Visiting Austria in The Trump Tower

Wines of Austria made its annual stop in Toronto to show case some of the best wines from that region.

Held this year at the swanky Trump Tower, it gave new meaning to “hot event.” Either the heat was left on, or the A/C not strong enough, or maybe it was just way too many bodies crammed into a room that clearly wasn’t large enough, but sweat was pouring just as freely as the wein.  So thankfully, Austria has some nice whites that are perfect to sip when the mercury spikes.

Before getting into what those wines are, it’s probably best we give you the a bit of a low down on Austria and the wines it produces.

Austria’s wine growing regions are all in the eastern part of the country, butted up along the Hungarian, Czech and Slovenian borders.  There are four main wine producing regions and within those four are 16 districts & seven DAC’s (Districtus Austriae Controllatus), though in Ontario, we only really see wines from three areas: Wachau, Kamptal & Kremstal.

Not to long ago, Austria’s most famous grape, Grüner Veltliner (pronounced GROON-uhr VELT-LEEN-uhr), became the darling grape-of-the-moment among wino trendsetters.  And, as with most “it” things, the beautiful people amalgamated the grape’s two names into one, affectionally calling it  “Grü-Vee.” (get it?)

Grüner Veltliner is a good wine; ranging from fresh and zippy with flavours of lemon-lime, green herbs and white pepper spice at the entry level, to lightly oak treated and voluptuous with spicy-honey notes at the reserve level.  With a good whack of minerality and a good amount of acidity, these whites are also great matches for food – from rich pork loin in cream sauce, to delicate sushi to the oft wine-challenged asparagus.

Riesling’s is also very big in Austria, as the cool climate and rocky, mineral soils are perfect for producing racy, mineral-driven Rieslings.

Reds are also grown here, though the names aren’t very charming to the English ear: Blaufränkisch (blau-FRANK-ish), an intense and spicy red with high tannin and high acidity, and Zweigelt (TZVY-GELT) is bright and fresh with flavours of red cherry, baking spice and even some floral notes.

These are just the tip of the iceberg.  Austria grows about 35 varietals overall – everything from ubiquitous Chardonnay to the esoteric Blauer Portugieser.  And those wines are also broken down into all kinds of different styles. There are two main styles for Austrian wines (and many more that fall under these umbrellas)  “klassik” which refers to wines that are light, fruity and fresh, and “reserve” which refers to wines that are fuller bodied, have had some contact with oak and can be aged.  It’s quite an organized system, and we don’t have the time to really get into it, but click here, if you want to know more.

If you haven’t heard all that much about Austrian wines, you haven’t committed some serious misstep of wine etiquette.  Truth be told, Austria doesn’t really produce all that much wine in the grand scheme of things, and most of what it makes, is consumed there.  While it still enjoys the financial benefits of a strong and continually growing export market, its biggest consumers outside of Austria are Germany, Switzerland, and the US.

Now, to the good stuff.

Loimer Grüner Veltliner Kamptal DAC 2011 $19.95 (Le Sommelier)
Perfect for summer time sipping.  This zippy wine shows racy minerality, fresh lemon-lime and white grapefruit flavours.  Delicious.

Nigl Gartling Grüner Veltliner Kremstal DAC 2011 $19.95 (Le Sommelier)
Pale straw and refreshingly effervescent, this wine has flavours of white grapefruit, bitter lemon pith and green herb.

Nigl Reserve “Privat Pellingen” Grüner Veltliner Kremstal DAC 2010 $49 (Le Sommelier)
Round and plush with flavours of white peach, lychee and honey.

Tement Grassnitzberg Sauvignon Blanc Südsteiermark 2010 (Woodman Wines & Spirits)
Fermented in tank and matured in large barrels, this wine shows more pink grapefruit and orange citrus notes, along with some mineral zest.

Zahel Leiten St. Laurent Reserve Wein 2010 (The Small Winemakers)
A native Austrian red grape that some say is a descendant of Pinot Noir, though just as many say it is not.  Either way, this fresh red is filled with red fruit, earth and spice flavours and would go down splendidly with a plate of charcuterie.