Vienna Calling

James_Wright · August 17, 2014, 4:19pm

Blaufränkisch from Burgenland.

very good producers include Kollwentz, Moric, Rosi Schuster, Paul Achs, Weninger, Wachter-Wiesler, Prieler, Uwe Schiefer, Iby…

paul_clark · August 17, 2014, 4:22pm

Thanks Marko + James. Gerhard, you’re absolutely correct, I should have been more specific in my request. To remedy;

I am going to Vienna on business and unfortunately I will not be able to take time to get out of the city. So no wine country visits. I am disappointed but tant pis, laisse tomber. Next time.

I am not crazy about sweet wines. Otherwise…

Majority of my cellar is dedicated to Burgundy and Mosel. Close behind that is N Rhone and Piemonte. The wines I drink from there are, to my taste, excellent because they reflect their regions / year accurately and they strive to be the best representation of those unique cultures.

So my first (and really only) criteria is that the domaine needs to produce wines which are faithful to their origins. No spoof.

Red, white, pink or orange I am happy to try it if the person promoting it can convince me it is a well made wine. Sure a lot of Pinot Noir is consumed at Chez Clark but there is a vast diversity of cépages which come through this house. We have a 100% bourboulenc for this evening (Domaine l’Anglore - S Rhône).

I drink a lot of “natural” wine. I know, it’s a marketing ploy. I am not drawn to natural wines because I think the other wines are loaded with chemicals. I am drawn to natural wines because I generally like the style employed. And I include the likes of Rousseau and Roumier in this camp, I’m not dogmatic about the definition.

Finally, I have four evenings. I can only try so many different wines in such a limited time. I might try to bring home a case…especially if something strikes me as both amazing and unavailable here in CH.

Thank you both for the feed back and thanks again to everyone for investing time in answering my questions.

Best

Paul

doug_johnson · August 17, 2014, 4:41pm

For a Viennese speciality I’d recommend you try a gemischter satz. I’ve had good ones from Wieninger, Christ, and Jutta Ambrositsch.

Gerhard_P · August 17, 2014, 5:58pm

So if your bound to the City, you should visit WIENINGER (as also recommended above):
http://www.wieninger.at/en/
he´s got also a HEURIGER (traditional rustic Austrian Restaurant, mainly with self-produced wines and food)-
and MAYER am Pfarrplatz

which is two wineries, a restaurant, a Heuriger - and a Buschenschank on the Nussberg.

Henry_Kahn · September 13, 2014, 7:16am

Thanks for the Umarfisch recommendation! It was very good and really enjoyed 13 hirtzberger rotes tor Gruner federspiel

Nathan_Smyth · September 13, 2014, 3:53pm

The big six in Austrian dry wines are:

Hirtzberger Honivogl [Honifogl] Gruner Veltliner
Hirtzberger Singerriedel Riesling
FX Pichler “M” Gruner Veltliner
FX Pichler “M” Riesling
FX Pichler “Unendlich” Gruner Veltliner
FX Pichler “Unendlich” Riesling

On the dessert side of things, you’ll be looking for the wines of Alois Kracher [RIP].

You’ll also want to keep an eye peeled for Prager [Toni Bodenstein], but I am very worried about silicone-coated corks and premox on some of their wines back circa the turn of the century.

Personally, I’ve never had any good luck [and I’ve had a lot of bad luck] with Knoll and Nicholaihof, but the AFWE worship those two.

And if you’re on a very strict budget, then look for Hiedler.

As for Alzinger, they’re okay, but I’d order Hiedler rather than Alzinger.

A few notes:

Singerriedel is NOT a monopole for Hirtzberger, so just asking for a Singerriedel does not guarantee that you will get a wine by Hirtzberger.
FX Pichler is no relationship to Rudi Pichler.
For Kracher,the higher the number [roughly #1 through #12], the greater the sugar content. “Zwischen den Seen” [“Between the Lakes”] wines are made in stainless steel, whereas “Nouvelle Vague” [“New Wave”] wines are made in oak. Finally, what Kracher called “Welschriesling” is also known as “Riesling Italico” [the “Italian” or “Roman” Riesling]:

Chardonnay is often vinified as a dessert wine in Austria, and the sugary chardonnays with some age on them can be a lot of fun to sip on [and these older dessert chardonnays tend to be ridiculously inexpensive].

If I were eating lunch at a cafe in Vienna, and if they had some random old dessert chardonnay on the wine list, then that’s probably what I’d take a gamble on.

M.Kaplan · September 13, 2014, 4:01pm

Sohyi Kim can cook! One of my favorite places to eat, anywhere.

As is Steirereck.

Nathan_Smyth · September 13, 2014, 4:27pm

Here are the listings for these three winemakers on free Wine-Searcher; I’d definitely upgrade to Wine-Searcher Pro if I were interested in finding the best wines in Austria [and I also threw in the eBay listings]:

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/hirtzberger/1/austria

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/f+x+pichler/1/austria
[u]http://www.ebay.at/sch/sis.html?_nkw=f+x+pichler[/u]
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/fx+pichler/1/austria
[u]http://www.ebay.at/sch/sis.html?_nkw=fx+pichler[/u]

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/kracher+tba/1/austria

For Pichler, it helps to search on “F X” and “FX” [and even “Franz” or “Franz Xaver”].

Kracher is a lot more difficult to search for, because he made so very many different labels [to include table wines] with so many different words on each label.

Anyway, I’d bet that both the retailers and the eBay guys would mail the wines to you at your hotel.

For instance, this listing, on Austrian eBay, for a 1990 Hirtzberger Singerriedel, is very interesting [it ends in just over 24 hours]:

1990 Hirtzberger Singerriedel
ends in 24 hours
http://www.ebay.at/itm/291232677227/

And check out the FX Pichlers at Vintage Weinhandel GMBH - some old Sauvignon Blancs and a 1997 “M” Gruner Veltliner and a magnum of a 1993 Gruner:

Any one of those Pichlers might just be a WOTY candidate.

Eric_Ifune · September 13, 2014, 10:58pm

If you like Burgundy, some of the best Pinot Noir I’ve had outside Burgundy have come from Austria. Gruner Veltliner from the Wachau can age and mature like White Burgundy. The Rieslings are different than the Mosel, they are more Alsace-like.
It’s been some years since I visited, but the Vinothek St. Stephan on the St. Stephans Platz have a good selection and great advice. They even sometimes have some old vintages for sale.

James_Wright · September 14, 2014, 12:52am

Kim Kocht is unique and always memorable; lotsaluck getting a table…

Henry_Kahn · September 16, 2014, 11:13am

The recommenfations earlier on the thread were great. Loved schnattl and there were no language issues . Bacher terrific, Nikolaihof Gruner vinothek 93 showed great though could have done without the toddler at next table . Wonderful tasting at Nikolaihof with Christine saahs included 95, 97 Riesling vinothek which were shimmering but 06 baumpresse and 10 Steiner hund also stood out . Just a wonderful set of wines

Chris_Blum · September 16, 2014, 1:07pm

I thought that the Naschmarkt was a giant tourist trap with overpriced crappy tourist restaurants. Cheap knockoff fussball jerseys aside, I wasn’t impressed. And it’s all torn up right now with construction.

Not exactly Michelin, but I like Plachutta’s a lot.

Nathan_Smyth · September 16, 2014, 2:09pm

EUR 105,00 = [u]about $136[/u]
[ 18 Gebote ] = 18 bids

So with S&H, it would have been about $150 to have had that wine waiting for you at the front desk of the hotel.

EDITED: Unless eBay has to include a VAT in Europe.

Here’s the UK eBay FAQ on the VAT:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/vat-landing/faq/