Wine with Leslie: A focus on Austria, a wine producing country that is often overlooked
A focus on Austria this week, a wine producing country that is often overlooked. Austria has transformed itself from a bulk wine producer in the 1970s and 80s into a consistently high-quality wine region with some of the strictest wine laws.
These days it is extremely rare to encounter a sub-standard Austrian wine, partly because you will need to pay at least €14, but also because the drive for quality was seen as a national project to recreate the country’s wine image after an unfortunate adulteration incident in the 1980s. Nobody got ill or even conceivably could have gotten ill from that scandal (unlike the much worse methanol sandal in Italy the following year where people died), but itbnevertheless destroyed the Austrian wine industry.
These days Austria produces around 70% white wine withbRiesling and Grüner Veltliner being the easiest to find, but you will also encounter an increasing number of red wines and they can be fascinating. Almost allbAustrian wines are made in the far east of the country around Vienna and to the south towards the border with Slovenia.
The Czech Republic is just to the north and Slovakia andbHungary are to the east, and the climate is strictly Continental. The wines are made on abvariety of soils and in different conditions but most common in Ireland are probably those from the slopes above the Danube (Wachau, Kremstal, and Kamptal). The reds are most likely from Burgenland and the Pannonian Plain to the south of Vienna near the Neusiedler See, but enterprising wine makers are finding they can make good wine throughout eastern Austria, especially with increasingly warmer summers. The authorities have begun
improving the labelling in recent years with a whole new system of DAC’s -
Districtus
Austriae
Controllatus
(the equivalent of AOC/DOC etc.).
To
qualify for a DAC specific grape varieties must be grown with for example Riesling and
Grüner
Veltliner
specific to
Kremstal
and
Kamptal
but just
Grüner
allwed
in the
Weinviertel
, and just
Blaufränkisch
allowed in Eisenberg and
Mittelburgenland
but
Rasalia
allows for other red varieties.
Besides the wines recommended, do consider exploring Austrian dessert wines which are often sublime, and
besides the producers belowI also recommend the organic Diwald range imported by Mary Pawle, Dom. Wachau, Sepp Moser, Knoll, Pfaffl (Bubble Brothers), Kracher and too many others to mention. If ordering online then siyps.com has a large range worth exploring.
Contact Leslie Williams at wine@examiner.ie
Wine Under €15
Stift Klosterneuburg Grüner Veltliner, Austria - €14.39
Stockist: Curious Wines www.curiouswines.ie Reduced from €18 this is my bargain recommendation this week. Founded in 1114 this is Austria’s oldest wine estate based just to the north of Vienna and is still owned by the Augustinian order - the estate and business is fully sustainable and carbon neutral. This is classic Grüner at a great price with lots of green apple, citrus and pepper notes, bristling, clean and fresh.
Zull Lust & Laune Grüner Veltliner, Weinviertel, Austria - €14.95
Stockist: O’Briens www.wine.ie Zull is family run with 18ha of vineyards in the Weinviertel the largest of Austria’s wine regions that stretches from the Danube in the South to the Czech border north of Vienna. This is lighter and fresher and a more introductory Grüner than the Zull flagship version (€17.50) - crisp and fresh with just a touch of pepper but and lots of apple and citrus fruits.
Umbrele Pinot Grigio Rosé, Recas, Romania - €9.99
Stockists: O’Donovans, Matsons, 1601 Kinsale, World Wide Wines, Next Door nationwide, Vintry Ragthgar, Baggot Street Wines This doesn’t fit my theme but there is always room for a Rosé at this time of year. Given the oceans of white Pinot Grigio it is easy to forget it is a pink/gris colour and produces dusky pink juice and a darker colour with skin contact. This has classic strawberry fruit aromas, crisp and fresh with balancing fruit and acidity.
Winer Over €15
Wellanschitz Blaufränkisch 2016, Burgenland, Austria - €17.75
Stockist: Wines Direct Mullingar and Dublin www.winesdirect.ie Wellanschitz are family owned and based in the foothills of the Sopron/Ödenburg mountains near the Hungarian border. This region is considered the home of Blaufränkisch although of course Wellanschitz also have an excellent Zweigelt. Dark cherry and blackberry fruit aromas with hints of spice, creamy bright fruits on the palate but with noticeable allspice notes and good grip and acidity.
Heidi Schröck `Junge Löwen`, Blaufränkisch-St. Laurent, Burgenland - €20.99
Stockists: Blackrock Cellar, The Corkscrew, Ely Wine Store Maynooth - Delivery nationwide via www.wineonline.ie Family run 10ha estate, this is from a vineyard near the famed wine town of Rust on the slopes of a hill overlooking the Neusiedlersee lake. Bright and juicy black cherry and tobacco aromas, supple and soft on the palate with a pleasing open throated vibrancy. Creamy notes linger on the finish with a zing of tautness on the finish.
Turk Grüner Veltliner 2018, Kremstal, Austria - €33.00
Stockist: Whelehan Wines www.whelehanwines.ie From a SouthWestern slope overlooking the Danube on a sedimentary loess (clay and rock) soil. Apple and citrus aromas with a background white pepper note, textured and almost creamy on the palate but with a throughline of peppery-salty tension and fine acidity and balance. This costs a little more that many other Grüner Veltliners on the market but it is also a lot more textured and complex.
