening. The Domaine Wachau Riesling Loibenberg was stunning in its complexity, with fusel oil and apricots balancing on the tongue, followed by pear, yellow apple and bracing acidity. This is built for aging, and will only improve over the next several years.

As for reds, yet another fine wine, this time from Eisenstadt, is the Esterházy Wein Estoras, a blend of Blaufränkisch and Cabernet Sauvignon. This just keeps building in the glass, with purple-red fruits, ripe bananas and hazelnuts melding into a harmonious whole.

Blaufränkisch, of which I’ve already recommended one version in this column, is definitely one of the hallmark varietals of eastern Austria. So seek out the Birgit Braunstein Blaufränkisch Leithaberg Rot, a heady blend of black pepper, dark cherries and deepest, darkest chocolate. This wine seems to roll around on the tongue long after the last sip has been swallowed.

As is also evident in my previous recommendations, a less-familiar wine type that I’ve fallen in love with here is St. Laurent, including the Familie Auer St. Laurent Reserve from Thermenregion. Black pepper and smoke dominate the nose of this wine that is made from one of the parent grapes of Zwiegelt, followed by juicy red raspberry, cherry and apricot. Truly special and not exorbitantly expensive, either.

Another St. Laurent I’ve enjoyed immensely is the R. & A. Pfaffl St. Laurent Altenberg from Niederösterreich, a mouthful of black cherry and baking spice, followed by cinnamon and cola that meld in the mouth. Well done, and a great wine if you can find it.

A Sample of the Varied Soils of Austrian Wine

Dessert wines from Burgenland are justifiably famous around the world for their sweet goodness matched to bracing acidity. Look for the Angerhof Tschida Trockenbeerenauslese, with a whopping 364 grams of residual sugar per liter, broadcasting buttered popcorn and ripe peach notes until the mouth is saturated with buttery, sweet, bracing goodness.

Moving to lower Austria (Niederösterreich), I was absolutely blown away by the Weinrieder Riesling Schneiderberg Eiswein. Honey and key lime build to a very long finish - extraordinarily long, in fact. At the end is a kiss of caramel apple, a present for the serious wine lover.

For my last choice in this column I’m heading back to Burgenland and my friend Gunter Triebaumer, whose wife Regina just had a baby girl. To celebrate I’m recommending the amazingly rich Ausbruch dessert wine, bursting with preserved orange rind, ripe kumquat and pineapple. No need for any other sweets when this beauty is in the house.

Ben at Schoenbrunn Palace the Final Afternoon of the Summit

Obviously I tried a lot of wine at the Austrian Wine Summit, a lot of it okay but some of it really great. And what has Austria taught me? That wine, like life, becomes what you make of it. I certainly had preconceptions about the quality of Austrian wines, and most of them have been turned on their heads. There’s plenty of quality in this civilized corner of the world, so make sure you grab some for yourself.

Next stop – the magical, mysterious world of Tokaj, deep in the remote hills of eastern Hungary. Talk to you soon.

Recommended:

White

Sommer Grüner Veltliner M. Bergweingarten 2008 (Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Austria) $15

Ewald Gruber Grüner Veltliner Reipersberg 2008 (Weinviertel, Austria) $15

Hirsch Riesling Heiligenstein 2007 (Kamptal, Austria) $50

Huber Riesling Berg 2007 (Traisental, Austria) $35

Hirtzberger Riesling Singerriedel 2008 (Wachau, Austria) $63

Domaine Wachau Riesling 1999 (Wachau, Austria) $75

Red

Gunter Triebaumer Blaufränkisch Reserve 2007 (Rust, Austria) $35

Gerhard Pittnauer St. Laurent 2007 (Gols, Austria) $19

Esterházy Wein Estoras 2007 (Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Austria) $55

Birgit Braunstein Blaufränkisch Leithaberg Rot 2006 (Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Austria) $45

Familie Auer St. Laurent Reserve 2006 (Thermenregion, Austria) $31

R. & A. Pfaffl St. Laurent Altenberg 2006 (Niederösterreich, Austria) $29

Dessert

Angerhof Tschida Trockenbeerenauslese 2006 (Neusiedlersee, Austria) $48/375ml

Weinrieder Riesling Schneiderberg Eiswein 2003 (Niederösterreich, Austria) $45/375ml

Gunter Triebaumer Ausbruch 2006 (Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Austria) $40/375ml