Falstaff Winners tasting notes

I got the opportunity to taste the three Falstaff winners yesterday and with two Blaufränkisch among them one has to note that there is a shift in the trend with high end Austrian red wines. Wine critics and journalists are pushing the common (wine) interest strongly in the Blaufränkisch direction. Arguments like „Austrias red wine profile can only be sharpened with single vartietal wines“ is in someway ridiculous if one thinks just about Bordeaux ... blends all over (with some exceptions). But as the wine media is highly influential on the wine industry in every country there will be more single varietal top wines coming up pretty soon. If that´s all for the better future will show.

Find my tasting notes of the three winner wines and some others below: (all prices count for Wein&Co.)

1.Chablis 2007 from Simonnet-Febvre - ok - €15,99

pale yellow hue, distinctive phenolic compounds covering the fruit completely on the nose, lacks acid backbone, a rather dull and unentertaining wine.

2. Blaufränkisch Reihburg 2007 from Weingut Uwe Schiefer - delicious - €46,45

middle red hue, purple reflections, dark berry fruit, bit underwood, tar-like earthyness, licorice, very good acid and tannin structure, sour cherries, lingering.

3. Blaufränkisch Perwolff 2007 from Weingut Krutzler 2007 - very good/delicious - €52,50

middle red hue with a purple rim, still quite young color, fruitfoward berry flavors on the nose, good structure, quite pronounced acid structure, lingering.

4. Reve de Jeunesse 2007 from Weingut Pöckl - extraordinary - €64,13

deep dark red hue, black core, hints of anisseed, Cassis and chocolate flavors on the nose, smooth but very powerful tannin structure, multilayered, reveals more and more after several hours in the decanter, mocha, dried plums, licorice, extremely lingering. Will greatly improve with further cellaring.

5. Blaufränkisch Spiegel 2007 from Weingut Paul Achs - delicious - €51,08

dark red hue, purple reflections, watery rim, powerfull dark fruit and spices on the nose, chocolate and mocha, smooth tannin structure but with the typical BF acid backbone, lingering, after the same time in the decanter like all other wines flavors fading away - maybe to little free SO2!

Boku Heim tasting Midweek tasting

First day above 20 deg ... I love springtime!!! ... to celebrate this event in style we decided to start the BBQ for the first time this year accompanied by different beers and of course some wines. 

The more serious tasting was done before. Bernhard K. brought some special bottles for our midweek “Boku Heim tasting“ to celebrate his Bachelor degree. Congrats from my side!!

Tasting team for this time: Elmar, Bernhard K. and I.

Note: all wines and beers tasted blind!

1. Perwolff 2004 from Weingut Krutzler - very good

dark red hue with some purple reflections, fruity, dark cherries and blackberries, pro

minent tannin quite elegant and balanced, maybe a bit Cab, good acid structure, lingering, good length.

2. Blaufränkisch „Altenberg“ 2004 from Weingut Paul Achs - very good

darker red hue than 1, purple reflections, red berries, oak and blackberries on the nose, soft tannin with good structure, lingering.

Maybe the more interesting tasting was the beer tasting. In this tasting we tried to answer the most complex Austrian question. Austrians are normally very profound connoiseurs regarding their favourite drink ... BEER. We are drinking about 120 liters per capita ... we should know our brand at least we always say we do. The question was: Are we able to recognise our favourite beer in a blind tasting??? Find below the most interesting results. 

1. Gösser Märzen

helles gold, schaumkrone, leichtes co2, süffig leicht herb, am Gaumen leicht süss.

known: Bernhard

2. Egger leicht

helles gelb, schöne CO2 entwicklung, herber als 1, lingering.

known: Bernhard

3. Schwechater

goldgelb, Schaumkrone, wenig Co2, frisch, herb, süffig, 

known: Bernhard

4. Wieselburger

goldgelb, viel Co2, soft, hefig, nicht herb, leicht süss.

5. Trumer

goldgelb, kein CO2, weich, süffig, süsse spürbar.

known: Bernhard

6. Hirter Morchel

dunkles braun, schaumrand, rauchig, malzig, malz am gaumen, langer Abgang.

best: Bernhard.

7. Paracelsus Zwickl

Hefetrüb, Schaumrand, trübes gelb, hefige Nase, cremig, Co2 spürbar.

known: Bernhard

8. Zipfer Urtyp

helles gold, Co2 sichtbar, schaumrand, weich, süss, rinnt, extrem geschliffen.

the contestants:

Annual "Wein Burgenland" presentation

This year annual "Wein Burgenland" presentation was really interesting. Crowds of wine lovers joined me tasting, sipping, chatting, bit later loudly discussing and cheering in the quite nice ambient of the Viennese "Museumsquartier" of short MQ. I´ve tasted about 100 wines but due to time limits I will just publish those rated good or better.

The most inspiring conversation that afternoon was with Martina Mariel from winery Konrad Mariel. We talked about the different tasting habits and pattern of winemakers, consumers and journalists. Long conversation cut short - winemakers are always looking for faults and taints, journalists are on the other side of this spectrum, they are looking for all the positive flavors and are more generous regarding minor (some even major eg. Brett) flaws, the consumers is somewhere in the middle, I hope the consumers main concern is looking for pleasure.

Here are my tasting notes: (some wines showed restrained flavors due to recent bottlings)

1. Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from Weingut Haider Heinrich - good 

fresh green flavors, very typical for SB in this region, good acid structure.

2. Zweigelt 2007 from Weingut Heiling - good

cherries, good tannin structure, length ok.

3. Sankt Laurent 2007 from Weingut Heiling - good

bit restrained, but opens up wit more O2, fruitdriven

4. Pinot Noir 2005 from Weingut Leo Hillinger - good/very good

bit stinky at the first snif, but with more O2 very typical flavors, good structure.

5. Hill 1 2006 from Weingut Leo Hillinger - good

rather oaky and closed, very modern style, juicy tannins, good strucutre, young.

6. Sankt Laurent 2007 from Weingut Hans Nittnaus - good

quite typical color and flavors, very good length.

7. Pinot Noir 2006 from Weingut Schloss Halbturn - good/very good

bit closed, very typical, soft lingering tannin backbone.

8. Muskat Ottonel 2008 from Weingut Silvia Steiner - good

fruit driven, very good balanced.

9. Pinot Blanc 2008 from Weingut Birgit Braunstein - good

restrained pear aroma, flinty, good structure, shows minerality on the palate.

10. Chardonnay 2008 from Weingut Birgit Braunstein - good

ripe yellow apple, bit restrained, good acid structure, minerality.

11. Gelber Muskateller 2008 from Weingut Konrad Mariel - good

fresh, fruity, musky, good acid structure, refreshing.

12. Grüner Veltliner 2008 from Weingut Konrad Mariel - good/very good

peppery nose, very typical variety expression, racy acid backbone.

13. Pinot Blanc 2008 from Weingut Konrad Mariel - good

creamy, pear, flinty, quite lean palate.

 

14. Cuvee Condre 2007 from Weingut Konrad Mariel - good/very good 

Cassis, some green hints but not unpleasant, multilayered, good balanced.

15. GV Bergweingarten M 2008 from Weingut Sommer - good/very good

spicy, peppery, very good acid structure, typical.

16. Sauvignon Blanc Wolfsbach 2008 from Weingut Sommer - good

bell pepper, some asparagus, canned peas.

17. Chardonnay Kreuzjoch 2008 from Weingut Sommer - good

fresh, fruity, sugar melon, good acid structure.

18. Muskateller 2008 from Weingut Sommer - good

very explosive nose, typical, green apple, quite soft palate, good length.

19. Rivaner 2008 from Weingut Wagentristl - good

musky, very subtle aroma.

20. Pinot Blanc 2008 from Weingut Wagentristl - good

fresh, fruity, exotic fruit cocktail, good length.

21. Chardonnay 2008 from Weingut Wagentristl - good

soft, melon, some more exotic fruits, balanced.

22. Blaufränkisch 2006 from Weingut Wagentristl - good

spicy, straightforward style, good length.

23. Pinot Noir Kreideberg 2006 from Weingut Wagentristl - good

pale red, orange reflections, red fruits, spicy, good length.

24. Cuvee Heulichin 2006 from Weingut Wagentristl - good/very good

bold, oak, still very young, restrained but good fruit, lingering.

25. Mittelburgenland DAC Reserve 2006 from Weingut Bauer-Pöltl - good

spicy, lean, very typical, good tannin structure.

26. Mittelburgenland DAC Reserve Quintus 2006 from Weingut Iby - good/very good

bit restrained fruit, lean and straightforward, very good structured, age worthy.

27. Chevalier 2006 from Weingut Iby - good

restrained fruit, quite closed now, very good length and structure.

28. Ab Ericio 2006 from Weingut Igler - good

bit plasticine, maybe minor Brett infection (future will show), currently juicy tannin structure, lingering.