In this column I introduce you to a few of the wines from two regions less known to American consumers. Both produce (mostly dry) Riesling wines that can equal the quality from Germany. Both also produce remarkable wine wines from other, even lessen known white varieties.
Bordering Switzerland and Germany, Alsace is known primarily for its fresh, aromatic white wines. Riesling, gewurztraminer, and pinot gris comprise over half of all production. They display finesse with a solid structure in a range of styles: dry, off-dry and occasionally dessert.
Alsatian Rieslings are distinguished with attractive, pure aromas, fresh green apple and citrus fruit, steely or mineral notes. Typically, the wines carry more weight than their German cousins but the aromatics and acidity are just as bracing.
Get an introduction with the 2016 Mittnacht “Les Fossiles” ($20) – from a family-run estate founded in 1958 and an early pioneer of the biodynamic winemaking movement – for its distinctive paraffin aroma and tangy tangerine fruit; and the fresh, easy drinking, stony edged 2016 Paul Blanck ($16), a producer that traces its history to the 17th century and also focuses on sustainability.
I have to say, though, I am especially attracted to Alsatian Gewürztraminer. While the variety (which translates to “spicy traminer”) originated in the foothills of the Italian Alps near the city of Tramin in the Alto Adige, the most and most prized Gewürztraminer is produced in Alsace. Quite special and unique, it is a great value and pairs nicely with foods such as Thai, Indian, Middle Eastern North African, Asian and Latin American.
I love the unique heady aromas, flavors and textures. The most prominent aroma is lychee, while others have noted tropical, honeydew and grapefruit, rose, ginger, honey, and especially a piquancy often associated with spices like cinnamon. In the mouth it presents with a creamy, unctuous texture along with more body than the typical white wine, even Chardonnay or Viognier. Even though mostly dry, there usually is a sense of mild sweetness but it will be balanced with good acidity.
Get acquainted with the precise, medium-sweet intensity and subtle spiciness of the 2015 Agathe Bursin “Dirstelberg” ($19), a rich, well-structured wine from a winemaker who was born into a family of vintners and established her own small winery in 2000. Or try the exceptional, medium bodied, off-dry, wonderfully rich 2015 Albert Boxler ($32). The Boxler family has been involved in wine since 1673 and have bottled estate wines since 1946. All the vineyards are farmed organically.
Austrian wines arguably are even less familiar to American consumers, though wine has been made there for two millennia. But that is starting to change. Conveniently, most of the best wines come from regions that straddle the Danube River, particularly Lower Austria (Niederösterreich). With dramatic improvements over the last few decades, the wines are distinguished for zesty, fruity, elegant qualities.
Riesling has been grown in Austria at least since the 1700s but only recently has begun to establish a reputation with today’s consumers for quality wines. Almost always dry, they are notable as taut and exuberant, with fresh, fruity citrus, peach and apricot accented with stony traces.
The 2017 Cobenzl “Ried Preussen” 1ÖTW ($24), from a premier single vineyard in Nussberg just outside of Vienna and from a winery owned by the city of Vienna, is precise, refreshing and juicy. The 2017 Schauer Kitzeck-Sausal ($30), from a vineyard near Austria’s southern mountains, is aromatic, brilliant, and lively with an herbal tinge. Kitzeck is the central settlement in the Sausal mountain range in Southern Styria (Südsteiermark) on Austria’s southern border and one of the highest altitude winegrowing areas in central Europe.
But Austria’s signature and most widely planted grape is grüner veltliner. It produces an assertive, steely, rich, dry white with a unique piquant aroma and flavor, usually associated with lime (though other citrus and stone fruits can make an appearance), white pepper, and herbs.
There were four good examples in my tasting:
- 2018 Proidl “Freiheit” ($19). Making wine in Senftenberg in the Kremstal since 1738, Freiheit means freedom and signals this wine comes from some of the first privately owned vineyard land in the region not controlled by the Church or a feudal estate. It offers a touch of white pepper and pleasant juiciness, while remaining light on its feet.
- 2018 Pollerhof “Phelling” ($24). From a single vineyard near Roschitz in the Weinviertel in the north-east corner of the country about five miles from the Czech border; it is elegant, fresh, fruity and focused, with a touch of minerality and a slight spritz.
- 2017 Fritsch “Ried Mordthal” 1ÖTW ($29). Located in the community of Oberstockstall-Kirchberg in the Lower Austrian wine growing region of Wagram, Fritsch is a practitioner of biodynamic viticulture. This first class single vineyard wine shows intense, slightly sweet fruit, with stony, herbal notes fruity; it is invigorating yet luscious.
- 2017 Tegernseerhof “Bergdistel” Smaragd ($33). Sourced from several vineyards around the winery’s base in Dürnstein in the Wachau (only an hour from Vienna), Smaragd indicates the highest classification of ripeness of the grapes typically yielding weightier more complex and richly textured wines. This one displays more tropical fruit with white pepper and herbal touches in an expansive yet nicely defined palate of juicy acidity.