So excited!

I am here in Vienna, and in just a few hours will take part in an educational program: Fine and Rare Wine Specialist duriing  a week-long session in Vienna featuring presentations by the world's most respected wine authorities, including Gerard Basset MW, Anthony Hanson MW, Serena Sutcliffe MW, and many others.

Very honored too that this is a bursary (scholarship) related to the Master of Wine programme, in which I am a student.

For this project the Austrian Wine Academy, (continental) Europe's largest wine-school, headed by Dr. Josef Schuller MW, and Hotel Residenz Palais Coburg, represented by Frank Smulders MW, have joined forces.

So here is what is on the program for today:

A reception featuring a "glass of champagne " (will report on which one) and "finger food."

Introduction tot he program.

A lecture by Gerard Basset MW

A "dual presentation" by Gerald Basset MW and Simon Klocker, from Palais Coburg, on the topic of purchasing fine and rare wine, the concept of fine and rare wine at Terravina Hotel, and more ...

... a tasting of a selection of Terravina winelist .... a cellar tour of Palais Coburg and a tasting .... and then, tonight, a welcome dinner with Willi Klinger and selected Austrian wines.

I briefly met Willi Klinger during a presentation he and a colleague made at the European Blogger's conference. Austrian dessert wines are incredibly delicious and during that presentation I must have tasted all the styles possible.

At any rate, the week includes several trips to wine regions and I did bring my vineyard boots.

Also, some of you will be happy to know I bought the new iphoneS4 so I am going to explore taking more pictures and perhaps video and uploading them to the blog from my phone. 
 

Austria Uncorked on May 4 presented a fabulous opportunity for NYC wine folks to experience what is quickly turning out to be the "coolest" wine to enjoy at wine bars, or bring to parties. The hundreds of wines to be sampled at the Tribeca Rooftop included all varieties, red and white, along with cuisine from top restaurants in NYC.

Blaufränkisch anyone? Yes, the name is difficult to read and pronounce, yet this is to Austria what Malbec is to Argentina ... very ripe grapes, often with some gentle wood maturation, and fabulous with lots of dishes, especially braised meat.

The party was fabulous -- many couples and groups having fun, lots of people socializing and getting to know their new best friend over Gruner Veltliner. As usual, though, I was in full wine geek mode, enjoying the opportunity to hop from table to table, comparing Rieslings and talking to winemakers. 

Proceeds from the event benefited GrowNYC’s “Learn It, Grow It, Eat It” program, a local education program which empowers teens to take control of their health through hands-on gardening, nutrition education, outreach, and managing a community farm-stand.

Have you thought about Austrian culture? Typically, when wine brands come to New York they offer the trade a walk around tasting, and sometimes a lecture about the wine.

Today Esterhazy Winery launched a fabulous press lunch that included the the Austrian Consul General, Dr. Ernst-Peter Brezovzky, the Austrian Trade Commissioner, Dr. Christian Kesberg, and many others,"

The event opened with a narrated history and slide show of the Esterhazy Winery, and then time for a musical interlude with masterpieces of Joseph Hayden and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The wines were fabulous ... sparkling Blanc de Noirs, 2009 Zweigelt Classic, 2010 Estoras Gruner Veltliner, the 2008 ESTORAS Blaufankisch-Cabernet Sauvignon blend, a 100% 2008 Blaufrankisch, the 2008 Tesoro (their top wine0 and a delicious desert wine 2008 Cuvee Trockenbeerenauslese.

Really fabulous wines, and a very well orchestrated event.

At City Winery in New York today Andi Kollwentz and Rainer Wess led a fabulous presentation titled: The Wachau and the Leitha: A Tale of Two Mountain Ranges.

In the course of the seminar we saw an incredible slideshow detailing the very different terroir - Austria is a tapestry of gneiss and schist and 2000 meter mountains and lakes. Both producers described their properties and we tasted some fabulous wines.

Vertical shoot positioning is often used to shade the grapes from the intense sun, and Riesling is usually planted on higher slopes than Gruner Veltliner. Rainer Wess had only white wines to show: It was interesting there was such a difference between the 2009 GV Pfaffenberg and  the GV Loibenberg. The sand in the Loibenberg gave the wine more structure, where as the Pfaffenberg was gneiss - decompossed rock, and had more minerality.  My favorite of the Rainer Wess wines was the Riesling Achleiten 2008, which had a smokey minerality that came out of the dark granite soil.

Andi Kollwentz presented two whites (Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay) and three reds, with my favorite red being a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Blaufrankisch, and Zweigelt. We tried the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon on its own, and I liked it a lot. I tried to think where I would place it if I was blind tasting it, and thought perhaps one of the cooler, higher elevation areas of Chile. The CS was balanced and very well structured, yet there was a curious new world quality to it. The Sauvignon Blanc was terrific, extremely aromatic and almost wild in its taste profile, with incredible bright fruit and a spring floral character.

Both producers were so energetic and fun. An extremely well thought out seminar.

... so last night was a trade tasting (afternoon) and consumer party for Austrian wine. Usually I just go to the trade tastings yet last night was invited to the evening (consumer) soiree as well. The wines were incredible, of course -- yet it had been so long that I visited a consumer event I was struck by the 'Sex in the City' glamour of participants. The party was clearly successful, as everyone was very busy flirting and trying tidbits of Austrian cuisine made by many of NYC's celebrity chefs.

And of course one could find many wines to choose from. I spent most of the evening focused on Rieslings and Gruners, trying to blind-taste for quality (cru level) and note the very subtle differences between the different plots. I also chatted with many of the winemakers -- a surprisingly large number men in their twenties who have taken over from their parents. In most if not all cases, the family winery goes back hundreds of years.

All seemed very excited to be making wine and passionate about their product. Austrians are a curious and surprisingly stylish group. Many of the men wore traditional Austrian jackets (I will snap a picture next time, promise!) which is a fabulous fashion statement. New York (and California) are now their prime U.S. market so I hope to see Austrian wine events more in the future.