Winebeing

I could not make it to the wine tasting last week at an Austrian bakery Kipferl in East London to which I invited you all.

Nevertheless, my amazing Austrian friend Monica send me all her notes and took lots of pictures which I would like to share with you all. Her uncle has a vineyard in Poysdorf near the Czech border so I can see she has the wine in her blood.

I am a big fan of Austrian wines. They are not yet much recognised between regular drinkers, though they deserve more and some experts also confirm their high status in the world of great wines.

When having my first Chardonnay I was astonished how different it was compared to (for me sometimes boring) Californian versions of this grape. Later on when I skied in the Austrian Alps I could not resist and sip a glass of a lightly sweet Spaetlese (a German term for the late harvest, although it is made just from very ripe grapes) often made from a Riesling and even fell in love with reds from this small country in Central Europe.

Here are the notes:
Kipferl Wine Tasting 12th November2009

WHITE WINES

• Matthias Hager, Mollands, Kamptal, Gruener Veltliner Mollandser Berg 2008, dry £8,98
Peppery fashion note, very tasty, although I am not a Veltliner fan.
• Fam. Weixelbaum, Strasz, Kamptal, Gruener Veltliner Ried Gaisberg, Wahre Werte, dry £ 12,98 12%
Grown on a single vineyard it is more difficult to get the same flavour, but when you mix it with different vineyards it is easier to achieve a similar flavour every year.

RED WINES

• Gerhard and Brigitte Pittnauer, Gols, Neusiedler See, Blaufraenkisch Klassik 2007, dry £14,98 12%
In medieval times the Blaufraenkisch was more posh than the Hunnisch wines
Association notes of dark cherry, it is a very unique dark spicy wine
• St. Laurent, Klassik 2005 (older than the other red wine I tasted) £12,98 12%
Very intense, same alcohol level but more body than the Blaufraenkisch, associated with dark berries, prune and a hint of chocolate.

SWEET WINES

• Fam. Biegler, Gumpoldkirchen, Thermenregion, Rotgipfler Spaetlese £9,98
The Rotgipfler tends to be one of my favourite wines, especially the Spaetrot-Rotgipfler.
I must admit that I have drunk better Rotgipfler, but maybe my tastebuts were already spoiled by mixing too many wines.
The Rotgipfler is a rare grape and I the tasting had a hint of pineapple

• Helmut Lang, Illmitz, Neusiedler See, Chardonnay, Beerenauslese, 2006, sweet, £13,98, 12%
This wine was just amazing! Already the smell was magnificent! It was a very aromatic wine, with hints of Pineapple, lemon grass and dried fruit.

To conclude, I loved the first and the last wine on the list and can highly recommend them.
I would have loved to also taste a gelber Muskateller, which also tends to be one of my favourite wines.
The athmosphere in Kipferl was very nice, as it was not overcrowded and it gave me the chance to speak to many present wine fans.

For the white and red wines we got served very nice aromatic cheese, gherkins, and garlic, salami, speck, and Kaeswurscht (a cheese similar to Mortadella), some salty pastry and all kinds of bread.

For the sweet wines we got served very nice dark chocolate and Vanillekipferl, which is a very famous Austrian cookie served around Christmas time.

NOTE: Thank you Monika for sharing with us!

The rest of you should try some Austrian wines soon. They are surprisingly delicious, good value for money and very diverse, so you won’t get bored.