I’ll be flying to Vienna next week for an 8 day vacation. It’s going to be our first one abroad with our toddler and I very much expect it to be very different from how it used to be when it was only two of us. That is to say, no late dinners/long menus, no visits to wineries this time around. Still, I do look forward to visiting wine shops and bars (Eulennest and Pub Klemo in plans, very open to recommendations) to drink some wine and buy some bottles to take home.
I have not been very much into Austrian wine in recent years and as a result I’m pretty clueless what’s going on. As such I would love to hear from the forumites which newer or ”less internationally established” names you think I should try to find. Here is where I am coming from:
Past favorites include Schloss Gobelsburg, Bründlmayer, Nigl, Alzinger, Prager, Nikolaihof, Hirsch, Preisinger, Ott
I have nothing against natural wine but I do actively dislike wines that smell and taste very obviously natural. Ie not looking for volatile whites, Pet-Nats, orange wines etc
I have struggled with whites from Wachau that are borderline overripe and too alcoholic. Freshness, minerality, acidity savoriness and high drinkability are what I am hoping to find in Austrian wines
I realize there is not a lot of discussion of Austrian wines here but I know fans of the category exist in this community. Please do share your knowledge!
There are a few ways to approach this. One is the issue of wineries. Michael and Robert gave some good names, though we can quibble about how up and coming they are. Moric has been seen as “arrived” for a long time, for example. If I were to add wineries, I would definitely include Ebner-Ebenauer (Falstaff’s Magazine winery of the year this year). If you like Moric, Rosi Schuster is being run by a mentee of Roland Velich’s (of Moric).
But that brings me to another point. What do you want to get out of the trip? The wineries you mentioned (and which are great) are all more or less (Preisinger the exception) Riesling and Grüner Veltliner specialists. If you are looking to go to Austria to drink Riesling and GV, I won’t fault you. I will do the same next time I am there. But you might consider the country’s other strengths. Michael already mentioned Moric who is renowned for Blaufränkisch (though the GVs are much rarer) and there is very serious red wine made in Austria these days, much more than a generation ago.
If your preferences run to white and you want to branch out, the two obvious Austrian options are to go south to Styria (Steiermark) where some people will say that you can find just about the best dry sauvignon blanc in the world (though I know lots of people struggle with the variety) and where they also take chardonnay seriously.
Because you are going to be in Vienna, though, I would be most interested in checking out Gemischter Satz. This is a white field blend, now given DAC status and Vienna is supposedly the only capital city in the world with any significant quantity of vines within its borders. You can take the tram out to the edge of town and visit the wineries/wine taverns (Heurigen) there. The leader in Gemischter Satz is probably Wieninger (don’t confuse with Weninger from Burgenland), though Zahel is also good. As you’d suspect, the single-vineyard field blends are the way to go.
Enjoy. Austrian wine doesn’t get enough love on the board.
You can take bus or tram (38A) if you really want to get out to the main heurigen area (red line to heilegenstadt) then bus/tram to grinzing. They will be pretty quiet in July probably but may be a good way to check out some decent rustic food and field blends.
Whatever happened to Jutta Ambrositsch, I loved her Gemischter Satz and other wines. I have not seen the wines in awhile. Looks like there are a couple on winesearcher and they are still listed on the Bowler website.
Moric would be at the top of my list, right behind Tement (if you like Sauvignon Blanc & Chardonnay). Tement is located in southern Austria, so it will be a bit of a trip…but that’s where I’d focus on.
I forgot about Ambrositsch. She is still around. 2021s listed on her website, Bowler also listed as the US importer there and one Finnish importer for Ilkka!
I am partial to Moric though I know he does not have a proper tasting room (at least he didn’t back in 2019). That said you should be able to find his wines on a lot of menus and in shops. He does have a few whites too, a blend and a GV that are interesting as well. I’ve tried a Rosi GV and REALLY liked it, so I picked up another 3-4 bottles. I have a Rosi Blaufrankisch but yet to crack it open.
Down in the Wachau area I’ve liked most of what I’ve tasted from Domaine Wachau - they have a nice variety of GV and Riesling from various sites and of various aging/quality.
With all 3 listed above (Moric, Rosi and Domaine Wachau), there is generally some decent availability here in the US too. Though it can be fun to go abroad and fall in love with something, if it is hard to source at home it can be a bit frustrating (and expensive).
Wow, what a great number of responses! Thanks everyone.
Thanks! I’ve had some from Veyder-Malberg and remember liking the style, so a good reminder. Never heard of Ohlzelt, will try if I can find
I’ve had the basic Blaufränkisch which I definitely enjoyed. The Hausmarke white I found uninteresting but I guess that’s not where it’s at with this producer. Thanks!
Thanks a lot! I checked but it seems to take more than an hour from the hotel to the Heurigers which sounds like too much with our restless toddler given that likely there will not be much entertainment for him in the destination. Any producer recs for Steiermark? I’ve only had Tement and one other producer whose name escapes me. I’m very open to different varieties and styles as long as it tastes Austrian and is not trying to mimic say Bordeaux.
There are plenty of importers in Finland but only one retail operator (the goverment-controlled monopoly) and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ambrositsch’s wines listed there. Some importers are hyper local and only sell to restaurants so might be hard to find any of the wines here. I’ll keep my eyes open in Vienna.
Last time when we visited Vienna we took the train to Wachau and visited Domäne Wachau. Found a bottle of their 1998 oak-fermented Chardonnay to take home, had aged effortlessly and was super tasty. Obviously not something they produce nowadays.
Thanks - we missed the Naschmarkt the last time but will definitely go now. I recall Bourdain going there in No Reservations. I’ve visited a couple of Wein & Co shops, good place to shop indeed. Vienna is called Wien in Finnish as well, as it happens.
Thanks! Actually I tried the 2013 Riesling Smaragd Hochrain not so long ago and posted the note here. It was fabulous but I understood that younger vintages are hotter and the wines even riper and more concentrated. Which vintages would you recommend that are more classic ones chez Hirtzberger?
First of all, drink any Schilcher you can find. I know you’re an acid head and there are no rosés that are as zippy as Styrian Schilchers!
Sattlerhof’s single-vineyard Sauvignon Blancs are nothing short of outstanding - and this is coming from a SB hater.
Franz Strohmeier is a 100% naturalist, but the wines I’ve tasted haven’t been funky, weird or volatile, only exceptionally good. I don’t know how he can make so pure and fascinating wines without any SO2 (well except for the white Sekt, that was a bit disappointing).
Andreas Tscheppe is another naturalist making truly exceptional Sauvignon Blancs that push the envelope of what SB can be without making the wines weird, funky or marred with VA. The minimalist labels with bug pictures are quite easy to notice.
Ewald Tscheppe is another Tscheppe making naturalist wines under the Weingut Werlitsch name. The best ones are thrilling, but these can be a bit of a minefield, since some wines I’ve tasted have been a bit too acetic for my taste (which probably means undrinkable by your standards).
And, like others have pointed out, keep your eyes peeled for some high-quality Morillons. I haven’t had that many of them, but the best ones can be some of the greatest Chardonnays you’ll find outside Burgundy.
I’d add Neumeister (and maybe Wohlmuth) to the Styrian sauvignon blanc suggestions beyond Sattlerhof and Tement, already mentioned. Neumeister claims they have the oldest SB vines in Austria (from 1937).