Swiss-Austrian wine tasting notes

Some more images of the nice medieval town center of Murten and my tasting notes. Actually I was pretty surprised of the high quality level of the Swiss wines. Especially the Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer were really good. Ripe flavors with low alcohol levels and very good acid structure.

castle wall:

view from the tower: (town center, lake Murten and appellation Vully (speak: Vüi) on the other side of the lake)

Note: wines were tasted open and tasting notes just include the very best among the all in all very good wines.

Cru de l´Hopital, Christian Vessaz - Motier

1. Pinot Gris 2008 - very good

very spicy and bold, good acid structure but with creamy texture, very good length.

2. Traminer 2008 - very good

pure Lychee and Roses on the nose, very good structure, good length.

Weinkellerei S. & L. Hasler - Twann

3. Sauvignon Blanc 2008 - very good/delicious

pure Lychee, Grapefruit, explosive aromas on the nose, low alcohol level!, very good acid structure, terrific wine.

4. Runnino Chardonnay 2007 - very good

pears and nice oak spices, wood very good integrated, still young, balanced and multilayered, good length, will improve with more aging. 

Herni Cruchon - Morges (biodynamic since 8 years)

5. Viognier 2008 - very good/delicious

pears and tangerine, reduced quinces, very balanced, tobacco on the palate, multilayered, very good length and acid structure.

6. Cuvee Gourmande - very good

ripe yellow apples, bold, quinces, very good length.

Tenimento dell´Ör - Arzo

7. Granito 2007 - very good

pure mineralty, nice cool flavored, oak very well integrated, good acid structure, very good length.

8. Merlot Riserva DOC La Prella 2006 - very good (grown on gravel)

spicy and minerally, soft but structured tannin, very good length.

9. Merlot Riserva DOC Tenimento dell´Ör 2006 - very good (grown on loam)

berry mix, soft tannins, very good length, very balanced on mid palate.

Murten - winemakers dinner

Yesterday´s winemakers dinner was quite impressive. 5 courses including salmon, beef, cheese course and biscuit with fresh strawberries were enjoyed by all of the participants. Most astonishing thing ... 32 wines from all attending winemaker could be match freely to all the courses which means everybody had the chance to find the perfect match for him and the food.

Here some pics! Enjoy (and be jealous!!)

Salmon with wild garlic:

local beef:

most favorite course .. raw milk cheeses!

Swiss-Austrian wine tasting

Day 1 at the Swiss-Austrian wine fair in Murten/ Switzerland.

A bunch of Austrian winemaker including Günter Triebaumer, Helmut Preisinger, Phillip Zull, Elisabeth Lentsch and some others are going to host a 2-day tasting (including a winemakers dinner) in the new stylish hotel „BB Wine house“ embedded between the old town centre and the lake shore. We are looking forward to meet some 10 Swiss winemakers and our guests to join us for this tasting at 4 pm.

Check back soon for todays tasting notes!!

In the mean time find some impressions from the medieval town Murten.

"our" hotel

lake shore vines

old town impression 1

old town impression 2

spring .. at last

Last week was the perfect weather for my first motorcylce pics trip this year. I got some nice images from all around the lake Neusiedl. Enjoy !

my bike (old but perfect for exploring vineyards):

"Mole West" in Neusiedl/See:

fruit trees:

that´s gonna happen if you plant your vines to close to the lake shore:

storks are back in town:

Stockholm pics

This post features some pics from our trip to Stockholm last weekend. We visited my friends Fredrik and Tove whom I met in Cape Town during their (work)holidays.

Rudolf and friends:

Now I know why the Mercedes A-class fell ... they are really big!

Gamla Stan from a ferry:

old town:

Stockholm castle:

Swedish CH ... thanks my friend for this opportunity!

Fredrik and Johannes are sampling more wine in Rolf´s Kök ... if one plans to go to Stockholm ... this restaurant is a must

 Rolfs Kök

elk in a better shape ...

Swedish traditional delight ... gratinated potatoes:

perfectly with reindeer (no it wasn´t Rudolf ... this pic was from the day before!)

wines tasted:

1. Gigondas Cuvee Tradition 2006 from Domaine Santa Duc - good

went very well with the reindeer and the gratinated potaoes, fruity but a little bit unbalanced (high alc. 15%abv.)

at Gondolen Restaurant Catering dagkonferens festvåning matlagning vinprovning - Eriks restauranger

2. Chablis 2006 from Billaud-Simon - ok/good

fresh,  fragile aroma, buttery notes but not a bold wine, just partly MLF, alc. 12,5.

at Gondolen wine bar.

3. Rhine Riesling Smaragd 2004 from Domäne Wachau - good/very good

perfect with starter, hering in mustard, hering with cumin and onions, hering with caviar sauce

4. The Fergus 2005 from Tim Adams/Clare Valley - still ok

very fruitforward, Australian nose, no structure but very high in alcohol, totally unbalanced, with more air and temp just alc. noting else.

3 and 4 at the Leijonbaren http://www.leijonbaren.se/

5. Chardonnay Barrique 2003 from Blaxsta / Sweden - ox

unfortunately oxidative.

6. Rosé 2008 from Weingut Unger - good

fruity, strawberry, good acid structure. This is a made Rosé! (means: red grapes are pressed and fermented like a white wine, not drained from red wine must)

7. Grüner Veltliner Grub 2006 from Schloss Gobelsburg - cork

8. Nebbiolo Langhe 2005 from Pio Cesare - good

fruity, typically very well structured (it´s made from Nebbiolo!), good with elk.

9. Kaiserberg 2006 from Weingut Unger - good/very good

fruitforward style with load of blackberries and cassis, smooth tannins, perfect match with elk.

We had some more wines but I didn´t take further notes.

Stockholm

Tomorrow we are going to fly to Stockholm. I can´t wait to drink Swedish wine (if I find one). Check next week for some cool pics.

Cheers, 

Franz

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:

old friends ...

I spent this weekend with my old classmates in the "Wachau" area. Lots of stories, lots of wines, ... self explaining.

It was nice to meet my friends from school after 10 years and Martin was the perfect tourguide. Boat trip from Krems to Spitz and back, wine tasting and tour at "Winzer Krems" .. the biggest cooperative in Austria (with about 1350 members), "Heurigenjause" and Spritzer.

Danube:

terrasses:

Krems:

Martin and Didi:

wine tasting:

Chill out:

"brothers in alc":