Help Needed - Austrian Wine

My wife and one of my sons are going to Austria next week for a hockey tournament. Can you give me some names of some good quality Austrian dessert/sweet wines.

Thanks!

Tom T.
Boston, MA.

[Robin Garr]

Can you give me some names of some good quality Austrian dessert/sweet wines.

Tom, I'm not much of a sticky-phile, but I was quite impressed with this Ausbruch (which I understand to be an Austrian dessert-wine category somewhere in the BA/TBA range).

Weinhaus Kaisergarten 1999 Neusiedlersee (Austria) Ausbruch - Bright-gold in color, with remarkable intense aromas that weave a scent-tapestry of butterscotch, first, as full and sweet as butterscotch Life Savers, quickly underpinned by an elusive, torrefied aroma that I suddenly recognize as black coffee, all giving way to very juicy golden raisins that carry over on the palate in a toothache-sweet, intense flavor, viscous and syrupy, but with a firm, "grippy" acidic structure to keep it from cloying. No obvious botrytis or volatile acidity, just clean, intense golden raisins and torrefied subtleties, perhaps a distant cousin to Tokaji which, after all, is made not far across the Austro-Hungarian border from Neuseidlersee. Amazing wine.

Can you give me some names of some good quality Austrian dessert/sweet wines.

Just about any TBA by Alois Kracher.

If you try the Kracher wines, which you should, there are 2 lines. The "Nouvelle Vague"are aged in new wood barriques and the "Zwischen Den Seen" use the same grapes but are aged in stainless steel. The residual sugar goes up with the number on the wine, #12 being described as similar to the concentration of Tokay Essencia.

Thanks all!!

Tom T.

Good reccos from others. Opitz One isn't bad either. I've also recently had Schloss Gobelsburg's Grüner Veltliner Eiswein which was smashing stuff.

If you try the Kracher wines, which you should, there are 2 lines. The "Nouvelle Vague"are aged in new wood barriques and the "Zwischen Den Seen" use the same grapes but are aged in stainless steel. The residual sugar goes up with the number on the wine, #12 being described as similar to the concentration of Tokay Essencia.

Ah, thank you! I've found every Kracher I've tried to be cloyingly sweet but perhaps I can look for a low numbered one now.

quickly underpinned by an elusive, torrefied aroma that I suddenly recognize as black coffee ... just clean, intense golden raisins and torrefied subtleties ... Amazing wine.

Robin, I still can't believe that you used "torrefied" and "amazing wine" in the same TN ... But I'm glad that you did ...

You see, torrefied aromas can be interesting. I get them all the time in Foch and often in Norton and Baco. It's just a question of learning to tune into a certain once-deleted buzzword, that's all ...

[Robin Garr]

"torrefied"

Note that the term was qualified with the adjective phrase "elusive and subtle," Paul. Roasted/toasty/black coffee character can be intriguing in tiny quantities, certainly, as can bretty barnyard and volatile acidity and a lot of other things. But turn them full throttle, and most people say "Eeeuuuwwww."

But turn them full throttle, and most people say "Eeeuuuwwww."

See, the thing is, Robin, that I'm a Manichean black-or-white kinda guy when it comes to wine. When I love a wine, it's often because there's something in it that sticks out rebelliously - even ridiculously. Balance can be beautiful, but it can also be bland as heck!

[Robin Garr]

See, the thing is, Robin, that I'm a Manichean black-or-white kinda guy when it comes to wine. When I love a wine, it's often because there's something in it that sticks out rebelliously - even ridiculously. Balance can be beautiful, but it can also be bland as heck!

"Chacun au son gout," Paul, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow. You certainly have a right to your preferences, as does everyone. Sometimes you seem unusually proud of them, though ...

You certainly have a right to your preferences, as does everyone. Sometimes you seem unusually proud of them, though ...

What might come across as unusual pride is actually to me more of a celebration of individuality. One of the things I most admire about non-conformists is the shared view that tends to see the conventional as mundane. I dunno ... I've never been a member of the sheeple, ever since I can remember

[Robin Garr]

celebration of individuality.

Sometimes, less is more ...