¶ Exploring Austrian White Wines
I'm Rashi . Hi and welcome to Wine with Megan Malware here to help you navigate the world of wine . I'm Michael Christ Ramblin' Master of Wine , meg Brotman and baby Billie , and today we're doing Austria .
We are , and all Austrian whites , so we'll do Austrian reds in another time . There's not much in the way of red , is there ? No , there's some Blafrankisch Zweigelt , that's it . Yeah , there's a little bit of Pinot coming out of Bergenland , so there is a bit coming out , but I bought these .
So , for those of you who don't have access to distributors , all of these were through Stellar Hand , because what I wanted to do is Stellar Hand is a distributor , importer and distributor . Yeah , but what I wanted to do was Austrian whites that weren't greener .
Oh yeah , that's good .
So I have a range of wines here . You'll probably know Riesling and the rest . Heard of it , yep , I reckon the rest you may not know .
Awesome . Okay , I'm obsessed with that .
Yeah , I'm so excited there's even a natural wine in there as well and I bought this ages ago and I said to Mel , I have no idea what this last one is . I was like , oh , I've had to go back and do my research on it .
All right , well , I'm stoked , we're going to do that , but first , meg , what have you been drinking ?
So I had speaking of Riesling . I was at the International Cool Climate Wine Show trade show . Oh yeah , did you judge ? No , I didn't judge , but I was doing a Yarra Valley masterclass of a few wines but I have pictures of the toilet . I know we had to change the toilet seat . Don't start me , you've got a fun .
I had a Castelli Riesling 2023 from Mount Barker Mount .
Barker .
Never heard of the brand . They had a lot of wines in the show . Where's Mount Barker , great Southern in WA ? Absolutely bloody delicious . No idea how much price . Well , I have no idea how much it costs . I have no idea where it's like , who Castelli are , anything about them , but it was just beautiful , beautiful Riesling .
Nice so go out and buy the wine All right , we'll put that in the show notes .
What do we fun fact ? That's what I want from you .
Fun fact , it's just more on sustainability and climate . I was listening to a podcast talking to Miguel Torres Sr the original OG of Miguel Torres , talking about climate change , and he basically said they said well , you know , do you think we can catch up ? And he said no , we're 50 years too late . Oh , and I was just like that's not very happy news .
But he kind of gave a positive push to it because he said it's forced these really traditional wine-growing regions and he name checked Bordeaux into actually getting off their butts , to innovate and to try new grape varieties and to get ahead of the game . And he said and that's what the wine industry should be about .
There is , of course , tradition , but not every part of every traditional region is perfectly suited for that great variety .
That's a very positive take . I think if we had our choice , we'd take Bordeaux , not innovating , and there not be climate change .
I kind of disagree because I think the I'm using Bordeaux as an example , but you could apply this to Rioja and Napa and possibly even the Yarra Valley . In that Bordeaux , everyone trades on it and there is some absolute crap Bordeaux out there . Now if they had the ability to okay trade on Bordeaux but to make a Mouvedre , for example ?
I kind of like that . You have your traditional regions that you know what you're getting , and then you have your innovative regions that you don't .
Oh , I kind of think it's cool that these traditional regions are being forced to innovate and they've got the money behind it and they're going to pull . It's a halo effect . They're going to pull everyone else through , yeah , but I just thought it was a really interesting take after a very negative message .
I was literally driving and I kind of went oh my God , we're 50 years too late . Yeah , but it is depressing the wine world . If we're going to attract new people , we have to constantly be on our game . Yeah , Just don't sit on your laurels , I think , is the message . So that's more of a fun fact or a public service announcement for me .
I'm not quite sure where it falls in . I think it's something , but yeah , it's worth listening to .
All right . Well , let's get into it , because I am so excited .
I know we have some pretty awesome wines . I've got to say I can't even remember where it came from , but was like we were going to do it ages ago . So I ordered the ones and then they didn't turn up . Remember , because I did order them through um and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say this .
But you can go sell a hand , have like a , an online store . You're not paying full retail , you pay like luc pricing and I'm not sure if only trade members get invited to get access , probably , if that's the case , um , so know , I paid .
None of these wines are cheap , but Sellahand , as an importer , is the greatest importer of German and Austrian wines in Australia .
Yeah , so for the show notes , I'll find where they're actually available for retail and link to those .
Yeah , they've got to be somewhere . Yeah , Well , the first one that we have is definitely somewhere , Domain Wachau . So just a little bit of pricey on Austria . Austria obviously is a continental climate in Central Europe . It sort of sits between Eastern Europe and Western Europe and it's had a long history of , you know , German integration .
The way that they have traditionally based their quality assessment of their wines was very Germanic , so they have Qualitats Wein quality wine that is based on different levels of ripeness .
Yeah .
But what they've been doing now is that they've decided that , okay , there are qualitets found from certain regions , of which there are nine regions , general regions like Bergenland , and then within that , they've actually started to sub-regionalise . So they're calling it the Roman system , but more of the French system and the Italian system , where you name the region .
So we have Wachau in there . So they're breaking it down . It's sort of like sub-regionalisation . Go onto their website , the Austrian Wine Board . They are very clear about Is Austria next to Germany . Part of it .
What language do they speak ?
They speak a form of German .
Do they ? It's Austrian . I didn't know if that was a dumb question , but I don't think it is , it's .
Austrian , but it's the Austrian-Hungarian like empire . Yeah , they owned a lot of Europe .
Central Europe Above or below or next to .
Below .
Below , so is it warmer ?
No , because it's very landlocked .
What do you mean ?
Well , it's not near any water at all .
I'll show you a map , shall I Mel ? Yeah , but this is a visual medium , so I'm going to have to work with the listeners .
Mel's going to put the Austria map up for you , so just so that you can see countries .
Because generally in Europe , the higher , like the further away you are from the equator , the colder it is . So if they were above Germany it'd be colder , but it's very , but below it'd be warmer , but we're not talking about that . Yeah , so it lies in the eastern Alps .
I'm going to have to give you a geography lesson , but it's all too hard now .
I'm so bad at geography . That is my main sticking point when it comes to wine .
Okay , trying to get a map of Europe . Oh , it's all too hard . So there you go . So you've got the Western border is with Italy .
Oh , austria is just above Italy . Yes , I don't know .
Then you've got Germany , France , and then you've got all these other Archean countries around that I can't . I think Romania's there , Bulgaria's there . So it's cold because it's mountainous , is that .
It's continental . Yeah , it's got to be warm because it's Italy . No , the northern part of Italy's not warm .
The southern part of Italy's warm , okay , so it's on the eastern Alps , so there's lots of mountains , informed of it . So it borders with Alto Adige in Italy . Alto Adige was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire originally , so there's a lot of mountains involved .
I'm making it really simple here , but the one thing that they have is they have the big Danube River , which is a very big , deep glacial river . Yeah , so that absorbs heat .
Yeah . And then reflects that during the night .
And like Germany , you have even though it's cool , you have these long autumns so you can ripen things like Riesling oh how fun . So the first , I feel informed . Yes , and I tell you what , if you ever go , contract the Austrian Wine Board to do their wine tours , they are fantastic .
Oh , I want to go .
Yeah , and the food is just next level . Anyway , on to the wine Domaine Vacal Riesling , fiederspiel . So Fiederspiel is they break their ripeness levels down into sort of body weight . So Fiederspiel , I think , translates as feather game . So feather weight is kind of how I think you probably , so it's like a life .
Yeah , it's lighter bodied , it's sort of that 11.5% 12.5% . The difference between Austrian and German Riesling is Austrian Riesling tends to be dry , 12.5% to 13% . We don't have all these sweet levels . And Fetispeel , because of the very name we know it is like that .
It's quite minerally , slatey , doesn't have the lime because it does tend to ripen , has these long autumns , tends to have a bit of that apricot character , excuse me .
It's so slatey .
Very , very mineral . Yeah , so as Austria sort of developed , they've spent a lot of money on their wine , but as they started to develop and mature as well as a wine producing region , international wine producing region that people know about , they're starting to get their own game .
So they have these DACs , which is these sub-regions , and then within that , this wine is Riedbruck that's my German for you which is a very steep site in the Spitz ravine of the Wachau Valley . So it's talking about all the kind of soils that are there , but they're talking about peach and apricot aromas .
There is a slatiness , definitely , but because reasoning , when it's allowed to ripen slowly in a cool climate , takes on that apricot character . This is classic WSET level two teaching . We don't see a lot of that in Australia and I think that's because our ripening is a little bit shortened because of our warmer climate .
But this is just 12.5% alcohol and beautiful wine .
I really , really love the intense citrus flavour , especially on the finish , but I think I'm missing a bit of body or something that's Fidget Spill yeah . So is that lightness ?
on the finish , but I think I'm missing a bit of body or something .
That's Fidget Spill yeah , so is that lightness . It's a bit too light , I think .
And just you know , you have this with some pork thing . Pete made this amazing pork thing the other night and it would be perfect for this . It had butter , beans and tomato and kale and pork and he just literally threw it all together .
Next level , fantastic level fantastic , yeah , okay , Actually I'd ask Winnie Yum , but I wouldn't want to pay too much for it .
No , I think it's around the $35 mark , Like I said .
I'll have to . Yeah , I reckon you could get that from like a $15 Riesling .
No , I'm not talking . This is the thing . If you buy this , you buy this because you want to try an Austrian Riesling .
If you , want to drink Riesling . Do you think it's different enough that you would compel our listeners to go try it ? No , but I think it's always fun to try something different . Yeah , but I mean so far . I would say , though , like , if you want to try something different , go get an Austrian Gewürzt .
She's harsh . Alright , we'll move on then , shall we ?
I'm feeling a bit offended here . No , who's the mean person on ?
the X Factor , simon Cowell , his face can't move because of the Botox . It's just absolutely appalling . Okay , the next one we have is a Velik Wein aus Österreich Appalling . Okay , the next one we have is a Velic Vein Austeric . Austeric is a I'm going to put my Australian accent on it because that's how you pronounce it .
Austeric is a region , one of the larger regions .
¶ Exploring Unique European White Wines
This is Welsh Riesling . Now , welsh Riesling is a grape variety that is planted right throughout Central Europe , parts of Italy , eastern Europe , and it kind of never gets named on the grape variety . For me , I've made a lot of Welsh Riesling , very ordinary entry-level wines .
It has a waxy Wait , what do you mean ? Welsh Riesling ? It's a grape variety . Oh my God , I was like . I thought we were talking about .
It's not from Wales . Why are you ?
talking about Wales Seriously .
Okay , like I thought we're doing Australia . It's not from Wales . Why are you talking about Wales , seriously ? Okay , it has a bazillion . What are they called synonyms ? Right , let me see if I can find them all . It's known by a thousand different . It's a white grape variety unrelated to the Rhine Riesling that's grown throughout Central Europe .
It's called Riesling Italico , ollas , riesling Lasky , riesling Grasvina . It just has a huge number .
So it's like a hybrid clone something .
I don't even know that they know where it's from .
Oh okay , welsh Riesling .
Yeah .
It's not from Wales .
Probably from Northern Italy . Okay , the closest relative is Elbling Ah , of course , because we know all those Elbling wines , of course . So this is one of those great varieties that when you're in working in eastern and central Europe you see , but it's kind of just treated as a filler .
You try and blend it with Riesling or , in the case of Austria , gruner , or you try and blend it with something else because it isn't well-known . That's why I wanted to get this , because I've had plenty of this stuff in tank but I don't think I've ever seen a straight bottled Welsh Riesling .
Okay , well , I don't know what it is , but when I smell it it's like a curry . I smell curry .
It smells like curry leaf . Yeah , that is such a good descriptor . It's got the most beautiful pink-cheeked baby looking at me at the moment . I just want to kidnap her Curry leaf . It does smell like a curry In my head .
When I was working in Europe , the closest thing that I could attribute it to was like Tribiano , yeah yeah , For me it was like a Tribiano . It has this waxiness that Tribiano has and Tribiano there probably is a Tribiano Welsh reason , because Tribiano gets attached to everything in Italy it is . It does smell like curry leaf .
It's cool , though it's really inviting . It's like what the hell am I getting into here ? But I'm into it Is what it's like .
Bit of residual sugar , I think , do you ? Yes , absolutely Super textured , yeah , great acidity oh , I like that a lot . Bit of apricot nectar , like the tinned apricot that you get .
It is when you do apricot chicken . It like the tinned apricot that you get when you do apricot chicken . It is like that .
So this is Velik . That's the producer . It's grown in Hungary , croatia , slovenia , austria , czech Republic , slovakia , romania and Serbia . I just I got this simply because it's something that we haven't heard of . Why not try something that is a different grape variety that normally doesn't get name checked ?
No , this is unreal . Yeah , this is so good . Everyone should try this . It's different and fun . This is actually like how much is this worth ?
Oh , I'll have to send that to you because the invoice is actually on the box , but I don't know what we ended up doing with the box . None of these were particularly cheap because they're obviously produced in small volumes and imported .
Lime honey and curry .
And finger limes ? Yeah , and there is , and the way it feels on your mouth is sort of like a mirin-y sweetness . There's still like an acidity in there .
Yeah , nice acid . Yeah , it's Very cool , Very good .
So the next one I've got for you is musket autonelle Is what ? So it's part of the musket family Vitis vinifera , but this is actually grown in Hungary , In Alsace . So you of the musket family Vitis vinifera , but this is actually grown in Alsace . So you know the musket Alsace . So Muscata Petit Grand and Muscata Autenelle are grown in Alsace .
You mean at Alsace as well as Austria .
Yes , ah , so you know that musket is one of the noble varieties of Alsace , so it can be name-checked on the label . So they can use Muscata Petit Grand or Muscata Autenelle , so they can use it all of the same family . Yeah , and again , I've never really seen a Muscata Autenelle by itself .
No , okay , cool .
So usually with musket , I would be expecting , before we taste this , moderate acidity , moderate alcohol , a little bit soapy , very floral , lots of like lemon , white flowers , talcum powder characteristics Talcum powder that's fun , yeah . Nana's talcum powder , yeah . So musket Ottenel and Alsace . As I said , you can have musket Ottenel or musket de Petit Grand .
Apparently I'm just reading this now it was first cultivated in Alsace by the Loire grower Mourou Robert in 1852 . It is believed to be a cross of Chasselas with musket de Saumur . Huh , who knew ?
Anyway , usually for me muskets and even this applies to Alsace , and I've always questioned why Alsace makes it as a noble grape variety- because they're very broad they have a like a . It's like hay and daniloquin . It's just this expansive plainness on your palate . It's very , very broad .
It also has a slight brown colour , which is top TPMW students musket often does has a slight brown colour to it , if you can see that .
So it's got a little bit of a tinge of the orangey brownie .
Orange , yes , okay , or we , we orange Orange musket . We're not even going to pretend because our French is not good . I'll speak for yourself , ag , but it is .
It's very lemony linalool musket . But there's a really , really highly perfumed plant in there and I don't know my plants well enough , but it's jasmine or fucking aloe vera or something Daphne , the winter one .
Which is what I've got outside my garden Maybe .
I don't know , but it smells really nice . It's a white , flat waxy flower smell .
Yeah , that's exactly what it smells like . Yeah , it is beautiful . That broadness bothers me , though , and I've always this for me oh , it's cool , it's different , I like that . For me , this is going to be so specifically random .
It is the perfect wine with washed rind cheese , because that feeling of broadness across the palate that washed rinds give you , I think you get from the wine , and it's got enough oomph to support those sorts of cheeses . I just love how crazy different it is , yeah no , it's pretty nice and it's nice to see someone actually do it .
So it's the same producer , it's Velik and , yeah , it's Muscat Autenel . What about you ? Can you see over the computer ?
What about ? Oh vintage , yeah , 2020 . Yeah , beautiful , that's cool .
I don't know what's going on , but I'm into it . Yum . So the last wine we've got , because , like everywhere else in the world , the hipsters and groovers are getting down into the areas . And I have to say , any of you who are planning to travel to Austria , do the wine tour . You can bike ride , it's really well set up .
They'll take your wine back to your hotel . Yeah , there's picnic spots on the way . I mean they really want people to . It's called the vine something , anyway .
Here to inform you at one with Megan Mouth .
Just go into the Austrian Wine Board . They are so good . We have now Pitnauer's Perfect Day 2021 . So this is a white wine from Bergenland made from muscat , autumnal tramina and grunewaldlinger .
Cool .
Yeah , so I thought I'd get something a little bit funky and it's named after Perfect Day . Because they love the Lou Reed song , shall I sing . Just a perfect day Drinks sangria in the park and later , when it got dark , we went home .
And they lost half their listeners .
We are just like who was Simon Cowell on America's Got Talent or whatever that's us . So I got this just because , hey , why not ?
Yeah , no , obsessed with that , I'm still not really over the last one , but oh wow .
It's got that orange tang smell that I often get in skin contact whites . The beauty of this is it's orange fizzy lolly . It's not in a clear bottle , thank God . It's a really funky shaped bottle , yeah .
It's like a fizzle , like an orange fizzy sherbet .
That is a drink . Don't think it's delicious . The acidity is fantastic . It's kind of really sour , sour grapefruity character in all the good ways , like when you want something acidic that you enjoy . Oh yum yeah it's good , it's sour , like yeah , but nice sour . Yummy , yummy sour , Not like sucking on a lemon sour , like a grapefruity sour .
That is a really really good wine .
You could crush that on a nice day .
Yeah , awesome , it's €17.90 , so I imagine it's probably quite expensive . So probably up there for the natural wine buff . So this is Pit Now's Perfect Day , Orange 2021 , and just a blend of different grape varieties . Good on them for trying something else . Austria , I think people tend to think , is quite Germanic , a little bit staid , a little bit boring .
So it's good to see that there is a movement of natural wine there as well , but also a movement that was much more conservative , I guess , or traditional , sticking to these original grape varieties .
Muscat or Tonelle , oh , mel loves it .
Yeah , I'm hooked on that . Never been a fan Really .
No , I'm hooked on that , never been a fan , really no , I'm hooked on it .
Never been a fan of Alsace musket , I just love . There's just a broadness in the palate that I'm not a fan of .
Yeah and I see it , but maybe I'm just so inclined to like stuff that is so different to what I'm used to drinking . I think I am .
True , I mean it really stands out , yeah , but what would you ? I mean , for me , washed rind cheese is good with that , but I don't know what else it's fresh .
I'd have it with fruit platter or what's that thing where you wrap the prosciutto around a piece of pear ? Yeah , it's like Spanish or something . I'd have that with that . That would be really nice .
It's like Spanish or something . I'd have that with that . That would be really nice . It's Italian and you wrap it around a piece of melon , cancel it , but we're close . Mel , you , gourmand , you , but no , actually that is a good , that is a great food pairing . Okay well , thank you , but I still wouldn't drink it . I would go .
I loved the Riesling from Domaine Vacquard , very , just what it is . Yeah , the Welsh Riesling , I just , I just hats off to them because it's such a dang great variety .
Yeah , that's cool .
And it's often spelt R-I-Z-L-I-N-G Riesling . Oh , cute Riesling . It's got Riz , it's got a little bit of texture to it . It's not a definable grape variety , so it's not like oh yeah , it's got you know , slatedness , so it's got to be Riesling . It's just it's kind of white yes , textural white , yes . And then the last wine .
I thought I would hate that and I actually really enjoyed it .
Okay , so people at home if they want to taste something Austrian , what should they try and source this weekend ?
Go have a look for a Welsh Riesling and the musket , the Welsh Riesling You've got to get nice .
Oh no , yes , yes , the Welsh Riesling , Alan and the musket , yes , okay .
So producer Velich V-E-L-I-C-H . Yeah , I'm sure this is probably restaurant-based wine
¶ Discovering Austrian Grape Varieties
. Yeah , we are lucky , mel and I , that we can go straight to the importers . I didn't know it could , so we're talking after this . Yeah , we are , and I did it because I wanted to do not . What's so standard ? Okay , I'm covering . Oh , are we recording ? Yep , yep . Okay , clearly I'm not the smart one . I'm covering for Mel here .
So take home message is go onto the Austrian Wine Board's website so you can actually learn about Austria , but try and source some of these less known grape varieties Gruner , we know about . Riesling , we know about . We will do a red Austrian episode further down the track . But yeah , this was just a bit of fun . I'm stoked . This was awesome .
Oh , did you like it ? Billy liked it too .
Yes , we will be back with you next time . Until then , enjoy your next glass of wine and drink well .