We tried last night (8/10/16) Some Austrian Wines:
1. Felix GrunerVeltliner NiederOsterreich (12.5%; L15183; www.WineMonger.com; N5059/15) Bergkellerei
Godfried Steinschaden/Engabrunn 2014: Light gold color; bright fragrant lemony/spicy/GV/floral nose; fairly
tart bright/zippy lemony/GV/grapefruity light herbal/peppery flavor; med.long bright/stony/lemony/grapefruity/
GV light peppery finish; not a profound GV and speaks quietly of GV but really good drinking at a very good
price. $12.90 (WM)
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2. Neumayer GrunerVeltliner Spielberg/Traisental Reserve (13%) 2013: Light yellow color; strong floral/spicy/
white pepper/GV very fragrant/perfumed lovely nose; fairly tart rich/lush/balanced very spicy/white pepper/GV/
very floral bit tangy lovely flavor; very long/lingering lush floral/GV/white pepper fairly tart/balanced
finish; an absolutely lovely classic expression of GV. $34.50 (WM)
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3. Josef Hogl GrunerVeltliner Steinterrassen Federspiel (12.5%) Wachau 2013: Light gold color; lighter spicy/
GV/white pepper fairly aromatic very attractive nose; fairly tart rather light spicy/GV lightly tangy
some floral/GV/white pepper attractive flavor; very long spicy/GV/white pepper light mineral finish;
an attractive if a bit mild-mannered/understated GV. $34.00 (WM)
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4. Weingut Holzapfel GrunerVeltliner Kollmitz Smaragd (14%) 2013: Med.gold color; very strong floral/GV/
spicy white pepper ripe quite perfumed beautiful nose; soft rich/ripe/lush mouthfilling very floral/GV/
white pepper very spicy quite aromatic flavor; very long/lingering lush/ripe/rich very perfumed/floral/
GV/very spicy/white pepper finish that goes on & on; a pretty classic Smaragd GV & a beautiful wine.
$37.00 (WM)
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5. Zahel Wiener GemischterSatz DAC (trocken; www.Zahel.At; LK 196/15) Wien 2014: Light yellow color; quite
aromatic floral/spicy/perfumed talc some earthy/stony very attractive nose; very tart/tangy/metallic
stony/steely/mineral rather floral/perfumed talc rather lean/bracing complex flavor; very long chalky/
mineral/tangy/steely some floral/perfumed talc some complex finish; not the rich/lush character of an
IngridGrois but a very nice mineral/stony GS at a very fair price. $19.00 (WM)
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6. Josef Umathum Gelber und Roter Traminer (13.0%; EB) Frauenkirchen/Burgenland 2014: Med.gold color; very
perfumed/aromatic lychee/GWT-like/spicy some stony/mineral beautigul complex nose; lightly tart quite
lychee/GWT-like/almost muscatty very spicy quite oily/rich some mineral/stony striking flavor; very
long/lingering slightly tart very strong GWT-like/lychee some mineral/stony finish; a terrific very
GWT-like w/ a minerality you don't find from Alsace and not the excesses of many Alsace GWT; a beautiful
wine at a great price. $25.90 (WM)
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7. Alphart Rotgipfler Vom Berg Thermenregion (13.5%) 2012: Light yellow color; rather stony/mineral/earthy
somewhat neutral lightly floral/appley lightly fragrant nose; very tart/angular/metallic/tangy light
floral/appley rather neutral flavor; long lightly floral rather stony/earthy/mineral/metallic quite tart
finish; A wine that does have much distinguishing character and a bit on the neutral side; a pleasant
enough white at a fair price. $19.20 (WM)
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8. Ecker Eckhof Roter Veltliner Steinberg (trocken; Q; 13.5%; TerryTheiseSlctn; www.Eckhof.At; LN 1742)
Kirchberg am Wagram 2013: Med.yellow color; rather ripe/overripe rotted apples/pineapple/dried mangos
almost muscatty/GWT-like nose; soft lightly floral very ripe/pineapple/dried mangoes/orangey flavor;
med.long very ripe/overripe pineapple/mango/orangey rather soft/ripe finish; lots of ripe to overripe
character and a bit underwhelming given the price. $33.00 (AV)
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9. Zahel orange T (12.5%; trocken; Orangetraube) Wien 2014: Light yellow color; quite fragrant/perfumed slight
orange peel/appley/floral/peach quite spicy slight GV-like lovely nose; quite tart/tangy rather appley/
floral/spicy/peach/white fruits slight mineral/stony lovely flavor; very long/lingering fairly tart
strong floral/peach/white fruits/appley light stony/mineral finish; reminds some of a Malvasia d'Istriana
from the perfume; a lovely perfumed white at a great price. $22.00 (WM)
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10. Moric BlauFrankisch (OQ; trocken; www.Moric.At; Staathicher Prufnummer L-N 105221/14) von Roland Velich/
Grusshoflein/Burgenland 2013: Dark color; very strong musty/TCA/corked slight plummy/earthy/peppery nose;
ripe earthy/rustic/peppery quite musty/TCA-tainted flavor; pretty badly damaged by the TCA, alas.
$32.00 (WM)
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11. Solminer Blaufrankisch DeLandaVnyd/SantaYnezVlly (#410 of 900 btls; 13.4%) 2014: Med.color; strong toasty/
oak very perfumed/aromatic plummy/blackberry/earthy/black cherry lovely nose; very tart rather earthy/
loamy/rustic strong toasty/oak very black cherry/plummy/blackberry flavor w/ some hard tannins; very long
strong toasty/charred/oak strong plummy/black cherry/blackberry some earthy/loamy bit rustic finish w/
some hard tannins; needs 2-6 yrs of age yet; reminds a lot of a Syrah w/ the earthy/loamy character that
you find in BlauFrankisch; a bit heavy on the oak but speaks of BF. $38.00
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12. Josef Umathum StLaurent Classic (12.5%) Frauenkirchen/Burgenland 2008: Very dark color; very earthy/
dusty/loamy/compost pile rather plummy/black cherry/bit Pinotish somewhat rough/rustic/tobaccoy complex
nose; lightly tart quite earthy/quite loamy/compost pile rustic strong black cherry/plummy bit Pinotish
flavor w/ light tannins; very long rustic/loamy/earthy strong black cherry/blackberry/plummy finish w/
modest rough tannins; lots of earthy/rustic character w/ a bit of Pinotish character but not the high-toned
character you find in Pinot; quite a delicious if rustic wine at a very good price. $22.05 (WM)
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13. Forlorn-Hope Ost-Intrigen St.Laurent RicciCnyd/Carneros (11.06%; 142 cs; 100% stem inclusion) 2014: Dark
color; rather SO2/H2S/home perm/stinky ammonia rather earthy some charred oak/pungent/smokey/Kansas
outhouse somewhat loamy/rustic nose that clears only slightly to a plummy/black cherry/earthy nose; tart
rather toasty/oak/pungent strong loamy/rustic some black cherry/plummy flavor w/ modest rough tannins;
very long earthy/loamy/dusty/root cellar some plummy/black cherry fairly toasty/charred/oak finish w/
some hard tannins; the nose seems a bit off and slow to clear but underneath seems to be a solid StL.
$26.00
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The usual stuff from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. Over the last few months, I've noticed a few wines that I particularly liked came from WineMongers
(www.WineMonger.com) in SanAnselmo. I took a look at their WebSite and found they have a lot of producers
with whom I'm not familiar. More importantly, they are one of the few importers that do DTC sales. Looks
like BlueDanube also does DTC.
It took a little research for me to find the folks behind WineMonger: Emily & Stephan Schindler. They have
a background from Austria and that is their strength, but they also have a nice portfolio from Italy/
Germany/France as well. They also run EaskootCllrs in the PetalumaGap of MarinCnty. Not yet tried those wines.
But obviously a very talented couple whom I must meet sometime.
Since I'll be visiting Austria soon, I ordered a mixed case of Austrian wines to try, mostly from producers
I was not familiar with. These are those wines.
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2. GrunerVeltliner: For many yrs, after they did the DNA on GV, it was identified as a cross between Traminer
(Sauvignan) and some unknown parent. A few yrs ago, an old/weakened/abandoned single vine was found outside
the village of SanktGeorgen, near Eisenstadt. DNA indicated that this StGeorgen variety was the missing
parent of GV. Thus, from this parentage, GV is not even a member of the Veltliner family. The vine was
(in some way) vandalized, but they were able to save it. Cuttings were taken and StGeorgen has been
rescued from extinction. The first StGeorgen wine should appear in the next year or two. Can't wait to
try it. US wine bloggers take great delight in predicting the next "big thing" in Calif. Well...I'm pretty
sure it ain't agonna be StGeorgen.
Of these 4 GV's, I preferred the Holzapfel for its greater intensity & richness. But the Neumayer was
pretty close behind. The Felix was a light-weight but I could see having that w/ a fresh LoyalHound pretzel
and being one happy camper.
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3. GemischterSatz: This is a relatively new category of Austrian wine, made in Vienna & outskirts. It is usually
from a single vnyd and must contain at least 3 different varieties, usually interplanted in the vnd in a
field blend. I don't believe it can be made by doing a simple blend of 3 or more varieties, but not sure
on the law. It's a genre that makes some very interest/complex wines I'm finding.
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4. Traminer: Gelber Traminer is the yellow-berried version of Traminer. Roter Traminer is Sauvignan Rose, a
non-aromatic version of GWT. I was quite impressed by this wine because of its aromatics and it reminded
me a lot of good AltaAdige GWT's.
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5. Rotgipfler: This is a cross between Traminer X RoterVeltliner and, hence, a member of the Veltliner. It
is grown mainly in the ThermenRegion and is often the base for Gumpoldskirchen, I wine that was once
pretty common, but not one I see much anymore.
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6. RoterVeltliner: This is an ancient variety with no known parents that I can find. Given that, I'm not
even sure that Roter Veltliner is even a member of the Veltliner family. I've only tried a handful
of these wines and have not been particularly impressed.
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7. OrangeTraube: This is an ancient grape discovered in Germany back in 1840. It has, DNA-wise, no known
parents that I could find. Mostly grown now in the Burgenland. Speculation is that OT developed from
a seed pooped out by some bird who had eaten some ancient grape. Zahel is the only producer of a
varietal OT. I was quite impressed by this wine. A grape they should be planting all up&down the
coast in Calif.
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8. Solminer: This is the wine of Anna & Dave deLaski. She is Austrian and he's made wine there. This would
be the first BF made in Calif. Their first crop was blended away in their Syrah. This speaks well for the
potential of BF in Calif. The next "big thing"?? Probably not.
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9. StLaurent: This is an indigeneous grape of Austria, though most of it is planted in Slovakia. Primarily
found in the Burgenland. There is some belief that it's an off-spring of Pinot, but I don't think
DNA has supported this association yet.
This StLaurent planting at Ricci is the first planting of StLaurent in Calif, though I believe there
are a few others now. I've always liked the StL that Matt has made at F-H. I plan to take an older one
to Austria to share w/ winemakers there.
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10. Overall, I was rather impressed of this selection of Austrian wines from (mostly) WineMonger. I'll be
going back to try more of their wines in the future.
Tom