Austrian Riesling Triumphs at International Tasting
Eight out of the Panel’s Top Fourteen Rieslings Austrian

(AWMB, November 2004) - London’s fashionable Groucho Club is becoming an important place for Austrian wines. Already in 2002, a celebrated blind tasting pitched great Grüner Veltliner and Chardonnay against some of the world’s top Chardonnays, with the stunning result that Austria’s national varietal swept the board. On 11 October, 2004, the experiment was repeated, this time with Riesling.

Chosen once more by wine writer Jancis Robinson and wine dealer and collector Jan Erik Paulson, thirty-six Rieslings from Austria, Germany, France and Australia were tasted. The invited panel consisted of sommeliers, journalists, and wine dealers from the UK and abroad, and the tasting was conducted blind, in six flights ordered by vintage, ranging from 1990 to 2002.

When the results were announced, Austria was the clear winner of the event: eight of the top fourteen wines chosen by the professional panel were Austrian, beating some of the greatest traditional producers of the grape, such as H. Dönnhoff, Zind Humbrecht, and Trimbach. Jancis Robinson, a long-time fan of great Austrian wines, was not surprised by the result: “I was determined that the Austrian candidates would be set against the finest dry Rieslings I could think of,” she explained in her column in the Financial Times. ”What the group liked best was… Austrian Riesling… Eight of the group's top 14 wines were from Austria.”

“For Austria, this is one more reward for years of dedication and enormous attention to detail in making true terroir wine,” comments Michael Thurner, Director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. “It is no longer a secret that our wines are among the greatest of the world and can be found on wine lists form Tokyo to New York and from Paris to Melbourne, but it is fantastic to gain this sign of recognition from some of the world’s most demanding palates, and to get an opportunity of showing that our wines perform wonderfully vintage after vintage.”

Download:
Financial Times, Article by Janics Robinson (pdf, 27 kB)
Final Results by Flight, Vintages, Overall Results (pdf, 255 kB, xls-file, 37 kB)

Overall Results

Riesling Tasting, Groucho Club, London; 11th October 2004
Flight 1-6 (Vintage 1989-2003):
No Vintage Wine Points
1 1990 Weissenkirchner Achleiten, Smaragd; Prager/Bodenstein, Wachau, Austria 18,71
2 1990 Clos Ste Hune, Trimbach; Alsace, France 17,86
3 1997 Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg ; Georg Breuer, Rheingau, Germany 17,82
4 1995 Riesling Kellerberg , Smargad; F.X. Pichler, Wachau, Austria 17,64
4 2002 Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Spätlese trocken; Christmann, Pfalz, Germany 17,64
6 2002 Loibner Vision, Smaragd, Högl, Wachau, Austria 17,39
6 2002 Riesling Vinothekfüllung Smaragd; Knoll, Wachau, Austria 17,39
8 1990 Riesling, Loibenberg, Smaragd, Knoll, Wachau, Austria 17,36
9 2002 Riesling Zöbinger Heiligenstein; Hiedler, Kamptal, Austria 17,29
10 2001 Riesling Weissenkirchner Achleiten; Smaragd; Prager, Wachau, Austria 17,25
10 1997 Riesling Zöbinger Heiligenstein, Alte Reben; Bründlmayer, Kamptal, Austria 17,25
10 1990 Auslese trocke ; Gunderloch, Rhein-Hessen, Germany 17,25
13 2001 Monzinger Halenberg Auslese trocken; Emrich-Schönleber, Nahe, Germany 17,18
14 2002 Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg, Johannes Leitz, Rheingau, Germany 17,14
15 1997 Riesling Loibenberg, Smaragd; Alzinger, Wachau, Austria 17,11
16 2001 Riesling Weissenkirchner Achleiten; Smaragd, Rudi Pichler, Wachau, Austria 17,07
17 2002 Riesling Nussberg; Wieninger, Wien, Austria 17,04
18 2002 Riesling, Zöbinger Heiligenstein, Lyra; Bründlmayer, Kamptal, Austria 17,00
18 1997 Schlossberg Grand Cru Cuvée Ste. Catherine; Weinbach-Faller, Alsace, France 17,00
20 2003 Isolation Ridge; Frankland Estate, Western Australia, Australia 16,96
20 2001 Brand; Zind-Humbrecht, Alsace, France 16,96
22 2002 Niederhäuser Herrmannshöhle Spätlese; H. Dönnhoff, Nahe, Germany 16,93
23 2002 Riesling Privat; Nigl, Kremstal, Austria 16,89
24 1990 Riesling Vinothek , Smaragd; Nikolaihof, Wachau, Austria 16,79
25 2002 Riesling Unendlich; F.X. Pichler, Wachau, Austria 16,75
26 1990 Kallstadter Saumagen Spätlese trocken "R"; Koehler-Rupprecht, Pfalz, Germany 16,68
27 2003 Reserve; Crawford River, Victoria, Australia 16,61
27 1997 Polish Hill; Grosset, Clare Valley, Southern Australia 16,61
27 1997 Cuvée Frederic Emile; Trimbach, Alsace, France 16,61
30 2002 Jesuitengarten Spätlese trocken; Wolf, Pfalz, Germany 16,54
31 1997 Riesling Spitzer Singerriedel, Smaragd; Hirtzberger, Wachau, Austria 16,46
31 1997 Rangen de Thann; Zind Humbrecht, Alsace, France 16,46
33 2002 Hochheimer Hölle Auslese trocken; Franz Künstler, Rheingau, Germany 16,43
34 1997 Riesling Gaisberg, Alte Reben; Schloss Gobelsburg, Kamptal, Austria 16,21
35 1997 Riesling "Hugel"; Hommage a Jean Hugel, Hugel, Alsace, France 16,11
36 1997 Riesling, von den Terassen, Mittelbach, Dürnstein, Wachau, Austria 15,79

Tasting Panel

Tasting Panel
Neil Beckett, J   Jancis Robinson J
Matthew Wilkin S   Bill Baker M
Matt Skinner S   Joelle Marti-Baron S
Troy Sutton S   Nigel Sutcliffe S + J
Hamish Anderson S   Freddy Price J
Ronan Sayburn S   Anthony Rose J
Jan-Erik Paulson M + J   Stephen Browett M
J … Journalist
M … Merchant
S … Sommelier

Results: David Hunter, WSET/joint adjudicator

For further information please contact:

Austrian Wine Marketing Board
Mrs. Susanne Staggl, Mr. Michael Thurner
info@winesfromaustria.com
Phone: +43/1/5039267, Fax +43/15039268

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