Rock me Amadeus, I love Austrian wines! I happened to be in a wine store the other day and they only had one Austrian red wine and I snatched it up. As I said before, I am a huge fan of Austrian wines and I think they don't get the credit that they deserve. They are generally extremely high quality, they have the adorable Austrian flag on the tops of their wine bottles (usually screw caps), and they are usually made by smaller family owed wineries.
Their red wines are really funky and spicy and if you are a Pinot Noir lover, you can try Zweigelt or St. Laurent from Austria - you'll probably really enjoy it. So this particular wine is a blend of Zweigelt 50% - St. Laurent 40% and Pinot Noir 10%. I've never had a red blend from Austria before so I was very excited. This wine is made by the Schellmann family in the Thermenregion of Austria. If you look at the map up there - it's the area right southwest of Vienna. It's known for its funky brown soils that are really suited to growing fantastic red wines. Let me tell you about the grapes that are featured in this wine so you can have a better idea of what to expect if you see it in a store or on a wine list:
St. Laurent: dark berries spice and sour cherry - very similar to Pinot Noir
Zweigelt: this is a crossing of St. Laurent and Blaufrankish - lots of cherry fruit and a velvety texture
Pinot Noir (also called Blauburgunder in Austria) - elegant, delicate, spicy cherry fruit, wild strawberry
color: light ruby
nose: spiced cherries & raspberries, red licorice, mint
palate wild strawberries, spice, medium bodied, very smooth, balanced, high acidity (make sure you consume with food)
the verdict -- experiment with Austrian reds!!!!
1 comment:
I love Austrian wines. Austria is becoming an increasingly important wine-producing country in central Europe with an annual production of about 30 million cases, 30% more than Germany.
Post a Comment