It always strikes me as something of a coup by Sainsbury’s to get top Austrian winemaker Marks Huber to produce their own-label Grüner Veltliner. Gloriously pure and perfumed, this has classic white pepper and bay leaf aromas, a palate of pear, peach and green apple, some extra texture from three months on lees in tank and plenty of racy, crunchy acidity. A delicious summer white.
Country: Austria
A Bag Of Tricks
by Margaret Rand
You can always rely on Olivier Bernard for a good quote. Olivier is the chatelain of Domaine de Chevalier, on which you can always rely for a good wine, and...
2015 Pittnauer Pittnauski, Burgenland
( £17, 13% )It’s amazing how much Austrian red wines have improved in the last decade, thanks to warmer vintages and much better work in the vineyards and winery. This appealingly mature cuvée of Merlot with three local grapes, Zweigelt, Blaufränkisch and St Laurent, is a case in point. It’s smooth, complex and well balanced, with subtle wood, black cherry, plum and fresh earth notes, bright, chalky acidity and a funky undertone.
2018 Felsner Moosburgerin Single Vineyard Grüner Veltliner, Kremstal, Niederösterreich
( £12.49, 12.5%, Waitrose )The really top Grüners can be expensive, but it’s amazing how much flavour and personality Austria’s most widely planted and distinctive grape can deliver at just £12.49. This single vineyard example from Manfred Felsner hails from one of the best sites in Gedersdorf and is fresh, peppery and intense, with pear and citrus peel notes, refreshingly low alcohol and a long, stony, persistent finish. A really good introduction to an under-valued variety.
White wine rising
by Christy Canterbury MW
Though the “ABC”, or “Anything But Chardonnay” campaign continues to rail against it, Chardonnay remains the favourite white grape of USA wine drinkers. It is also the planet’s most planted,...
2017 Feiler-Artinger Neuburger Trocken, Rust Am See, Burgenland
( £22.50, 13%, Tanners )Neuburger is an extremely rare grape, even in its native Austria, with only 550 of the country’s 44,000 hectares, but Feiler-Artinger have made something of a specialty of the variety. This is wonderfully perfumed, with very understated oak, peachy, savoury, spicy flavours, plenty of weight and texture. It gives the impression of slight sweetness, but finishes dry, refreshing and well balanced. A wonderful curiosity.
2014 Weingut Markus Huber Grüner Veltliner Morrison Signature, Niederösterreich
( £8, 12%, Morrisons )It’s great to see an Austrian Grüner of this quality in a major supermarket. It’s not a power packed wine, but what it lacks in weight, it makes up for in freshness. Floral and medium weight, with some pepper spice, pear and citrus fruit flavours and a zesty, tangy finish. A really good food wine – and I don’t say that very often.
Newcomers on the scene
by Matt Walls
They wouldn’t have got past the elevator pitch in Dragons’ Den. “So you want to sell premium Austrian wines from a transport container in the East End of London?” summarises...
Rawfair steals the show
by Simon Woolf
It’s the third Monday in May. I’m in East London, in a barn of a building, buzzing with wine producers, press and trade. There’s a palpable sense of excitement throughout...
2009 Gut Oggau Mechtild, Burgenland
( POA, 13%, Dynamic Wines )Mechtild is one of two single vineyard wines made at Gut Oggau, in this case 60 year old Grüner Veltliner. There’s a salty, iodine tang on the nose, yielding to a fat, creamy palate. Fresh acidity and a lovely mineral finish.
2009 Gut Oggau Bertholdi, Burgenland
( POA, 13.3%, Dynamic Wines )For me this is the crowning glory of the Gut Oggau range. Single vineyard Blaufränkisch is left on its stems and stalks for 6 weeks, resulting in a structured, complex, yet impressively balanced wine. “Hot”, rubber-tyre character to the nose, very focused ripe yet elegant red fruit. The finish lasts and lasts, staying fresh and slightly saline to the very end.
Bucking the trend: Natural wines at Gut Oggau
by Simon Woolf
Somewhere, out there on the internet, the discussion rages on about natural wines. To true believers, it’s the one and only righteous path, to sceptics, nothing more than a farcical...