Wine & Spirits - April 2012 - (Page 99)

YEAR’S BEST AUSTRIAN WINES Our blind panels tasted 211 new-release Austrian wines over the past 12 months. Our critic for Austria wines, Tara Q. Thomas, rated 39 as exceptional (90+) and 35 as Best Buys. Find a complete list of wines tasted and all reviews at wineandspiritsmagazine.com. A USTRI A S PA RKLING 180894 | Szigeti $ and allspice, which pull it ﬁrmly into the savory realm. Pour it with roast game birds. Vignaioli Selection, NY Burgenland Brut Blanc de Blancs (Best Buy) Rich, earthy and broad, this is a fullbodied sparkling chardonnay. Notes of wood spice, musk and yeast add complexity to the apple and citrus fruit; the ﬁne bubbles give it an elegant line. It shows more detail the longer it sits in the glass, so serve it with dinner, in wine glasses rather than ﬂutes. Winebow, NY 180867 GELBER MUSKATELLER 180821 | Lackner-Tinnacher pineapple, rose, hazelnuts and cream radiating out from a tight, mineral center that glints through the fruit like sun oﬀ steel. For all its concentration, it feels ethereal, a ray of long-lasting ﬂavor. Winebow, NY 181323 $ | Nikolaihof $ | Spaetrot Gebeshuber 2010 Südsteiermark Gamitz Gelber Muskateller (Best Buy) As sweet and fragrant as Turkish delight, this is bright with a host of fresh-cut herb ﬂavors. Give it a chill to ﬁrm it up, and serve as an aperitif. Domaine Select Wine Estates, NY $ Thermenregion Frizzante Rosé (Best Buy) Pale pink with vigorous bubbles, this oﬀers lots of sweet cherry ﬂavor with a savory lavender note. Pour it alongside stuﬀed mushrooms or roasted, salted nuts. Vignaioli Selection, NY 180896 G R Ü N E R V E LT L I N E R 181115 | Sohm & Kracher $ | Szigeti $ Burgenland Brut Rosé Pinot Noir (Best Buy) Full and foamy, this is a simple sparkler with lightly smoky candied cherry ﬂavor. Chill for country pâté. Winebow, NY A USTRI A W H I TE FURMINT 181316 | Heidi Schröck $ 2010 Rust Furmint Honey-scented and ripe but resolutely dry, this is wild and mouthwatering. A vein of petrol-like ﬂavor runs through the earthy fruit, which falls somewhere between hard pears and soft crab apples; pleasantly scratchy tannins grip the tongue, holding it ﬁrm. It’s a hungry wine, wanting pork belly, trotters, or anything rich and meaty. Terry Theise Selections/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY 180863 | Peter Schandl 2009 Niederösterreich Grüner Veltliner Thought up in a Thai restaurant in Queens, realized in two small old-vine blocks in Weinviertel, this is grüner veltliner with the stature of Chassagne-Montrachet. It’s the ﬁrst venture between Austrian-born sommelier Aldo Sohm of Le Bernardin in New York and Burgenland winemaker Gerhard Kracher; they chose to let the grapes spontaneously ferment in barrel and bottled it without ﬁltration in hopes of retaining the purity of the fruit. Decanting helps clear up the haze, yet the ﬁne particles also seem to give the wine a cashmere texture. It’s a ﬁne base for the ﬂavors, which run from savory stone to golden fruit, cardamom, cumin and fennel, lasting for minutes. While it’s dense and tightly woven, there’s also succulence and a glinting acidity that aims directly at the salivary glands. Sable, miso-glazed cod, a mushroom tart, “anything savory and salty,” were just a few of the pairing ideas ﬂoated around the tasting table. There are only 2,000 bottles; grab one if you can. Vin Divino, Chicago, IL 180703 2009 Wachau Grüner Veltliner Im Weingebirge Smaragd This is unusually exuberant for a Nikolaihof wine, extravagant in its orange and acacia blossom scents. It calms down on the palate, nestling into broad, earthy ﬂavor, notes of green pear skin and clementine adding succulence. It feels dense and wrapped up in itself, yet delicate, ﬁligreed—an impression that will most likely grow more overt with another decade in bottle. Terry Theise Selections/Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY 179874 | Rudi Pichler $ 2010 Wachau Wösendorfer Kollmütz Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Floral and ripe, this hides a ferrous minerality in its rich fruit, lending a reddish cast to the ripe peach and pineapple ﬂavors. It feels gentle but ﬁrm, with lovely clarity that carries through the long, peppery ﬁnish. For monkﬁsh roasted on the bone. Winebow, NY 181328 | Salomon-Undhof $ 2010 Niederösterreich Hochterrassen Grüner Veltliner This is stunning in its crystal clarity, the lime fruit lean and directed by razor-sharp acidity. It’s tight and concise, almost intimidating in its cut, a white for a crown roast of pork or something equally meaty. Fruit of the Vine, Long Island City, NY 180874 | Sighardt Donabaum $ $ | Prager $ 2009 Burgenland Furmint (Best Buy) From a 24-year-old vineyard in Rust, this is rich with orange notes, from orange blossom honey through candied orange peel. A smoky, stony minerality underlines the ﬂavors, along with unusual spice, like turmeric 2010 Wachau Stockkultur Achleiten Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Prager grows this on vines planted in the 1930s, each trained on its own individual pole. The wine glows in the glass as if it’s internally lit. It glows as it goes down, too, ﬂavors of peach, 2008 Wachau Atzberg S. Dona Grand Select Grüner Veltliner Notes of roasted pineapple and honey deepen this wine’s lime and spring pea ﬂavors. It’s soft and almost oily, with a mineral tone that keeps it ﬁrm. It lasts with tinges of honeysuckle, a languorous grüner for a tart piled high with lobster mushrooms. Vignaioli Selection, NY 181312 W I N E & S P I R I T S A P R I L 2 0 1 2 99 http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2012

Wine & Spirits - April 2012
Editor's Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered: Patrick Comiskey on pairing wine with molecular gastronomy
Extreme Values
Spirits: Lou Bustamante on cocktail bitters
Wine Superheros
Port without Serra
The Class of ’72
Brightliners in the Deep End
The Restoration of Austria’s Noble Red
New & Notable New York City Restaurants
23rd Annual Restaurant Poll
Tastings Overview
American Pinot Noir
Austrian Wines
White Burgundy
Loire Wines
Portugal Reds
Tuscan Wines
American Wines
Imported Wines
Lost Commandments Howard G. Goldberg rewrites Exodus

Wine & Spirits - April 2012