The view from the rooftop terrace above the National Museum of Scotland is special. Within throwing distance to the west is Greyfriars Kirkyard, whose green lawns and sandy-coloured church stand out among the dark and gloomy buildings of the city’s Old Town. To the north, the famous castle sits on its rocky perch like a sentry, and you can make out tiny figures on the esplanade preparing to head through the dark arch and into its precincts.
Towards the end of the year, I had the chance to enjoy this fine prospect thanks to my interest in Austrian wine. Before Covid, I had been to one previous masterclass in this splendid venue, when attendees were given the opportunity to taste thirty wines from Ribera del Duero. Twenty nine were full throttle reds, showcasing the tannic delights of Tinta del País. (A friend commented afterwards that he at last understood the meaning of the term palate fatigue.) A solitary rosado served as an exception. It reminded me of the time I went to a wine tasting in Gigondas, where the rosés seemed an afterthought, almost an embarrassment.
No whites were available at either of those tastings, whereas they were very much the showstoppers at the Austrian wine event in Edinburgh. One of the best was a Riesling from the noted vineyard of Achleiten in Wachau (Domäne Wachau, Riesling Smaragd Ried Achleiten, 2021), where vines are planted on terraces above the River Danube.
Riesling is, perhaps surprisingly, a bit player in Austria, accounting for under five percent of the total vineyard area. It is reserved for stony soils which don’t suit Grüner Veltliner. As this Smaragd showed, however, it can be seriously good, and the best have the potential to last fifty years. I suggested to our host, a Master of Wine, that it had a late harvest character. She did not agree! According to her, it bore the hallmark apricot flavour of the Wachau and, upon retrying the wine, I had to acknowledge that she was absolutely right.
While I drink more red than white wine, my preference is beginning to swing the other way. I was therefore excited to try a Gemischter Satz at the masterclass (Christ, Bisamberg Wiener Gemischter Satz, 2023), for I don’t think I’d ever had this Viennese specialty before. A field blend comprising many grapes, the aroma brought to mind a chewing gum I used to have on holiday in the south of France when I was a boy (my father would only go on holiday in France). I think it was the peach variety, but I could well be wrong, given that several decades have elapsed since then. At any rate, the wine was genuinely full-bodied and delicious.
Needless to say, the heavy hitter of Austrian wine is Grüner Veltliner, which occupies about a third of the country’s vineyard area. We tasted three of those and one, made from grapes grown in the Kremstal, whose loess soils are particularly well-suited to the grape, was spectacular (Wess, Krems 'Alte Reben' Grüner Veltliner, 2022). It was made using old vines (‘alte reben’), some of which were planted over 100 years ago.
There was also a lovely oak-aged Sauvignon Blanc (Neumeister, Vulkanland Steiermark Sauvignon Blanc, Grosse STK Ried Moarfeitl, 2017) from the southern region of Styria, the ‘green heart of Austria’, according to the MW. Here grapes are grown at altitude and the climate is marginal; it gave the lie to the claim that Sauvignon is not suitable for ageing.
The one sparkling wine we sampled, a dry pet-nat from a producer in Burgenland on the Hungarian border (Pittnauer, 'Pitt Nat' Blanc, 2022), proved controversial. My friend and colleague was of the view that it smelled ‘like industrial waste’, and he considered the palate to be only ‘marginally better’. The Master of Wine felt it had a ‘yeasty, earthy’ character. I agreed that it was very aromatic, but in a good way!
This event was truly memorable, and it was a pity that the total attendance amounted to a mere seven people. My colleague left with nine free bottles of really good wine, despite informing our hosts that he felt the country still suffered from an image problem with British wine drinkers, owing to the antifreeze scandal in the 1980s. Still, as he put it, people appreciate honesty!
Published in The Wine Merchant, February 2025.
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