Winebow Portfolio Tasting

On Monday, I attended the Winebow tasting of Austrian wines held at Hearth Restaurant at 1^st ave and E 12^th Street in NYC.

Lucky for me, I was familiar with most of the wines there having had the chance to attend a few of their tastings in the past (and after all working for Austrian wine brings me in contact with LOTS of Austrian wines… trust me, no complaints here.)

One producer I was not very familiar with, but was happily acquainted was Weingut Bernard Ott. The tasting featured a Grüner Veltliner and a Riesling by this producer and I must admit, I was a happy taster.

The Grüner Veltliner was nice and fruity, structured with a nice balance of acidity and spice to convince me to sneak back for a second taste after I’d gone through the rest (but shh, don’t tell anyone that!)

The Riesling was also a pleasant surprise. Instead of being the usual bone-dry Riesling with a lot of acid and more citrus than stone fruit, this wine was a bit fruitier up front and a nice variation of what I may otherwise expect from Austrian Riesling (not that I don’t love them still- just a different take on it!)

The packaging is also a bit eye catching and seems to be a nice balance of both a new-age and a traditional method (see picture.)

Unfortunately, I don’t have the price point or the distribution of this wine off hand (I’m actually 10,000 feet up in the air at the moment) but I’ll look it up when I’m back in the office!)

On that note, I’m headed to Australia for the rest of the month – to return May 1^st. That’s the one with the kangaroos. I’ll try to check in, but in case I don’t have a chance… cheers!

What we drank last night: Hajszan Gruner Veltliner 2008

The other day we decided to crack a bottle of the Hajszan Gruner Veltliner 2008 Nussberg from Vienna. The aromatic grape varietal showed its colors here. Spicy white pepper and exotic fruits. Medium in bodied and structured with a lingering finish.

I happened to be eating a combination of steamed vegetables for lunch that day and the wine was a nice pairing for that... Gruner's always good for a little vegetable pairing.

The Hajszan winery follow a biodynamic approach focusing on quality over quantity. The winery says that this approach really helps to accentuate the terroir's influence on the wine. The soils are nourished with animal and plant matter as fertilizer.

The Viennese style of Gruner is always a crowd pleaser. Fruity with a bit of spice, nice and structured through and through - perfect for food.

Weingut Schwarzböck - Grüner Veltliner

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Boston Wine Writer's Meet-up at the Boston Wine School in Allston, MA.

To my pleasant surprise, a fellow writer had brought along an Austrian Grüner I'd never had before from Weingut Schwarzböck located just outside of Vienna.

Of course this was one of the first wines I opted to try! The nose was distinctly Grüner Veltliner, but without the pungent citrus nose that can sometimes over power everything else. There was much more apple and stone fruit to the nose of this wine which I found a pleasant lead-in to the palate. The wine was medium bodied and had a persistent structure that really made me stop and think, "yum."

The wine was definitely a crowd-pleaser - but then again, isn't Grü-V always a crowd pleaser? ;)

Austria Uncorked May 3rd

Recently, I posted about the Austria Uncorked taking place in NYC on May 5th, but did you know there's also a San Francisco tasting on May 3rd from 6pm-9pm?

Advanced tickets are only $45 and by using the code BLOGAUSTRIA you can get an additional $5 off.

This is the biggest Austrian wines tasting ever in the US and attendees will have the opportunity to sample a variety of producers from across the country's wine regions.

So don't delay! Buy you tickets today at bottlenotes.com today!