Austrian Wine Bargains: pre-harvest 2007
In spite of the growing number-and apparent profitability-of high-end wines from Austria, there are still genuine bargains to be found. At a pre-harvest tasting at Wein&Co in Vienna, a Viennese Grüner Veltliner from Phillip Zoll blew the crowd away.
Old Austrian wine hands probably think of Viennese wines as the lightly flavored little sourballs that make the summer days go by or the hearty heurigen food go down. They are bargains in the sense of not costing very much. But real bargains start when more refined qualities come in.
The Grüner from Zoll costs a mere 9.55 Euro. The nose is an intriguing blend of white pepper and herbs with a subtle floral hint. The lightly fruity flavors open up on the palate along with a bright and refreshing acidity and medium body. The finish is surpringly long and leaves a clean, appetizing sensation behind.
So what's going on here? Is this a fluke? Were the winemakers in Vienna's Weinviertel needlessly floundering? Is there a catch?
The short answer is that I don't know if this lovely wine signals a trend or if it's just a one-off.
Stay tuned.
-Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine
B & G Vouvray and Moliterno
Back in the 1950's, the very few wine-lowers in the US could always rely on Barton & Guestier, a negociant who mostly bottled and labeled wines from Bordeaux. B&G Sauternes was a staple at my family's holiday dinners, their Graves popped out of the refrigerator whenever Mom put fish was on the table. Later, as more wines were available at the local wineshop, B&G had a reputation of being 'always good, never great' and I only bought their wines if I was stranded someplace.
So it's with a certain pleasant nostalgia (nostalgia is just a longing for home) that I tell you that a bottle of Vouvray from B&G snapped a lot of people's heads back at a recent tasting. It's even more fun to report that a cheese-Moliterno from Sardinia-went so well with it that even people who were new to this whole wine-and-cheese business were gabbing about it. The Moliterno has all the complications of a good Pecorino and a moist and tangy presence in the mouth.
B&G Vouvray, about $7 in New Jersey at Canal's Marlton
Moliterno is $14.99/lb. at DiBruno Brothers.