Reasons We Love VieVinum
by Kurt Ganapathy
@ 20 Jul 2018
One of the world’s great wine events marks its 20th anniversary with its eleventh edition in 2018, and we celebrate the occasion with highlights from three days of Austrian wine and more. At the invitation of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB), we were fortunate enough to join 15,000 visitors from close to 50 countries for VieVinum, held at the spectacular Hofburg palace in Vienna.
The Newly Classified Sekt
It’s no secret that very good sparkling wine is made in Austria, but it was only in 2015 that a quality pyramid was established for Austrian sekt. The frst sekt of the “Klassik” (grapes harvested in one state and produced by any sparkling wine method with a minimum of nine months on lees) and “Reserve” (grapes harvested and pressed in one state and produced via traditional bottle fermentation with a minimum of 18 months on lees) levels was released in the autumn of 2017 and the “Grosse Reserve” wines (grapes harvested and pressed in one municipality and produced via traditional bottle fermentation with a minimum of 30 months on lees) will be unveiled this autumn.
We sample a selection of traditional method wines from Schlumberger, an Austrian sekt pioneer established in 1842, among which the 2012 Blanc de Noirs and 2013 Prestige Cuvée (70 percent chardonnay, 30 percent pinot noir) Reserves are highlights – the former offering delicate berries on the nose and fresh red fruit on the palate and the latter with complexity to rival vintage champagnes. The more straightforward but refreshingly citrusy and spicy 2015 grüner veltliner Klassik is also a treat.
The Junge Wilde Winzer
If you’re looking for a real wine adventure, simply look for the name Junge Wilde Winzer (Young Wild Winegrowers). The association is made up of young, charismatic and exuberant winemakers from across Niederösterreich (Lower Austria), Burgenland and Steiermark (Styria) who, in their own words, want to go against the grain and open up new sensory worlds for wine lovers. Ready for some orange wine, we call on Alexander Zöller, but his stable of a dozen or certified organic wines surprises in more ways than one.
Before the orange, we sample the aptly named Poolsider, a Kremstal DAC grüner veltliner which is somewhat traditional, but crafted to be enjoyed by a pool with a group of friends. Then we revisit Zöller’s first wine, the 2007 Wachtberg grüner veltliner that remains vibrant with notes of apples. Finally we get to a pair of remarkable orange wines. The 2016 MT Free Solo is a funky Müller-Thurgau with herbaceous, spicy and savoury favours from its six-month maceration. The 2016 neuberger, which also undergoes six months of maceraton, is another journey altogether, delivering cloudy apple and guava favours with prominent tannins. In other words, it’s pretty wild.
Adapted from the
Jul Aug 18 issue of Cuisine & Wine Asia.
