In what feels like
another lifetime, I taught English conversation classes at a university in
Tokyo. One of my colleagues was an American from Tennessee called David. He
told me about a fellow foreigner he had worked with in Saudi Arabia, who
pursued a curious lifestyle. The man in question would live like a hermit while
in Saudi, spending almost none of his very competitive salary. Then, at the end
of the academic year, he would go to Vienna for a month and blow the lot. He
did this every year.
 |
| Nussberg © Austrian Wine / WSNA |
I was in Vienna to learn about
the city’s wines, so I didn’t get a chance to explore and imagine what this man
might have spent all his money on. I did have a chance to do some driving,
which was about the most stressful experience I’ve had since my flat in Japan
began rocking crazily during a nighttime earthquake. Hopefully, then, some of
his hard-earned cash went on taxis.
Winemaking in Vienna has a
long history. I learned from Benjamin Edthofer at Weingut Wieninger that vine
growing continued in the city’s second district until the 1960s. In addition to
Wieninger, which has vineyards in both the Bisamberg and Nussberg areas in the
north of the capital, I also tasted wines at Weingut Christ.
I had an informative
conversation about the differences between the Nussberg and the Bisamberg hills
with Rainer Christ, the owner of Weingut Christ. He makes wines solely from the
Bisamberg, so I asked him if wanted to have a vineyard on the Nussberg. ‘No’,
he said, without hesitation.
The Bisamberg, to the north of the River Danube, is ‘the sunny side of Vienna’, he told me. Although the Nussberg is more famous historically, the Bisamberg has been ‘the most successful over the last 30 years’, he said. It’s greener, with forests. The soils are quite different, with more limestone found on the Nussberg. Rainer Christ used to have two vineyards on the Nussberg, but it was an unhappy experience.
 |
| Nussberg © Austrian Wine / WSNA |
Vienna’s gift to the world of
wine is Wiener Gemischter Satz, a field blend. Only this style of wine,
comprising at least three white grape varieties from the same vineyard and
vinified as one, may be labelled with the DAC appendage, which indicates
regionally typical wines. According to Benjamin Edthofer, the field blend was
historically a good option in Vienna as it ensured ‘stable yields.’ Some grapes
might struggle one year, but others would perform well, ensuring wine could
reliably be produced.
Only one of Wieninger’s Wiener Gemischter Satz wines
is made using just three white grapes, the Bisamberg Wiener Gemischter Satz DAC
2023. To those from outside Austria, it might seem an incongruous French blend
of Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay and Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), but
the grapes have a long history in Austria.
Wieninger uses up to
fifteen grapes in its field blends, though, which is what I find appealing
about this style of wine. You can try a Gemischter Satz which includes several
grape varieties you have no familiarity with. Neuberger, which I knew nothing about
before travelling to Austria, appears in the majority of Wieninger’s field
blends.
I asked a winemaker in
another region of Austria about Neuberger and he deemed it ‘a pain in the ass’
in the vineyard. In Vienna I was informed that it ‘lacks aromas’, suffers from
the vine disease peronospora and requires ‘a lot of work.’ Probably best in a
field blend then!
Grüner Veltliner is the
main grape in field blends at Weingut Christ. Of the French grapes,
Grauburgunder/Pinot Gris is the least favoured as its sugar content can shoot
up. The high percentage of Grüner Veltliner
was certainly noticeable in some of the wines I tried. Wieninger’s Wiener
Gemischter Satz DAC 2023, which has about 40 percent of Grüner Veltliner in the
blend, had a very distinct peppery character. I think this tasting note is
really overused to describe wines made from Grüner Veltliner, but this one certainly had the peppery aroma in
abundance.
No comments:
Post a Comment