Meeting 420 -" Austrian Wine from B to Z"
Speaker: Ian Roe
Friday 18thth January 2019: Neville Hall, Waltham St Lawrence
As Colin said, at the beginning of our January meeting, it is always special when a
member of the Branch leads the tasting. On this occasion, Ian Roe stepped forward with an interesting range of Austrian wines.
He deliberately placed the emphasis on red rather than white wines as these are not so readily available in the UK.
Even with the white wines, there is often little choice as they tend to come from the same estate. Interestingly,
according to Hugh Johnson's 2019 Wine Guide, Austrian red wines have "probably the highest average quality in Europe".
Most of the wine regions are to the east of the country, around Vienna.
The apéritif and the third white wine were both
Grüner Veltliner which makes 31% of the total quantity of grapes grown. The second of the two wines from Schloss
Gobelsburg and was a 1.OTW (1st growth from the Association of Traditional Wine Estates) had great character and scored 8.00.
The Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling scored the average 7.00 - 7.5. A St Laurent (related to Pinot Noir) from Burgenland
(land of the castles) scored 6.00 whilst the Blaufränkisch had a wine range of scores, achieving 6.5. The third red,
a Zweigelt, which was a cross between St Laurent and Blaufränkisch, scored more favourably at 7.5/8/0.
It was described as "fruity, but not overly fruity; spicy, but not overly spicy; long, but not overly long."
The last two reds were blends which the Austrians are starting to go in for - either blends of indigenous grapes
or grapes from different years.
A big thank you to Ian for sharing his tremendous knowledge of
Austrian wines and for providing us with the opportunity to taste wines we would never have bought.
Mark provided an Austrian meal of Kalbsgeschetzeltes -
Veal & Mushroom Fricassée - with Apfelstrudel for dessert. (Jules Graham)
Aperitif. Domaine Huber Grüner Veltliner Single Estate 2017 (Traisental DAC) 12.5% [Waitrose] |
£15 |
| 1. Sattlerhof Gamlitz Sauvignon Blanc 2017 (Südsteiermark) 12.5% | £13.50 |
| 2. Stadt Krems Schieferterrassen Riesling Reserve 2015 (Kremstal DAC) 13.5% [WSoc] | £33 |
| 3. Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm 1.ÖTW 2017 (Kamptal DAC) 13.5% [WSoc] | £17 | 4. Umathum St Laurent 2016 (Burgenland [Neusiedlersee]) 12.5% [CFW] | £24 |
| 5. Birgit Braunstein Blaufränkisch (Leithaberg DAC) 2013 13.5% [WSoc] | £13.50 (Special Deal) |
| 6. Rabl Zweigelt Titan Vinum Optimum 2013 (Niederösterreich [Kamptal]) 14% [Waitrose] | £16 |
| 7. Schloss Gobelsburg Cuvée Bertrand 2015 (Niederösterreich) 12.5% [Waitrose] | £16.00 |
| 8. Pittnauer Pannobile 2015 (Burgenland) 12.5% [CFW/ Oddbins] | £12.50 |
| Supper Wine: Hans Igler Blaufränkisch Classic 2015/16 ((Mittel-) Burgenland (DAC)) 13% [WSoc] | £10.50 |