Salomon undhof Wieden & Berg Tradition Gruner Veltliner 2011

This wine is a blend of grape from two vineyards in the Kremstal region in Austria.

Salomon undhof Wieden & Berg Tradition Gruner Veltliner 2011

Wow baby is this light number spicy as all hell but it has extra moments of pear, ginger, lemon and muck sticks and crushed flowers. The balance between lightness and richness with masses of depth of flavour is rather impressive. The flavours enter in a light and zesty manner before morphing into rich and deeper styles on the mid-palate and then ending with a hooty tooty vibrancy.

Alcohol: 12.5%

Price: $27 - $30

Rated: 92

Drink: Now – 2020

Gruner Veltliner X 2

Gruner Veltliner should be on everyones drinking calender as it offers brightness and a pure drive of structure in one. Austria is the home of Gruner and accounts for over 30 percent of the total production for the country. In Australia the variety is being planted in areas that are more renowned for Chardonnay and Riesling which is good as the variety likes the cold.

Weingut Markus Huber Hugo Gruner Veltliner 2008

Pristine fruits that is ready to rock and roll. The aromas of honey, dried spring flowers and citrus flows onto the palate. The flavours are vibrant with a full on heart beat pulsaing throughout the experience. And the price? $15 bucks! Yes baby bring that on.

Alcohol: 13%
Price: $15
Rated: 86
Drink: Now or over the next 5 years

Weingut Brundlmayer Kamtaler Terrassen Gruner Veltliner 2010

This one is more floral and sculpted than the above wine with power of fruit and acidity being more prominant. The layers of flavour make this feel like I should be paying more attention to this wine but I am just enjoying the moment. There is great depth of flavour and a mouth puckering lemon grass action on the back-palate. 

Alcohol: 12%

Price: $40

Rated: 92

Drink: Now - 2025

Weingut Bernhard Ott Fass 4 Gruner Veltliner 2011

One of my favourite areas and varieties is Austria and the Gruner Veltliner grape.  Bernhard Ott's version sees some oak ageing but I wouldn't have ever known from tasting it.  The Fass 4 is the top of the crop so I was expecting something delicious.

Weingut Bernhard Ott Fass 4 Gruner Veltliner 2011

Piecing in its delivery of flintiness and lime soaked pears but everything is coiled up so tight that I needed to leave this in the glass and come back after it has warmed up.  The palate is zesty, spicy and inviting which adds to the enjoyment while the palate length is great.  At the end of tasting this I had ticked so many boxes and couldn't find anything I didn't like.  Buy this one if you have never tried a Gruner before as you will be rewarded.

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $30
Rated: 90
Drink: Now - 2021
Importer: Negociants

Prager Thal Steinfeder 2008

Prager is turning into my favourite producer of Gruner Veltliner in a more full bodied style than I am used to.

Prager Thal Steinfeder 2008

The wine has a sweet floral nose with candied apples, spicy lemon and tropical aspects joining the party. It is the sort of wine you could give to a wine nerd and a person who has just started drinking wine and they both would fall in love with this. There is a beautiful length to this svelte beast but it just needs a bit extra breadth for a higher score. That said I could see my wife and I eating lunch this week-end and accidently consuming a bottle with out realising it.

Alcohol: 12%
Price: $47
Rated: 89
Drink: Over the next couple of years.
Importer: Decant Wines

Salomon Undhof Kogl Riesling 2010

Riesling in Austria is grown in and around the areas that produce the best Gruner which I hope some Australian wineries in the Clare and Eden Valley take on and run with. Its funny that I really reach for a rizza from Austria yet I found that this was the stand out from the Salomon range. I might have to slap some cash down to try what other winemakers can d with this variety. 

Salomon Undhof Kogl Riesling 2010

The wine starts out with ripe golden delicious apples with a waiter standing over you asking you if you would like more pepper on it. The wine is so attractive now that I hesitate to ask what it will taste like with 5 or so years in the bottle. I find myself saying words like yummo after I have taken a sip. The wine finishes with a massive amount of cuts rocks with a mouth-filling palate that leaves you refreshed.

Alcohol: 12%
Price: ?
Rated: 93
Drink:  Now - 2020

Moric Estate Blaufrankisch 2008

The more I taste Blaufrankisch the more I love those wild flavours mixed with tannins. If I had to say what they taste like, it would be a mix of Burgundy and Syrah. Most of the time they are medium bodied food friendly wines of personality and interest. Furthermore, they are cheap for the quality they provide.

Moric Estate Blaufrankisch 2008

This wines reminds me of when I was a kid playing in the mud in spring. I would go pick a mix of blackberries, cherries and raspberries and take them down to the creek, where I could make the best fruit mud pie.  If you could add a bit of spice and tree bark, you have the flavours of this wine. The wine is in the serious end of town with a mass of tannin leaving my top lip sticking to my gums. Yum!

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $60
Rated: 90
Drink: 2012 - 2020
Importer: Decant Wines

Prager Hinter der Burg 2009

Now I have never had a Prager before but I was looking forward to tasting another Gruner.  If you are a lover of crisp dry whites, when the sun is shining, then grab a bottle of this.

Prager Hinter der Burg 2009

Oh boy, what a decidedly complex and rich wine that is balanced by vibrant cut quartz which leaves me feeling refreshed.  The wine coats my mouth in spectacular flavours of lemon peel, summer flowers, apple bloom and spicy peach skin. Is it intense? Yes. Is it inviting? Yes. Should I drink another glass? Yes.

Alcohol: 12%
Price: $42
Rated: 92
Drink: Now - to 13 years
Importer: Decant Wines

Salomon Undhof Wieden & Berg 2010

Bert Salomon comes out to Australia rather regularly and he brings with him a deep sense of personality and thought.  These are two things that I prize highly and they come through in his wines. All of his wines are food and family friendly.


Salomon Undhof Wieden & Berg 2010

The wine starts out shy and restrained so I let it sit.  As I am really thirsty I didn't let it sit for long. If you love crisp dry white with tonnes of length and interest, well 'come on down'.  I feel like I should lower my voice when I say such things.  This is the perfect summer wine that is light in richness yet has flavour galore and complexity to boot.  There are oodles of apples, pears, struck quartz, orange peel and lemon balm that loving caress my mouth but it is the length and zesty acidity that set this apart.  Whilst I love it now and will most probably drink a dozen of these over summer, I have tried aged versions with 10 to 15 years under its belt that have blown me away.

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $32
Rated: 91
Drink: Now to 13 years.
Importer: Decant Wines

Weingut Moric Burgenland Blaufrankisch 2009

If you aren't familiar with the growing seasons in Austria, the 2009 vintage was similar to the 09 Burgundy conditions.  Brilliant, with a little more fruit than is normal for the region. 

Moric Burgenland Blaufrankisch 2009

The wine starts out with a little cherry and mulberries dusted with Indian spice.  These are so seductive I didn't want to take another sip just in case I was dreaming.  Luckily, this is the real deal. Everything fills out in  the mouth with a wealth of ultra fine tannins spreading joy as it travels. 

Alcohol: 12.5%
Price: $35
Rated: 91
Drink: Now - 2019

Importer: Decant Wines 

Pittnauer St Laurent 'Dorflagen' Villages 2009

Austria makes some world class wines but this was not always the case.  In the early to mid-1980 a few events resulted in one of the most spectacular scandals of recent time.  Much of the wines Austria were producing went straight to the German bulk wine market but the Germans wanted the sweetness and ripeness level to be much higher than Austria could produce at that stage.  So what did they do? They added Diethylene glycol which was difficult to detect but added everything that the Austrians needed to sell their flavourless and acidic wine.  This sounds like such a brilliant plan! Provide for the consumer and be undetectable.  So how did they get caught? Income tax returns.  They claimed the Diethylene glycol as a tax write off.  As a result the government placed strict laws on yields and quality thus eradicating the practices and forming the base of all the quality wines that are now on the market.

Pittnauer St Laurent 'Dorflagen' Villages 2009

The wine is definitely darker and spicier than the Klassic yet it retains the medium bodied frame.  The acidity really brightens up the flavours, leaving my mouth running like tap.  The tannin structure is also ramped up a level or two but it never dominates or takes anything away from the overall feel of the wine. Love it.

Alcohol: 13%
Price: $32
Rated: 90
Drink: 2011 - 2018

Importer: Decant Wines