Pichler-Krutzler: high fly
In four vintages Elisabeth Pichler and Erich Krutzler have risen from zero to the status of undisputed stars. Meet Austria’s hottest double name.
In four vintages Elisabeth Pichler and Erich Krutzler have risen from zero to the status of undisputed stars. Meet Austria’s hottest double name.
Knoll Ried Loibenberg Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2002: the heights of traditional winemaking in Wachau. Drinking superbly now – still lots of power left. And far better balance than many more recent superalcoholic Loibenberg Veltliners.
No relation to the wine in your glass? On the very contrary; the genetic diversity of our grape varieties is a crucial issue for the future of viticulture and winemaking.
Disclaimer
Accomodation during my stay in the Wachau is paid for by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. All wines were provided by the producers.
My tastings this year focus on the 2009 vintage which is looking very promising for the white wines from Riesling and Austria’s signature grape, Grüner Veltliner. A warm, dry vintage, it has actually favoured Riesling a bit more, with some Veltliners crossing the thin line between rich and excessively soft. On the positive side, many of the lighter less expensive Veltliners will provide spectacularly good early drinking.
But in general I have a preference for the Rieslings which are both more aromatic and fresher in taste, with a good balance even at high ripeness. There are some lovely wines from the usual suspects such as Willi Bründlmayer in the Kamptal region (his Heiligenstein Lyra is a masterpiece of harmony and completeness), or Prager and Franz Hirtzberger in Wachau. But I’ve also tracked down some lesser-known estates with great bargains. Franz-Joseph Gritsch from the town of Spitz in the Wachau has a lovely range of Veltliners and Rieslings, and overdelivers also in the Federspiel categories (which will cost you less than 10€). Andreas Lehensteiner from Weissenkirchen has an attractively clean, firm style, and at 14€ his Hinterkirchen Riesling Smaragd is one of the region’s bargains. High up in a remote side valley in Viessling, Josef Gritsch of the Graben Gritsch estate is making some impressively puristic mineral wines including a range of lovely Gelber Muskatellers (it’s rare to see so much minerality in a Muscat), and at 14€ his Setzberg Riesling Smaragd 2009 might well be the best bargain of the fair.
There were some very good Veltliners, too, especially at the Erste Lage presentation: 2009 is the first vintage for this new category, roughly equivalent to the French grand cru and German Grosses Gewächs (see here for my post on this). Introduced in the regions of Kamptal, Kremstal, Traisental and Wagram by the private vintners’ association Traditionsweingüter Österreich, Erste Lage is a winning idea: the concept is clear (the best vineyard sites are classified and distinguished) and the quality level of the wines is high.
My top picks from the annual Austrian trade tasting in Warsaw, including some delicious whites from the lesser-known Wagram region.
Tomorrow is the Austrian trade tasting here in Warsaw; one of Poland’s most important events throughout the year. And tonight I met up with Willi Klinger and Christian Dworan of the Austrian Wine Marketing. At the C.K. Oboźnia wine bar & restaurant, we drank through some nice wines and discussed some exciting projects for the future, including a Polish food & Austrian wine matching campaign.
We ate well (asparagus risotto and spicy duck breast), drinking a mixed bunch of wines, including two reds, a very spicy (white pepper and caraway) Kirnbauer [K+K] Mittelburgenland DAC Classic 2006 that was a little green and tart, and a Heinrich Hartl Pinot Noir Classic 2007 that started as an oaky disaster and finished generous and tasty but banal. More luck with the whites: from Matthias Hager in the Kamptal came the Urgestein Grüner Veltliner 2007 that was a big, spicy animal with lots of phenolic ripeness and correspondingly little minerality (I would have preferred it the other way around), and the Schmelz Pichl Point Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2007 which also very ripe but with better depth and poise.
Strangely enough, the most memorable wine of the evening came at the very beginning: fresh from the fermentation tank (well, almost), the
Schmelz Buschenberg Grüner Veltliner Steinfeder 2008 was light (11.5% alc.), exuberantly fresh, zesty, green and positive. I never drink Steinfeder (the lightest style of wine from the region of Wachau, which by law needs not exceed 11.5%) and generally dislike drinking Austrian whites this young, but this was a good example of how youthful and invigorating these newborns can be.I’ll be on the lookout for more of the same during the tasting tomorrow.
C.K. Oboźnia ‘wine lounge’ in Warsaw.
Early in my tasting career I loved the wines of Karl Lagler, thinking (and even writing: here are some tasting notes from a forgotten age) he was one of the top producers in the Austrian region of Wachau. I was particularly keen on his Smaragd wines – both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling – from the Steinborz vineyard in Spitz. I remember stocking up heavily on the 1997s and 1998s, and enjoying them tremendously for over a half-decade.
Today, I opened a bottle that confirmed my thoughts about Lagler. The 2002 Steinborz Riesling Smaragd shows a dark plate gold of mature Riesling, and the nose is a bit advanced too: there is a whiff of Firne agedness, with notes of wax, honey, mushrooms (but not petrol). But the evolution is balanced by excellent minerality: first saline, later increasingly stony. Medium complexity: this doesn’t seem to have a lot of aromatic stuffing, but shows noble and terroir-driven. Palate is rather full, with little sugar, firm acidity and a firm minerality throughout, and quite some power on the finish: seemingly this could still age; it drinks very well an evening later and a day later, showing more sweet, less crisp. But I am happy to have opened it today when it is near its highest point.
While surely not disappointing for 20€, this excellent wine misses the train to greatness. Why? My answer would be: simplicity. We are not at the level of complexity of a Wachstum Bodenstein, nor the compelling texture of Pichler’s Kellerberg. It is rather a sonata than a symphony; rather a duo than a quartet. As every music lover will confirm, a good duo is perfectly fine six days a week.
From a wall in Spitz. © S.