A tasting of Austrian wines

The Wine School I attend convened last night to taste Austrian wines.

It was the first post-lockdown event I attended and for this alone I enjoyed it.

The tutor began by extolling the virtues of Austrian wines: they are organically grown, have more reduced alcoholic content and there is now a generation of talented young wine growers.

 I would add that they are good value.

70% of Austrian wine production is white wine, 30% is red.

Its signature wine is the Gruner Veltliner which appears on many a restaurant wine list.

One of the unique characters of Austrian wine is that Vienna is the only capital city to grow wine within its city limits.

This was permitted by Joseph II by edict in 1784 and gave rise to the Heurige.

This allows a native Viennese to make his own wine and serve it in an Inn attached to his home often in a forest surrounding Vienna.

The low point of Austrian wine is the anti-freeze scandal of the 1980s when this was added to wine as an artificial sweetener.

The culprits went to prison but the reputation of all Austrian wine producers was blackened.

We tasted 6 wines – 3 reds (Zweigelt Wagam £13.50,  Blaufrankisch £9.50, The Dot St Laurent £12.50) and 3 whites (Roter Veltliner £8.50, Gruner Veltliner £16 and Johanneshof Gumpoldskirchner £ 16.50).

By general consent the whites were superior.

The Roter Veltliner – no relation to the Gruner Veltliner – was the best value.

The Zweigeld, a fusion of Blaufrankisch and St Laurent, is popular as its alcohol content is normally around 11-13%. A claret can be 14%. Nowadays drinkers are more conscious of a “heavy” wine.

There is a snobbery about wine often reflected in price.

Austrian wine offers great value and interesting food pairing at a more affordable level than the grander Bordeaux and Bourgognes.

Availability is a problem which is a good reason to visit Austria enjoy the Heurige and visit the charming village of Rust.