Austrian Wine Tasting- Wine with Reijn
The opening of our 2008/2009 season of wine tasting started off with a wonderful evening in which we supped and slurped our way through an excellent selection of six wines from Austria. Best known for its mountains and skiing, (and the Sound of Music!!) Austria is less well known for its wines – except perhaps to those of us who can remember the scandal in the 1980’s in which anti-freeze was found in some Austrian wines!
This evening, these skeletons in the cupboard were thoroughly and impressively swept aside, however, as Rien van der Meulen took us on a trip full of Austrian wines that was just so “Do-Re-Mi”!!
Our first tasting comprised a white Heidler, Grüner Veltliner Löss 2007, which required a second sip (or in some cases a third or fourth!) to reach its full potential. With a 12% alcohol content and a very competitive price, it was no surprise that this wine was popular with our club, having an overall score of 2.32 out of 5 on our vinometer!
This opening was followed by a second white wine, being an excellent Hardegg Riesling vom Schloss (2006) from the Niederosterich area of the country and it certainly ticked our Tyrolean palate with a 13% alcohol content. This Riesling wine proved that this grape can be very sophisticated and is a million miles away from its often undeserved reputation as forming the basis of cheap plonk consumed by the barrel or plastic container! It scored a very respectable 3.0 on our vinometer and needless to say, none of it was left by the end of the evening.
Our third and final white was a most elegant Brundlmayer, Grüner Veltliner, Alte Reben 2006 from the Kamptal region. This elegant wine was full rounded and very popular indeed, going down like one of “My Favourite Things” and scoring no less than 3.07 out of 5 on our score sheet.
By now, Maria was starting to enjoy herself with more Austrian offerings, this time in the form of a very tasty red Vereinte Winzer, Blaufränkisch Klassik (2006) from the Burgenland area. This proved again to be very popular with us, scoring a respectable 2.71 on our vinometer.
Our fifth wine of the evening (or was it “Sixteen going on Seventeen”??) was a very good Umathum, Zweigelt (2006) also from Burgenland, and very well appreciated by our group, reflected in a score of 2.86 on the vinometer.
Our final wine – by which time even the Lonely Goatherd had a twinkle in his eye – was the favourite of all, another Umathum, this time a St. Laurent, Frauenkirchner vom Stein 2004. This top class wine scored an impressive 4.04 out of 5!
Our opening night for the season proved to be most entertaining and full of surprises, and many thanks to our wonderful hosts – Oscar and Farud – for their excellent food accompaniments as we “Climbed every mountain” and “Forded every stream” the entire evening.
The club wishes to extend a particular and grateful thanks to Rien van der Meulen, who is a registered wine, jenever and whisky specialist based in Delft, and he can be reached through his website, www.proeverij.com
Finally we wish to thank all those who participated in the evening and who made the start of our new season so enjoyable, and we look forward to seeing you – and others – at our wine tasting next month!
Please join in the conversation, if you joined this tasting let us know what you thought. Or if you have any comments on favorite (or not so favorite) Austrian wines we'd like to hear from you.