The finest reds you‘ve never heard of…

Versatile, Ageable and Collectible…

One of wine’s greatest 20th-century minds (and palates) wrote:

I know a country where the beneficial effect of wine is well understood.

It is drunk as a tonic, a stimulant, or simply because one is happy.

No, it’s not France; it is Austria…

This observation found in Émile Peynaud’s coffee-table tome Le Gout du Vin—written by a Frenchman in 1980, well before “modern” Austrian wine came onto the stage; before there was a Vinea Wachau or a “Red Wine Wonder…”

Austria is a wine-culture. Not for naught does the name of her capital city Wien come close to that of native beverage Wein. Rather, Austria has several wine-cultures folded in upon one another, its individual components as distinctive as Steiermark and Burgenland, Schilcher and Chardonnay (plus the 1500 acres of vines within Vienna’s city limits).

With this: every Austrian wine is a food wine. The flavors of Austrian Red grew up in Burgenland (till ninety-some years ago German West Hungary), alongside the Mangalitza pig and the spicy Hungarian paprika, which is just as likely to find its way into something out of the lake as onto some creature from the forest. Austria’s contemporary wine culture and her thriving culinary scene have crosspollinated one another as if the very best of bees were at their busiest, working in the garden… One significant aspect of the nation’s great wealth lies in their three native red varieties: Blaufränkisch, Sankt Laurent and the excellent crossing of those two, Zweigelt. All three are distinctive, and each one is uniquely Austrian.

All three are to the table born. In the context of complicated flavors, matters of umami or savory, Blaufränkisch will go fearlessly where other red wines fear to tread. The utterly sublime way in which Blaufränkisch insinuates itself among complex food-flavors offers a challenge to the very finest wines of France, Italy and Spain. Of course there is also the traditional “red wine with red meat and game,” where the Blaufränkisch also proves sauce for the wild goose as well as for the Gosht Biryani.

Sankt Laurent will behave in many ways like Pinot Noir, except that the variety is also capable of soaking up a heroic amount of hotpeppery spice—to an extreme where even Zinfandel or Teroldego Rotaliano would beg for mercy—and offers a magnificent alternative perspective to the subtle flavors of the sushi bar.

Zweigelt has a wonderful way around the Tandoori spice-box, and is extremely good with high class Mexican preparations—Molé or Adobo, for example… And then there’s the grill, and the barbecue—Dr Z’s best creation takes the heat quite well.

Austrian red wines are ready to take their rightful place alongside those of Burgundy, Piedmont, Bordeaux and the Loire as items to tuck away in the treasured depths of the cellar, awaiting the time when elements of thirst, cuisine and conviviality will align themselves to produce that certain moment.

Currently: after having gone through an inevitable period of stylistic internationalism as young winegrowers returned with new techniques from their travels in America and Australia, New Zealand and France, Austria’s estates are now producing red wines that can only be made in Austria, and only from Austria’s native vines. Hats off, folks! It’s a remarkable achievement in a short period of time; what discriminating collector would not wish to have these sophisticated and distinctive bottlings in his/her cellar?

Tasting several dozen 2010 Zweigelts in Vienna a couple years ago, I realized that I would’ve gladly drunk most of them. Would I cellar them? Not really; more suited to the pantry. Would they be good for a couple years? Of course. (The fun thing there was, in this difficult vintage many growers had expended extra effort getting the most out of their Blaufränkers and cuvées, so that many let the Zweigelt take care of itself—with delicious results). Of course there are exceptions like Schwarz Rot or Umathum Hallebühl, which will repay patience, but Zweigelt is more a happy matter of immediate gratification.

Sankt Laurent lives by a learning curve similar to that of its illustrious parent Pinot Noir. A 2003er from Hannes Schuster, consumed two years ago in a swish restaurant behind the cathedral in downtown Vienna, was not only handling the great ripeness of that hot vintage very well, but also developing its secondaries with great charm and style. No longer dwindling in acreage, more growers are becoming convinced that the variety is indeed worth the trouble (considerable) involved in its cultivation and vinification.

Of course the star as far as ageability goes is the Blaufränkisch and cuvées based on it. Wines from the 1999 vintage are becoming harder to find, but one taste of a 99er Kollwentz Steinzeiler or Paul Achs Ungerberg will convince even the most recalcitrant skeptic. Weingut Prieler’s Goldberg 2002 is just heavenly these days. 2002 Moric Alte Reben Lutzmannburg (a significantly less aggressive style) has developed equally well, with no sign of tiring. Perhaps in ageing these wines one might think of them in the way we do Loire valley reds—great fun to drink while they are still young, but when we come across an old Chinon “Les Picasses” from Olga Raffault, oh what a treat that is! The same should prove true of the modern Blaufränkisch and Sankt Laurent.

Excellent acidity and refined tannins are a common theme among many of the current Blaufränkisch—one that will certainly insure ageability and long development, and the current trend away from new oak is a positive influence. Monovarietal Blaufränkisch is frequently produced by growers who have their eye on the Côte d’Or and Piemonte—and while the variety’s intrinsic characteristics differ from Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo, the Blaufränkisch shows a similar propensity for transmitting the message of the soils in which it was grown to the taster as do its venerable cousins from France and Italy. And as those wines grow more (and more and more) expensive for the collector, Blaufränkisch from Austria will seem a very wise choice.

James Wright