Umathum St. Laurent 2007 - Frauenkirchen, Neusiedlersee, label
This was one of my favourites last night, with its lovely, bright scent of red fruits. It is a bit Gamay like in the best sense of the term (think Foillard). Good body, crisp acidity, friendly and enormous fun.
Rosi Schuster Ried Zagersdorf St. Laurent 2007 - St. Margarethen, Neusiedlresee-Hügelland, label
Too much oak. I think it is 100% new barrique. Smells of char and sawdust. It does have good acidity and bright, crunchy fruit, but these nice traits are sadly marred by massive oaking.
Sonnenmulde St. Laurent 2007 - Gols, Neusiedlersee, label
A nice, lighter style, aromatically a bit like the Umathum basic one, but lacking its delineation on the palate. This is perhaps a bit soft structurally, but is still a nice, fun little wine.
Josef Pöckl St. Laurent Classique 2007 - Mönchhof, Neusiedlersee, label
Obfuscated by oak. Dark fruit and masculine in style. Some tannic bitterness, but with toffee on the finish. Badly oaked for my taste.
Feiler-Artinger Ried Gertberg Pinot Noir 2007 - Rust, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, label
This smells more of hot chocolate than wine. Lovely, lively acidity, but otherwise it was completely marred by oak.
Stelzer St. Laurent 2008 - Alzey-Heimersheim, Rheinhessen, Deutschland, label
The first German Sankt Laurent I have tried, though apparently it is fairly common. Very fruity and forward, lots of almost candied red fruits. Sweet on the palate (must be quite a bit of RS, though labeled Trocken), soft. Gluggable and very forgettable.
Weninger St. Laurent Reserve 2006 - Horitschon, Mittelburgenland, label
Opinion was divided as to whether this was corked. I thought it was, though not very badly.
Umathum Ried vom Stein St. Laurent 2006 - Frauenkirchen, Neusiedlersee, label
Darker and less vivid aromas than the basic St. Laurent. This is, sadly, also massively oaky. But it does have lovely structure, bright and refreshing fruit and some proper crunch. It is therefore all the more sad that such wonderful material was smothered in nasty oak aromas.
Heinrich St. Laurent 2006 - Gols, Neusiedlersee, label
No oak that I can sense, but it still has darker fruit aromas than most others here. The fruit is very concentrated and has an almost liquorous quality to it. It therefore comes as a surprise that the palate has no signs of over ripe fruit but is rather delightfully crunchily structured. Nice.
Stadlmann St. Laurent 2005 - Traiskirchen, Thermenregion, label
Like the Heinrich, this is a sweeter and darker style despite being unoaked. It has noticeable RS, but it is kept enough in check to be moreish and, I know from having opened several of these at home, very food friendly. But the RS does make it a bit soft when compared to the other unoaked ones. This is a nice, charming wine, but I do prefer my St. Laurent with more bite.
Ernst Triebaumer St. Laurent 2004 - Rust, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, label
This is seriously good stuff! Tight, grumpy and dark toned at the beginning of the tasting. When I poured myself seconds - it was that good
- it had opened up beautifully, but it was the whole time properly structured, highly tannic, crunchy and acidic. Like with many of the wines with not much oak influence, this was full of Pinosity, but whereas the others were full of bright, sweet, sexy Pinosity, this Triebaumer was like Faiveley. And that is a style I also like very, very much.Gerhard und Brigitte Pittnauer St. Laurent Alte Reben 2003 - Gols, Neusiedlersee, label
This managed to show off all attributes I really dislike in wine: massive oak and over-ripe, heat-ridden fruit. The acidity was strangely high and seemed quite out of place and made me wonder if it was clumsily added. Does Glaetzer grow St. Laurent in the Barossa?
Juris St. Laurent Reserve 2002 - Stiegelmar, Gols, Neusiedlersee, label
Spicy, oaky, sexy fruit; good acidity, bright yet sexy Pinosity, some aged, leafy and vegetal characteristics - it seemed like a modern styled Gevrey-Chambertin to me. The oak, though obvious and too much for me, was beginning to integrate. I think those who like Mortet would love this wine.
Rosi Schuster Ried Zagersdorf St. Laurent 2001 - St. Margarethen, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, label
Lots of oak, hasn't integrated at all IMO when compared to the 2007 earlier in this tasting. It has gained some vegetal aromas, but the sweet oak overpowers everything on the scent; the bitter oak overpowers everything on the palate. I didn't like it.
Finally as a blind wine at the end we had Umathum's Red Phases of the Moon 2005 - Frauenkirchen, Neusiedlersee, label
This would be called Amarone if it came from a certain elsewhere and has 5,5g/l RS, but it seems sweeter. Nice red fruit, lots of Pinosity, refreshing despite the dried fruit. Sweet, but well structured and very moreish despite its size and its illusion of sugar. Very nice.
Now with two quite big tastings of St. Laurent under my belt, I must admit that I do see an aromatic kinship with Pinot. And I also see too many producers using far more oak than necessary. But I really like the grape when unspoofulated.