On day two of the Austrian Wine Summit 2009 we awoke in Vienna, ate a quick, but hearty breakfast at the hotel, and boarded our buses @ 8:15 am for an event-filled trip to Burgenland. We arrived about an hour later at Wine Academy Austria in beautiful Rust for an introduction to "Wine Wonderland Austria" presented by Willi Klinger, director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board.
Our group arriving at Wine Academy Austria:
Willi Klinger presents, "Wine Wonderland Austria:"
Learning all about Burgenland and its wines:
At my table about to begin tasting wines:
Following this introduction were lectures and tastings entitled, "The Diversity of the Wines from Steiermark (Styria)" and "An Overview of the Wines from Burgenland," which were both conducted by Christian Zechmeister, Managing Director of Wein Burgenland.
I enjoyed the 2008 Steibauch Grauburgunder Steibauch by the Lackner-Tinnachler winery in Gamlitz. It was creamy with a touch of vanilla and caramel, but still maintained a crisp acidity on the palate. What I took away from these lectures and tastings is that many Austrians like their wines young and with high acidity.
After visiting the Wine Academy, we traveled by bus to Eisenstadt for lunch at the Esterházy Palace featuring regional specialities from Burgenland. Lunch was delicious and I especially enjoyed the 2006 Beerenauslese by Esterházy Weingut that was served with dessert. Only wines from Esterházy Weingut were served during lunch. I actually bought a bottle of the 2007 Estoras in the airport on the way home. Following lunch was a tour of the amazing Esterházy Palace where Joseph Haydn worked as the conductor for the Esterházy court. After the tour there was an open wine tasting with a variety of Sauvignon Blanc wines from Steiermark (Styria) and Blaufrankish wines from Mittelburgenland.
Our group at lunch:
The gorgeous building where we had lunch:
The Palace!
Next up was a trip to Donnerskirchen for a tasting of wines from the special terroirs of the Leithaberg area at the Hans & Anita Nittnaus winery. Unfortunately, due to heavy rain we were unable to tour the vineyard, but the building itself was quite striking with massive picture windows overlooking lush green forest.
Tasting the many different wines:
Still tasting:
After this tasting we took a lovely boat ride across Lake Neusiedel featuring Austrian sparkling wines by Szigeti, coffee, and cakes. Peter Szigeti was on hand to open one of his wine bottles with a sabre! Lake Neusiedel is beautiful and even shallow enough that most people could walk across it. Lining the lake are small, charming fishing houses. We also caught someone taking a leisurely swim in the rain.
I'm having fun on the boat:
Peter Szigeti brings out the sabre!
I'm always near the food!
Charming fishing houses along the lake:
We arrived the the Nationalparkzentrum Neusiedlersee in Illmitz for a comparative tasting of noble sweet wines grown at either side of the lake. It was here that I finally tasted a Kracher dessert wine and it was well worth the wait. I tasted the 2006 Grand Cuvee Trockenbeerenauslese, which was sweet, raisin perfection.
About to taste some amazing dessert wines!
Following this tasting we headed to the Restaurant Nyikospark in Neusiedl am See for an amazing "Pannonian Dinner" with wines from Burgenland. Sitting with my new friends, eating sumptuous Austrian fare, and sipping wine was a lovely way to end a day full of fun, education, and beauty.
This restaurant was great! I had a nice group to sit with as well:
Leaving the restaurant. Full!
We arrived at Hotel Pasler-Back, part winery-part seminar hotel, in Jois late at night and the majority of us headed straight to our rooms for a good night's sleep.
The wine shop inside Hotel Pasler-Back:
When my head hit the pillow it immediately began to fill with images of the Schloss Hof, where Empress Maria Theresa once lived, which was to be our first stop on Day 3 of Austrian Wine Summit 2009. Until then, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more.
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2 comments:
It looks as if you had as much fun on the Burgenland trip as I did on the Steiermark tour. Peter Szigeti makes some of the greatest bubbles in the wine world. Nice guy too.
Glad you had a great time on the Steiemark tour. Thanks for posting. I'm looking forward to reading about your experience. Yes, Peter Szigeti is very nice and made us all laugh quite a bit. We had a fun time with him drinking bubbly and boating across the lake.
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