Award-winning winery Pfaffl has helped establish Austria’s signature Grüner Veltliner on the daunting American market.
Good as they are, Austrian wines often go unnoticed outside the country, especially with giants like France or Italy hogging the limelight. Even large producers can have a hard time making it internationally. The family-owned Pfaffl winery in Lower Austria is among the few that...
The Weinviertel has as many philosophies as vintners
“Popsicles. With lychee aroma!” René Willmann of the Poysdorf Weinmarkt (wine market) scoffed, a staunch defender of classical Austrian winemaking and not overly impressed by the trendy tipples in Generation Y’s watering holes. And he has good reason: The 30 winemakers whose nearly 500 wines are on display in his Vinothek are among...
After eons, kosher wine finally matures
Wine in the Levante may date back to pre-biblical times, but until recently, Israel was not producing much you would actually want to drink. Journalist William Echikson writing in the Wall Street Journal recalled the obligatory ritual wine at Pesach in his youth, a kosher NY State Concorde: “Sickly sweet, like alcohol-tainted grape juice.”
No...
Classy and exclusive, the Tour de Vin lets you peek behind the scenes at Lower Austria’s finest vineyards.
By Catherine Hooker and Leopold Winkler
After spitting out approximately the 40th wine I tasted that day, I was starting to get the hang of it. The flavors and bouquets were slowly becoming distinct to me, allowing me to finally appreciate the differences...
Cellar, field and desk; March is a busy time of year for winemakers
The cliché of cute country girls and boys, skirts and sleeves rolled up as they tread the grapes, may have finally been consigned to the bin of wine making lore, but there’s still plenty of romantic haze fogging the hard reality. Between the jolly harvesting of last...
These three shops in Vienna offer excellent wine accessories
By Catherine Hooker & Leopold Winkler
Even if it’s not included in the Mercer Quality-of-Life rankings, a well-paired glass of wine with dinner is an Austrian hallmark of making the most out of everyday life. With the temperatures down and the allure of a vineyard stroll less than appealing, we stopped by...
Austrian bubbly has had a rough time lately, but new regulations might just put it back on track
“The velvet was flowing like a river! Let’s have another bottle of the velvet!”
If things had gone differently in a marketing meeting for sekt a couple of years ago, you might have heard such exclamations around Austria on New Year’s Eve.
The...
Vienna’s smallest working vineyard is in the heart of the city
We all know the PR photo stunts: a portly man in a serious business suit performing the unlikely task of shovelling earth, “breaking the ground” for his corporation’s next contribution to the greater global good. Vienna can do this too, except that it’s not a studio shot.
On a grey,...
With foul weather affecting the vintage, this year is a rough one for Austrian wine
This year will not be remembered fondly by Austrian winemakers. Catastrophic weather conditions in some of the main grape-growing regions left behind a messy pulp of battered vines, frostbitten shoots and diseased fruit. A reminder that the climate still has the power to make or...
