The Walk to Work ...
 |
| The walk into work this morning started with this view ... |
 |
| and this one with John Szabo (left with hat), Ben Macphee-Sigurdson (striped shirt) and Evan Saviolidis |
 |
| Which then turned into this ham and egg routine with Evan and John |
 |
| Then Lisa Stephenson had to get in on the action. (does this make her the hash browns) |
 |
| Then we continue our stroll ... |
 |
| to this place, Hofburg - Congress and Event Centre |
 |
| Where a sit down tasting of over 190 Austrian red wines is taking place ... |
 |
| in this room. |
 |
| with this motley crew: Evan Saviolidis, Zoltan Szabo and John Szabo |
 |
| I started with the Pinot Noirs moved to the St. Laurent and Zweigelt, then finished with a smattering of Blaufrankisch and some "Cuvee" blends |
The Wines ... (tasted in flights of 4-6 wines and I pick my favourites per flight)
Pinot Noir ... (a decent flight)
 |
| Flight #1: Ebner-Ebenauer 2011 Pinot Noir "Black Edition" light and earthy, with a cran-strawberry nose and some easy cranberry with a hit of herbaceous on the palate - quite drinkable and pleasant **** |
 |
| Flight #2: Winzerhof Landauer-Gisperg 2011 Pinot Noir "Best of" nice vanilla and smoke that are strawberry tinged, pleasant with quite a nice balance of acidity and some juicy notes **** |
 |
| Flight #3: Johanneshof Reinisch 2011 Pinot Noir "Holzpur" sweet cherry, cranberry and vanilla with juicy sweet fruit with balanced tannins - a real pleasureable wine ****+ |
 |
| Flight #4: Wieninger 2011 Pinot Noir "Grand Select" good mix of sour and ripe red cherry with an earthy note that shows real flair; very Burgundian in style ****+ |
 |
| Flight #5 (tie): Heinrich Hartl 2011 Pinot Noir "Graf Weingartl" nice complexity with a little bit of grip and good flavour; has decent flavour; stylistically it is on point for a Pinot *** 1/2+ |
 |
| Flight #5 (tie): Heinrich Hartl 2011 Pinot Noir "Graf Weingartl" sweet dark fruit, red licorice and sweet spice; stylistically this is on the sweeter side *** 1/2+ |
St. Laurent ... (for this most part this was a dreadful flight)
 |
| Flight #6: Winzerhof Landauer-Gisperg 2011 St Laurent "Best of" sweet and savoury; dark fruit, anise and herbaceous *** 1/2 |
 |
| Flight #7: Kurt Angerer 2011 St Laurent mocha-cherry-raspberry with anise, licorice has nice acidity and clean finish that actually lingers pleasantly *** 1/2+ |
after 12 wines I decided to pack it in ... these was a dismal flight of wines
Zweigelt ... (on the whole this was a brilliant flight of wine)
 |
| Flight #10: Hagn 2012 Blauer Zweigelt chocolate, vanilla, cherry - rich, decadent and delicious; balanced and flavourful this was the wine I tweeted out as being "a real slut of a wine" **** 1/2 |
 |
| Flight #11: Hans & Martin Netzl 2012 Zweigelt "Rubin Carnuntum" vanilla, cherry, rich and delicious with a little bit of floral nuance ****+ |
 |
| Flight #12: Paul Achs 2012 Zweigelt "Alte Reben" old vines furit makes for a lovely cherry, strawberry and other rich red fruits; almost jammy but with acidity to balance it all out - a real beauty and juicy as hell ****+ |
 |
| Flight #13: Renner 2012 Zweigelt nice blackberry, black cherry and smoke *** 1/2+ |
 |
| Flight #14: Erich Scheiblhofer 2012 Zweigelt "Pradium" rich juicy taste with black cherry, chocolate, vanilla, and plum with coffee/mocha backing; in fact big mocha on the finish along with oaky and smoky notes **** 1/2 |
 |
| Flight #15: Hagn 2011 Blauer Zweigelt Classic nice red berries with pretty fruit in a light easy drinking style *** 1/2+ |
 |
| Flight #16: Marko 2011 Zweigelt Reid Haidacker black raspberry and cassis with vanilla-smoke and earthy robust tannins *** 1/2+ |
 |
| Flight #17: Vinum Pannonia Allacher 2011 Zweigelt Ried Salzberg dark and smoky with vanilla and cassis and an undercurrent of mocha tannins hide in the background with really nice balancing acidity ... good BBQ wine **** |
 |
| Silvia Heinrich 2012 Blaufrankisch Ried Goldberg nice cherry, blackberry and blueberry along with some currant notes and smoke on the finish, good weight and nice tannins **** |
 |
| Pittnauer 2011 Blaufrankisch Ried Ungerberg weighty, smoky, sour cherry with high acidity *** 1/2+ |
 |
| Birgit Braunstein 2011 Blaufrankisch strawberry, blueberry, smoke with good acidity, well balanced and good tannins this wine is a tasty little treat worth sipping on **** |
 |
| Familie Prieler 2011 Blaufrankisch Ried Goldberg blueberry, vanilla, smooth and silky with rich dark fruit and some smokiness **** |
 |
| Sommer 2011 Blaufrankisch nice rich pleasing fruitiness of cherry and blueberry juicy with acidic balance ****+ |
 |
| Gernot Und Heike Heinrich 2011 Blaufrankisch Ried Alter Berg nice juicy black and blue fruit with hints of vanilla and black cherry with robust tannins ****+ |
 |
| Ernst Triebaumer 2011 Blaufrankisch Ried Mariental rich extracted and fully dark fruited with plum, black cherry and vanilla this was the best Blaufrankisch of the day ****+ |
 |
| Moric, Roland Velish 2011 Blaufrankisch Reserve mocha and fresh wild berries with blueberry skin tannins a little more rustic feel in the mouth and taste **** |
Cuvee ... (blends - tried a few and this was my favourite)
 |
| Gernot Und Heike Heinrich 2011 "Pannobile" - Zweigelt / Blaufrankisch 70 / 30 blend that's a little smoky with black fruit; then there's the touches of vanilla, black cherry and cassis - nice array of cocoa and plum on the nose to the finish ****+ |
 |
| To my American friends, this is Budweiser - the original Budweiser ... I had one while waiting in the hotel bar for those going to the Heurigen. |
 |
| The Heurigen is held here |
 |
| In the former house of Beethoven - yes that Beethoven |
 |
| We pass through this door |
 |
| Into this mob of writers, agents and wine industry professionals. |
 |
| As you travel deeper into the place things begin to settle down. |
 |
| Here we have the buffett, where they have traditional "Austrian peasant foods" |
 |
| And you end up with plates like this ... |
 |
| and this. |
 |
| And of course you need a "band" |
 |
| As the night winds down dessert is served ... |
 |
| ... twice |
No comments:
Post a Comment