Gerhard Kracher Named “Sweet Winemaker of the Year”

Hello!


To start with here is a piece of good news....

A true triumph for Gerhard Kracher at this year´s International Wine Challenge in London: the 28-year-old winemaker from Illmitz, Austria, captured the wine world´s most coveted sweet wine trophy when he was named “Sweet Winemaker of the Year”.

The award. presented to Kracher at the International Wine Challenge Awards Dinner at London´s Grosvenor Hotel on Wednesday, 2 September, reflects the young winemaker´s continuation on the successful path begun by his father, the late sweet wine legend, Alois Kracher, who himself was awarded the “Sweet Winemaker of the Year” title seven times, with the last given posthumously in 2008.

“This truly is a wonderful achievement, and not just for me, but for the entire team,” said the jubilant Gerhard Kracher. “It is great that all of our hard work has been recognized with such an honour.”

The International Wine Challenge in London is one of the most important annual events of the international wine and gourmet world. Its high point is the International Wine Challenge Awards Dinner, at which all of the competition winners are announced. Competition at the IWC is tough: every year, nearly 1000 wineries submit more than 9500 wines for judging – making it even more significant that Gerhard Kracher received not only the most important of the IWC awards, but that all of the Kracher wines entered into the competition were awarded with a medal.

Austrian Samples & Swing

On Thursday, May 13th my boss Steve Raye and I headed back to New York for the "Austrian Samples & Swing" party at the Austrian Consulate General on East 69th street in Manhattan. Prior to the event we needed to make a stop at MHW, Ltd. in Manhasset, NY. MHW, Ltd. is an importer and distributor of wine, beer, and spirits. We were there picking up several cases of Oval Vodka, which is a luxury vodka from Austria. Since we had a bit of time to spare before our pick-up we stopped in at Young's Fine Wines & Spirits, which was just down the street.

We introduced ourselves to two staff members, Robbie Sandor and Brad Haskel, of this gigantic, yet personal wine shop. Robbie is an incredibly nice, older gentleman who once worked on his Grandfather's vineyard in his native Hungary. Later, he worked in the international airline industry, and traveled to many different wine regions.

Brad is a certified Sommelier and extremely knowledgeable about wine. He conducts wine tastings and teaches wine education classes at the store. You can read more about his wine consulting business here.

Here I am looking through their impressive selection of Austrian wines.



















Here are Brad (on the left) and Robbie. They were both great hosts and tour guides.














And here's a cool shot of the Austrian wines available for purchase. It's the largest collection I've seen in a retail store to date.



















Later we drove into Manhattan for the "Austrian Samples & Swing" event, arriving at about 6 o'clock. Here I am with my acquaintance Laura, who is half-German and half-Argentinian. She is an aspiring wine maker. I met Laura about a month ago at the Darcy & Huber portfolio wine tasting. She's super nice and is doing masterful job at learning the English language. As an aside, why are non-Americans usually so hip looking?














The event had a huge attendance, as you can see below. There were wine critics, authors, journalists, restauranteurs, and more in tow.














Below is the view from the Winemonger Imports table. The Winemonger site has a blog and you can purchase their wines, they specialize in Austrian wines, from the site. I tasted their Manfred Weiss, Grüner Veltliner Eiswein 'Fahrenheit 19' 2005. Eiswein means "ice wine," which is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The Manfred was sweet and refreshing.














And below is the view from the Michael Skurnik Wines table. Pouring the wine is their brand manager Jeremy Schwartz. There I tried my first Austrian rosé, Hofer's 2008 Zweigelt Rosé. I'd like to buy this wine to share with others as soon as possible. It's a lovely, summer wine.














The other wine importers at the event were Darcy & Huber Selections, Monika Caha Selections, Inc., Prescott Wines, Inc., and Vin Divino, Ltd. Monika Caha Selections were just mentioned in a Slate article about wine importers you can count on. Read more about it here. At Vin Divino's table I was able to try Kracher's 2007 Pinot Gris Illmitz, which was quite good, but my heart is still stuck on one day tasting a Kracher dessert wine. I'll schedule that during my trip to Austria this June!

Overall, it was an exciting day. The Austrian Trade Commission and the Austrian Wine Marketing Board produced an excellent event. Austrian wine, delicious Austrian hors d'oeuvres, and snappy Jazz music by the Hayes Kavanagh Jazz Sextett. We had a fine time.

Greetings and Salutations

Oy. I've been racking my brain in hopes of producing a witty, informative, and entertaining first post, but then I realized my manners. Hello, everyone. My name is Laurie and I'm the author of Petite Terroir.

Currently, I'm a social media marketing manager at Brand Action Team, LLC, which is located in my bustling hometown of Avon, CT.

I'm working on a extensive marketing project with the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. The project includes reaching out to wine bloggers (all 600+ of us, lol) as well as an e-commerce component. I look forward to visiting Austria in June for the 2009 Austrian Wine Summit. And I'll be attending the 2009 Wine Bloggers' Conference in Napa this July.

A little more about me: I was raised by a mother from France and a father from Iran (that's them on their wedding day in 1972. Hello, crazy Pucci wedding dress!). My Dad lived in France on and off for nearly twenty years. Interesting fact about my Dad: loves expensive, French wine, but drinks cheap, American beer (like Piels). My Mom arrived from Paris in 1976. I think it goes without saying that the type of wine I've been most exposed to is French. Cabernet Sauvignon, in particular.

However, as wonderful French wine is I enjoy tasting and drinking wines from other regions, too. Terroir changes everything. C'est vrai, non? I've had a great deal of exposure to Austrian wines since beginning this marketing project. I'm particularly fond of Austrian dessert wines. They are sweet, syrupy, luscious gold in my humble opinion. I'm looking forward to tasting those made by Kracher when I reach Austria. Of the non-dessert wines, the Laurenz V Singing Grϋner Veltliner is another favorite. It certainly does "sing."

Next week I'm attending an event at the Austrian Consulate General in New York City. The event will feature an Austrian wine tasting from importers Vin Divino, Michael Skurnick Wines, Prescott Wines, Inc., Darcy and Huber Selections, Monika Caha Selections, and Winemonger Imports.

Recently, I stopped by my local wine shop for a bottle of Bonny Doon Vineyard's Big House Red. I asked the store clerk to show me their Austrian wine selection. Unsurprisingly, it consisted of only about six wines, all whites, mostly GVs, no desert wines or reds. However, over the past half-decade Austria's wine exports have enjoyed a 250% increase, so I hope to see more of their varietals in our retail shops and online, and not just in major cities.

More to come at a later date. Thanks very much for stopping by. À votre santé!