We tried these wines over several nights at table w/ Wolfgang & Bettina:
1. Maria Kerschbaum Zweigelt OQ: trocken Burgenland (13.0%; www.Weingut-Kerschbaum.At; AlteReben) Lackenbach-Horitschon/Austria 2013: Very dark color; very strong plummy/licorice/Mourvedre-like/kirsch light earthy/loamy very attractive nose; fairly tart/tangy rather earthy/dusty/root cellar classic Zweigelt/licorice/chocolate/plummy flavor w/ modest hard/rough tannins; very long plummy/licorice/Zweigelt/kirsch rather earthy/loamy finish w/ some rough/coarse tannins; a very good Zweigelt that needs a few yrs of age; much like a rustic French Mourvedre.
_______________
2. Conte d'Attimis-Maniago DOC: FriuliColliOrientali Schioppettino (13%; L5 075) Buttrio 2012: Med.dark color; classic Schio/cracked black pepper/black cherry/boysenberry/very spicy beautiful aromatic nose; quite tart/tangy very strong cracked black pepper/white pepper some black cherry/black cherry cola structured lovely flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long rather hard/structured/tart strong cracked black pepper/black cherry cola slight earthy/dusty finish w/ some hard tannins; needs several yrs; a lovely classic example of Schio.
_______________
3. J.u.A. Helm StrohWein Stammersdorf/Oster PradikatWein Niederosterresch (www.weingut-helm.at) 2000: Med.dark gold color; strong very ripe caramel/butterscotch/creme brulee very grapey complex nose; soft very sweet intense grapey/passito/creme brulee/caramel flavor; very long/lingering very sweet bit soft intense grapey/passito some creme caramel/butterscotch finish w/ no oxidation at all; a bit on the simple side but a lovely Stroh Wein.
_______________
4. Weingut Hahn CabSauv Eiswein Pradikats (10.5%; Suss; LP 1886/13; www.WeingutHahn.At/english) Niederosterresch 2010: Med.gold color; intense grapey/cranberry very spicy/cinammon/nutmeg beautiful aromatic nose; very tart very spicy/cinammon/nutmeg very grapey/cranberry very exotic flavor w/ no tannins; very long/lingering intense grapey/cranberry complex/spicy/cinammon/nutmeg finish; a very unusual exotic dessert wine that remins some of the Ontario CabFranc Eiswines but more intense than those. Euros 19.50
_______________
5. Kurt Dolinek Riesling ZwiefangerVlly/Niederosterresch Qualitatswein (trocken; RZ: 0.53 gm/100ml; TA: 0.68 gm/100ml; 12%) Hohenruppersdorf 2014: Light gold color; lovely fragrant/perfumed/R/floral some mineral/stony bit Mosel valve oil light pineapple lovely nose; rather tart near-dry spicy/mineral/stony light floral/mango/pineapple bit Mosel valve oil/petrol lovely flavor; very long bit petrol/valve oil strong floral/R/pineapple/mango finish; a beautiful example of Austrian R and as good as I had on this trip.
_______________
6. Hermann&Gerti Wind Eiswind vom Romertal MuscatOttonel (28/12/2006; Trockenbeerenauslese; 10.5%; www.weingut-wind.at) Burgenland 2006: Med. gold color; some earthy/floral/muscatty strong botrytis/peachy/apricotty very grapey/passito/creme brulee slight sauerkraut/tuna fish beautiful/complex nose; very tart quite sweet rather apricotty/peachy/botrytis some muscatty/floral very grapey/passito slight earthy flavor; very long apricotty/peachy/botrytis grapey/passito quite sweet rather tart light floral/muscatty finish; a very attractive/interesting TBA w/ loads of botrytis.
_______________
7. Kurt Dolinek Riesling (13%; RS: 0.45 gm/100ml; TA: 0.61 gm/100ml) 2011: Light gold color; lovely some Mosel valve oil/petrol/mineral/steely rather R/floral/mango complex very aromatic nose; quite tart somewhat rich/lush rather mineral/slatey some petrol/Mosel valve oil quite Mosel-like beautiful flavor; very long/lingering very strong pungent/petrol/Mosel valve oil some R/floral/pineapple/mango slight steely/mineral/slatey complex finish; much like the '14 but more petrol character showing; a beautiful Mosel-like R.
_________________________________
A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. We stayed for 3 nights in Obersulz, some 50 km NE of Vienna, w/ Wolfgang & Bettina Haber. Susan has known Wolfgang for over 30 yrs after meeting him on a bus up in Anchorage, AK.
They have remained friends over the yrs and shared many meals. He visited us in SantaFe for over a week last Spring as Susan squired him around the area & up into CO. We shared a bunch of meals together. There was wine involved.
So, when planning this trip, we resolved we should see Wolfgang & Bettina. We spent 2 days touring the Stiermark area of Austria, Bettina's home turf. Wolfgang did a wonderful job of touring us in the area and sharing at table several meals. There was wine involved. Bettina is an amazing cook and the classic Austrian food was as good as it gets.
_______________
2. Hahn/Kurt: One late afternoon, Wolfgang took Susan & me up to the nearby Weingut Hahn. It was founded in 1683 and taken over by Paul Hahn in 1995. It was originally named Weingut Gialla Rosso (Hahn is German for "rooster"). However....Gallo ("rooster" in Italian), ever vigilant against people trying to capitalize on their famed reputation, threatened legal action because this tiny wnry would reap confusion in the world-wide marketplace for Gallo wines. Whatta bunch of hypocrites...Gallo has no scruples against using the name Brindisi (name of an Italian town) on one of their wines..thereby sullying the good name of those wines. So Paul simply changed the name from Gialla Rosso to Hahn. No telling what the Hahn Wnry in Monterey will do when they find out about this Weingut Hahn in Austria.
Kurt is a grower of Riesling for WeingutHahn and works part time in the tasting room there at Hahn. He gave us a brief tour of the wnry and then tasted us thru a bunch of the Hahn wines. They were all sound/well-made/interesting wines. I was particularly taken by the CabSauv Eiswein described above. Kurt makes a tiny amount of his own Riesling there at Hahn. The 2011 was one he brought to dinner that night at Wolfgang & Bettina's from his cellar.
_______________
3. Helm: The Johann & Inge Helm Weingut is a Heuriger on the NE outskirts of Vienna. Not familar w/ the wines at all but a pretty standard tableau of Austrian varietals. I should like to try more of them based on this Stroh Wein.
Tom