VieVinum Day 2: Dinner in Carnuntum

After the master class, several VieVinum attendees headed over the VieVinum Cup and following dinner of Vienna Whites and Lower Austrian Reds, but a couple of my new found companions and I opted to take advantage of one of the separate programs taking place that evening: dinner in the Roman ruins of the Carnuntum wine region featuring traditional Roman cuisine and an array of Zweigelt. Truth be told, I wish it had been possible to attend both - but that just wasn't possible!

The event was hosted by Wine & Partners of Austria who picked up a small group of us, twelve or so, in the city center of Vienna and whisked us away to the vineyards of Carnuntum. Our first stop was the Glatzer winery which was set up to showcase the wines of the region. Present were:

Weingut Walter Glatzer - Zweigelt 2008; Grüner Veltliner 2009
Weingut Gerhard Markowitsch -Zwiegelt 2008; Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben 2009
Weingut Robert Payr - Zwiegelt 2008; Grüner Veltliner Rothenberg 2008
Weingut Gerhard Pimpel - Zwiegelt 2008; Chardonnay 2009
Weingut Franz & Christine Netzl - Zwiegelt 2008; Weissburgunder Selection Barnreiser 2009
Weingut Lukas Markowitsch -Zweigelt 2008; Savignon Blanc 2009
Weingut Johannes Trapl - Rubin Carnuntum Zweigelt 2009
Weingut Franz Taferner - Rubin Carnuntum Zweigelt 2009
Weingut Stefan Ott -Zweigelt 2008
Family Grassl, Nepomukhof - Zweigelt 2008
Family Artner - Zweigelt 2008

After tasting through and a brief introduction to the region we traveled to the town of Carnuntum which hosts the preserved sit of Roman ruins. Our tour guide explained to us that everything we saw there was as close to real as it possibly could be... the coolest part? We could touch everything! The other cool part? Our dinner was actually held in one of the houses that had been preserved and reconstructed. How many people can say they've wined & dined IN ancient ruins?

To begin the dinner, we met outside of the ruins and were served a traditional, mead style beverage of white wine infused with honey paired with a hearty oat bread. Once we shuffled inside to take our places, we found many of the winemakers waiting for us to join them at dinner. The dinner consisted for four courses and each course was paired with three wines.

Ham with a crust of honey served with a wax-creamy egg and a pine nut & lovage sauce
Grüner Veltliner Arbesthal 2009 - Stefan Ott
Grüner Veltliner Selection 2009 - Neopmukhof Grassl
Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben 2008 - Hannes Trapl

Carnuntum green asparagus with mint
Rubin Carnuntum 2008 Zweigelt - Walter Glatzer
Rubin Carnuntum 2008 Zweigelt - Gerhard Markowitsch
Spitzerber 2007 Blaufränkisch - Robert Payr

Braised lamb served with "Liquamen" and dried plums
Zweigelt Selection 2007 - Gerhard Pimpel
Cuvee Lukas 2007 - Lukas Markowitsch
Anna-Christina 2007 - Franz & Christine Netzl

"Globuli-Topfenknödel" served with strawberry salad
Sauvignon Blanc 2009 sample of the barrel - Family Artner
Gelber Muskateller 2009 - Franz Taferner

After the dinner we met back outside to taste through more wines and share a closing cigar before being carted off to Vienna again (which ultimately ended in a trip to the famous Wien & Co. there is a regular occurrence.)

It was really interesting to experience the wine region in such a manner - however touristy it may have actually been. Carnuntum is a lesser- known region of Austria, but is really producing some great wines with a focus on the reds. For more information on Carnuntum, check here.

Winning Wines: Go Austria!

Women's Day magazine recently published an article by Kimberly Fusaro entitled, "Ten Winning Wines Under $15," which can be found here.

The wines selected are described as Women's Day's "picks for the finest affordable sips," and the article includes delicious food-pairing ideas for gourmet summer meals. Each wine spotlighted has a corresponding recipe or two, which is a neat addition to a wine review.

Of the ten wines featured, three are Austrian and of those three, two are widely-grown varietals in Austria: Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt.

The Austrian picks were Grooner Grüner Veltliner (pictured here), Zull Lust & Laune Rosé, and Loimer Zweigelt Fred.

I noticed in the comments section of this article that two readers asked why Yellow Tail was not listed, especially considering most are value-priced. Personally, I welcome the fact no Yellow Tail was included on this list. For example, featuring those Austrian wines opens the door of an entirely new wine region to many people. Women's Day reaches a huge audience. Inexpensive wines don't always have to be Yellow Tail or similar. Believe me. I love their Cabernet-Merlot blend. But I think it's more interesting to try something else occasionally and experience the beauty of another wine's terroir.

What's best about the Women's Day article is that the wines presented are affordable, so readers might be more willing to step outside their Australian comfort zone and visit the the Austrian wine world of Grüner Veltliner, Zweigelt and other delightful varietals.

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.