Mittwoch, 29. Oktober 2008

Austrian Wine Challenge

I am looking forward to thursday 3pm. The Austrian Wine Challenge is held at the town hall Vienna and over 1000 wines are waiting to be tasted by us!!

You will find soe more information about this fair at: awc vienna - Home

Hope to see you there!!

Freitag, 24. Oktober 2008

red wine festival

Recently there were quite a lot of tastings in my region and in Vienna. I will just post all the wines I like´d most and those with Brett. 
Brett is a bigger problem than I have thought and it is ubiquitous. From now onwards I will try the famous "name and shame"-policy with these wines!! Maybe we can change the world ...  a world were excessive Brett aromas are faults and not the "terroir".

Red wine tasting 2008 - Vinothek Sailer´s - ranking shows the wines I liked most in each category!

category: Zweigelt (5 wines)
1. Zweigelt "Kaiserberg" 2006 - winery Josef Unger - €11,50
typical Kaiserberg fruit with load of Cassis and smooth tannins

2. Zweigelt "Heideboden" 2006 - winery Georg Preisinger - €8,60
well structured and fruity, good.

category: Blaufränkisch (7 wines)
1. Blaufränkisch "M" 2006 - winery Josef Wurzinger - €12
spices and berry fruit on the nose. good tannin structure.

2. Blaufränkisch "Dürrau" 2006 - winery Paul Kerschbaum - €19,50
dark cherry aroma, tannin structure good. nice spice on the palate

category: St. Laurent (4 wines)
1. St. Laurent 2006 - winery Franz Lentsch - €11
dark cherries, smoth tannins, well structured

2. St. Laurent 2006 - winery Gernot Heinrich - €14
nice cherry and berry flavors, but oak tannin bit overdone

category: Pannobile (9 wines)
1. "Pannobile Rot" 2006 - winery Gernot Heinrich - €21,60
fruity and very well structured, but no harsh tannins, very balanced.

2. "Pannobile Rot" 2006 - winery Leitner - €18
very elegant, refined tannins, very slight Brett aromas give more complexity, good.

3. "Pannobile Rot" 2006 - winery Helmut Renner - €19,50
elegant structure, good

All Pannobile wines are changing towards the more elegant, "terroir"-driven side.

category: blends 1 (17 wines)
1. "Remanenz" 2006 - winery Franz Lentsch - €16
fruity, refined tannins, balanced

2. "Tetuna" 2006 - winery Robert Goldenits - €14,50
nice structure but a bit oaky

3. "Capello" 2006 - winery Josef Unger - €16
Cassis aroma, could do with a bit more structure

category: Pinot Noir (3 wines)
actually none of the Pinot Noirs fitted my palate. Damn!! Fabien "spoiled" me with that Charton et fils 2001.

category: Cabernet Sauvignon (3 wines)
CS is aparently not the best variety for the Austrian climate. All 3 wines had slight green unripe flavors.

category: blends 2 (18 wines)
1. "Gabarinza" 2006 - winery Gernot Heinrich - €33
fruity, complex aromas, structured and very well balanced

2. "Terra O." 2006 - winery Johann Heinrich - €22,50
ripe fruity aromas on the nose, cinnamon, spicy,

3. "Impressario" 2006 - winery Paul Kerschbaum - €28
very well structured and fruity

4. "Steinzeiler" 2006 - winery Kollwentz - €37
bold wine, needs time, but great potential

5. "Admiral" 2006 - winery Pöckl - €33
very well structured, tannin will need time to mellow, potential.

category: Brett (9 wines)
All these wines showed Brett flavors with various intensity.
winery Claus Preisinger - Gols - Heideboden 06, Pannobile 06
winery Steiner - Podersdorf - Sapienta 06
winery Heinrich Lunzer - Gols - Cuvée d´amitie 06
winery Hans Moser - St. Georgen - V.T.S. 06
winery Wellanschitz - Neckenmarkt - Fraternitas 06
winery Josef Gager - Deutschkreutz - CabLot 06
winery Igler-Reisner - Deutschkreutz - Ab Ericio 06
winery Umathum - Frauenkirchen  - Hallebühl 04 (cork, Brett)

9 wines with Brett out of 70 are 12,86%!! 

Mittwoch, 22. Oktober 2008

marmalade, jellys and more

Last Friday I was invited to judge 54 marmalades and jellys from the Burgenland area.
Most popular were varietal preserves and specialities. On the one hand I am not the most proficient marmalade cook but tasting is tasting and one can train his senses with good made marmalades. 

Have a look at this most interesting tasting at Magazine Kulinarium 20.10.

Dienstag, 14. Oktober 2008

Autumn in Austria

As I am quite busy with the theory part of my Master thesis I would like to just post some Austrian fall impressions. Enjoy!!

bird food!


















rolling hills:


















leafs:


















leafs 2:


















young wine - "Heuriger"
















Donnerstag, 2. Oktober 2008

insights ...

Rudi Wagentristl, fellow student and winemaker in Großhöflein, launched his wine blog on the 21st September.

He gives us insights of the hard everday work in his vineyards and hte cellar with accurate explanations in the actions taken during the harvest. I/We are very curious to learn more ...

Link: Rudi's WeinBlog or find it in my link list

P.S. Have a look at the great pics!!

a step back ...

Bad luck for all wine lovers. The Austrian fine wine retail chain Wein&CO takes back a step in the question of smoking in all of their tasting outlets. 
After proclaiming proudly with lots of PR effort to be the first smoke-free wine bar in Austria earlier this year (1.1.2008) the step back is taken much more silent. The reason according to the article from ORF Bei Wein & Co wird wieder geraucht - oesterreich.ORF.at is the decrease of wine sales by 20% and the "more important" decrease of tips!

Mittwoch, 1. Oktober 2008

Vienna Wine field day

This weekend was the second Vienna Wine field day. The wine interested public had the chance to walk about 12 km in the vineyards of the Viennas hills (Nussberg, Kahlenberg,..). Along the way various winemakers and "Heurigen" proprietors hosted tastings in little cabanas and we had the chance to eat some local cheeses and other food.
Another hotspot was the "Bauerngolf" - farmers golf ... one had to try to throw gumboots into a wheelbarrow from different distances. It was really a lot of fun and we missed just one boot to win a bottle of wine. Bad luck ;-( 


Farmers golf:



















views of Vienna:



















the danube:



















the signs:


















tastings:


















Cheese!!



















the hole: