Some really nice stuff ...

Had some really nice wines recently but got no time to post them. Here are my favourite 3.

1. Gewürztraminer 2008 from Weingut Lentsch - delicous - €7

pungent pure rose petals and lychée flavors, exotic fruit basket on the nose, quite the same overwhelming fruit flavors on the palate, very good acid structure, dry, lingering aftertaste, the perfect companion for Foie Gras!!

2. Primary Rocks 2008 from Weingut Gschweicher - delicious/extraordinary - about €15

full bright straw yellow, upfront minerality, wet slate and firestone flavors, strong white pepper, intense and multilayered on the nose, white blossoms, keeps changing with more O2, fruit explosion on the palate, lingering with very good acid structure, very young, will last!

3. Riesling Smaragd Achleiten 2008 from Weingut Prager - extraordinary - about €25

bright golden hue, in the beginning quite restrained but opens up with more O2 and several minutes in the glass, peach and peach blossoms, pure minerality on the nose, stonefruits, passion fruit, mulitlayered and complex on the palate, extremely lingering, gets a honeyed touch with even more O2, constantly changing, extract sweetness, one just wants more of this stuff!!

Sylvester deligths

This New Years eve was quite filled with all sorts of very distinctive, regional and pure delights. My sister and brothers in law were our guests and we enjoyed an Irish evening with Whiskey Sours, raw milk cheese, Irish stew, wild smoked salmon and (of course) some Austrian wines.

Check at Facebook/Sylvester delights for some more pics.

Celebration times ..

Today was a rather important day in my life. As the first student in Austria I´ve finished my Masters in Quality Viticulture and Marketing. My family and some friends celebrated this day with good food and even better wines. In this post I want to reward the most impressive wine of the day and I am glad and thankful it´s an Austrian!! (Let it be foreigner ... insider joke!!)

Sauvignon Blanc "Reipersberg" 2008 from Weingut Gschweicher - delicious

lychee pure on the nose, mango and passion fruit, ripe peaches, exotic fruit basket, bell pepper, hints of freshly grounded white pepper, multilayered and complex, very good and integrated acid structure, all flavors are mirrored on the palate, lingering, very gorgeous SB.

Boku Heim midweek tasting

This weeks tasting included 2 wines with awards ... 

1. Urgesteinsriesling "Reipersberg" 2008 from Weingut Gschweicher - very good/delicious - €9,50

pale yellow hue, fruit forward style, peaches and apricot, shows very good underlying minerality on the nose, racy acid structure, lingering, very typical. (SALON 2009)

2. Wiener Gemischter Satz "Nussberg" 2008 from Weingut Zahel - very good/delicious - €11,50 (CH,PB,PG)

bright golden hue, exotic fruit basket, bourbon vanilla, hints of lychée, oak?? (maybe big barrels) but perfectly integrated, mellow style with good acid backbone, very balanced, lingering. (Wiener Landessieger 2009)

-- I actually guessed Pinot Gris ... not to bad ;-)

Boku Heim midweek tasting

This weeks midweek tasting showed a pretty nice line up of different wines and regions. From Pfalz in Germany, to Austria´s Kremstal, Kamptal, Weinviertel, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, Neusiedlersee and last but not least Mittelburgenland. The styles of the wines varied accordingly and overall the quality was quite impressive.

The usual tasting team suspects were joined by our class mate, friend and proficient taster Rüdiger.

Note: All wines were tasted open.

1. Grauburgunder 2008 from Weingut Müller-Kern - Pfalz - good - €6,20

rather neutral on the nose, but typical on the palate, refreshing, easy drinking stuff.

2. Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from Weingut Müller-Kern - ok 

green elder leafs, quite high in SO2, bit RS, unripe green flavors, gets more unpleasant with air.

3. Sauvignon Blanc 08 from Weingut Bärenhof - Pfalz - good

ripe falvors, greengage plum and elder, bit botrytis rot, good acid structure, a bit short on the finish.

4. Riesling Spätlese „Dürkheimer Rittergarten“ 2008 from Weingut Bärenhof - ok/good

hints of honey, rather one dimensional nose, acid structure ok, improves with O2, quite easy on midpalate. 

5. Kremstal DAC 2007 from Weingut Stadt Krems - good/very good

honey and very ripe flavors, hints of petrol, minerally, rather evolved, acid structure ok, 

6. Riesling Spätlese „Hammbacher Schlossberg“ 2007 from Weingut Müller-Kern - yech

sulfur reduction pure, good acid structure but sulfur reduction flavors on the palate too.

7. Riesling Auslese 2007 trocken from Weingut Bärenhof - very good

stone fruit, peaches and apricot, very typical, dark berries, underlined with slate flavors, very good acid structure, multilayered, very good length.

8. Riesling 2006 „Die Leidenschaft“ from Weingut Martin Arndorfer - very good/delicious

apricot and peaches, typical Austrian Riesling, tobacco, minerally, multilayered nose, slate, oak perfectly integrated, creamy texture, very lingering.

9. Pinot Blanc „Ungsteiner Osterberg“ Spätlese 2007 from Weingut Bärenhof - yech

sulfur reduction, sauerkraut, same flavors on the palate,

10. Grüner Veltliner „Hundsberg“ 2007 from Weingut Pröll - very good

fruity, hints of honey and butterscotch, pepper, spices, creamy texture, tobacco, balanced acid structure, quite lingering.

11. Weinviertel DAC „Kellerberg“ 2007 from Weingut Gschweicher - very good 

withe pepper, still young, soft texture but spicy, quite lingering.

12. Syrah 2004 from Weingut Kirnbauer - ok/good

spicy, sticht etw in der Nase, quite ripe, broad flavors, oak dominated, rather evolved, bit acetone, 

13. Ursus Magnus 2005 from Weingut Bärenhof - very good

super dark color, light pipe tobacco, peppermint, eucalyptus, dried mushrooms, bell pepper, oak very well integrated, very good tannin and acid structure, lingering.

14. Heulichin 2006 from Weingut Wagentristl - very good

fruity, tobacco, minty, eucalyptus, soft tannin structure, distinctive, good length, oak power, still young, lingering, will massively improve with more time in bottle. 

15. Blaufränkisch Lüss 2007 from Weingut Lentsch - very good

dark color, spicy, ripe cherry, ripe plums, horse radish, good acid and tannin structure, juicy, 

16. Zweigelt „Excellence“  2003 from Weingut Veit - very good/delicious

cassis and cinnamon, black berries, juicy tannin, super lingering, ripe and very balanced, good extract, powered.

17. Vitikult 2006 from Weingut Kirnbauer - corc

extreme corc taint ... for training!!!

Boku Heim midweek tasting

The first Boku Heim midweek tasting after the Easter holiday focused on Riesling from Austria. If you note the difference between wine 1 to 4 and wine 5, you will see that the vineyard soil (primary rock 1 to 4 and loess: 5) is quite easily detectable in Austrian wines. Normally I do prefer Riesling from rocky soils as they are more mineral driven and are showing interesting flavors like stone fruits (peaches, apricot). On the other hand GVs from loess are really good too.

Note: All wines were tasted blind.  

1. Riesling „Zöbing“ 2008 from Weingut Hannes Hirsch - good - about €9,50

bit CO2 visible, bright yellow hue, lemon/lime flavors, with more O2 stone fruit detectable, touch of loess, lean aroma, good sugar/acid balance, citrus fruits dominating on the palate, easy drinking, middle length.

2. Riesling „Klassik“ 2008 from Weingut Gschweicher - good - €7

pale yellow hue, explosive nose, hints of SB aroma due to strong aroma profile, lemon/lime and some cold fermentation flavors, lean body, good acid structure with lower RS level than 1, mineral finish, summer terrace wine.

3. Riesling Smaragd „Ried Kirnberg“ 2007 from Weingut Sigl - very good 

golden hue, hints of lemon, ripe peaches, quite evolved nose, petrol, middle body, good acid/RS balance with good pressure on midpalate, good length, gets better every minute with more O2, quite lingering.

4. Urgesteins Riesling „Reipersberg“ from Weingut Gschweicher- very good - €9,50

pale golden hue, typical stone fruit flavors with more apricot than peaches, good acid structure, lingering, good.

5. Riesling Steinfeder „Terrassen“ 2008 from Domäne Wachau - good

bright yellow hue, prominent loess flavors, totally different than all the others but not unpleasant, very balanced but far on the softer side, overall on the broader side, loess driven on the palate.

6. Blaufränkisch „Lüss“ 2006 from Weingut Lentsch - very good 

dark red hue, sour cherries and cherries, maybe a hint of MLF flavor, vanilla and spices, dark chocolate on the palate, good length, mouth filling, oak very good integrated, lingering. 

terrace wine ...

As temperature is climbing steady towards 25 deg C I was busy to prepare our patio for the Easter weekend. A perfectly refreshing summer is this one ...

Sankt Laurent 2007 from Weingut Martin Prinz - good 

quite light in color with purple reflections, pure sour cherries on the nose, cherries and sour cherries on the palate, refreshing acid structure and with 12,5 %abv a perfect summer wine.

Grüner Veltliner DAC!!

Actually it is quite funny if one finds pics like this ... it seems that even 6 years after the introduction of the first DAC the Austrians still prefer the variety on the label ... Mr. Pfaffl is going to die 1000 deaths ... 

And frankly ... have a closer look at the label ...  it states clearly: Grüner Veltliner DAC (same font, same size!!)

pic from:

Wein « Gourmet « Schaufenster « DiePresse.com

Pub Klemo

Last friday we had some wines in our favorite wine bar. Beside some wines Roberts magic hands created a wonderful dinner. Tuna steak with fennel mousse and dill potatoes. If you really want to pair food and wine perfectly, don´t dine at a fancy restaurant ... Pub Klemo is the first place of choice.

Here are our tasting notes.

1. Sauvignon Blanc "Steinmühle" 2007 from Weingut Kollwentz - ok/good

ripe yellow apples, hints of fresh green flavors on the nose, very ripe, good acidity, bit phenolic, very pale hue.

2. Sauvignon Blanc "Zieregg am Grassnitzberg" 1989 from Weingut Tement - good/very good

honeysuckle, mature, extreme lychee flavors on the nose and on the palate, soft, bit smokey.

3. Sauvignon Blanc 2007 from Weingut Ploder-Rosenberg - good

fresh, bit bananas and cold fermentation flavors, good acid structure, light in style.

4. Sauvignon Blanc "Platter Rieden" 2007 from Weingut Fidesser - ok/good

hints of lychee flavors good acid structure but a bit undefined.

5. Sauvignon Blanc 2007 from Weingut Triebaumer - good

bit closed, black currant blossoms, rather low in acidity, melon and some other exotic flavors on the palate.

6. Sauvignon Blanc 2007 form Weingut Umathum -  ok/good

bit closed, very ripe flavors, exotic, melons, balanced.

7. Gevery Chambertin 2006 from Domaine Perrot-Minot - very good

Pinot stink on the beginning, spices and herbs, very good acid structure, lingering.

8. Furioso 2006 from Weingut Mad - good

spicy, sour cherries, good acid structure, oak a bit prominent.

9. Synthese 2006 from somewhere in the Roussilion - good

meaty, very ripe, good tannin structure, long, still young, purple reflections.