The Times Magazine, March 1997:
Drink (Jane MacQuitty)

(AWM, March 1997) - The freeze on Austrian wine sales is coming to an end as drinkers develop a taste for the spice boys.

When Austria was all but knocked off the wine map 12 years ago by the anti-freeze scandal, some thought the industry would never recover. But, with the help of some stringent new laws, the intrinsic worth of the better Austrian wines is once more beeing appreciated.
In wine terms, Austria faces east not west. Despite ist recent EC status, it has more in common with Hungary and Romania than it does with Italy and France. Its unusual grapes, micro-climate and minerals in the soil make its wines astonishingley musky and spicy and reminiscent of the bazaar.
More specifically, Austria's most widely planted white grape, the Grüner Veltliner, delivers a smoky, white pepper-like scent and finesse. Welschriesling and Müller-Thurgau are two popular Austrian white grapes, with Blaufränkisch and Blauer Portugieser the most widely planted red.

In general, Austria's wines are more fullbodied and alcoholic than those of its northern neighbour Germany and a good deal finer than anything its eastern neighbours can offer, except the new-wave Hungarian wines from Tokay.This combination of power and spice makes the better Austrian bottles the perfect accompaniment to spicy food - but you will have to pay for the privilege.

The two top areas to concentrate on, lie in the extreme east of the country, close to Vienna. Wachau, on the Danube between Melk and Krems, is one of those enchantingly pretty, steep-terraced river valley regions dottled with castles, ruins and orchards. The Grüner Veltliner and Riesling grape both do well here.
Try the Freie Weingärtner's delicious dry waxy peach and glacé-fruit laden 1995 Riesling Federspiel (Lay and Wheeler, Gosbecks Road, Colchester, Essex; Averys, Orchard House, Southfield Road, Nailsea, Bristol) or the impressive 1995 Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Alte Reben with its intense cologne spice (Averys). Kremstal and Kamptal to the east of the Wachau enjoy the Danube's warming influence, too, and are other prime Austrian spots for Riesling and Grüner Veltliner.

If Austria's red wines and celebrated botrytis-affected sweet whites interest you, go southeast of Vienna to Neusiedlersee, a shallow, reedy lake. This area's red are remarkably good. Try the crunchy, raspberry fruit of the elegant, spicy 1994 Blaufränkisch Ried Johanneshöhe from Prieler (Averys and FWW Wines, 241 Banstead Road, Bandstead, Surrey) or the glorious rich spicy, okay Feiler-Artinger 1994 1000Jahre-Cabernet-Sauvignon-Merlot (Lay & Wheeler). Feiler-Artinger's creamy, baked-apricot-like 1991 Ruster Ausbruch Cuvée Pinot (Lay & Wheeler) is a botrytised Hügelland bottle that should not be missed either.

On the other side of the lake in the Burgenland is the exuberant innovator Willi Opitz, who makes a wide range of single-varietal, often Sweet wines reveal in part what the new Austria is all about. Try the elegant, dry grapefruit-scented intensity of his 1995 Welschriesling McLaren (T&W Wines, 51 King Street, Thetford, Norfolk) or the musky, grapey spice of his seductive sweet 1995 Muskat Ottonel Spätlese (T&W; Fortnum & Mason, Piccadilly, London W1). Austria's very own exotic spice is equally evident in his 1995 Gewürztraminer Auslese, which has a creamy peach and lychee underpinning (T&W).

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