Bambule!

I’m a BIG fan of natural, orange, whatever you want to call them, wines. They’re playful, they match and enhance potent flavours in food and they offer some of the best practical insights into the winemaking process that you can drink. As I’ve written before, Lugeck in Vienna, swift becoming one of my favourite places in the city, has an unrivalled list of natural wines. That’s where I first drank Matthias Warnung’s superb natural Grüner Veltliner, Michael Wenzel‘s Furmint and lots of other joys besides.

But I have to admit that nothing could quite prepare me for Judith Beck’s Bambule Chardonnay. Like Fred Loimer’s Achtung! wines, ‘Bambule’ sounds a bit of a caution. Brace yourself. You’re in for a thrilling ride. The nose is like High Mass, with frankincense, just-beginning-to-burn caramel and a touch of the sweet Sanctifex wine that you’d only ever drink in church. Tasting this Chardonnay then becomes a much more savoury experience on the tongue. There’s an initial rush of direct fruit – three weeks maceration and 22 months in old barriques on the lees haven’t dulled the Chardonnay here – followed by a really powerful solvent-style punch and then a spicy and somewhat meaty finish. It’s quite remarkable. I hadn’t previously been able to find this wine in the UK, but I’ve just stumbled across The Cellar Doors, where you can buy it in cases of six, so I’ll be stocking up… and so should you! 

Sweet Solvent

I recently wrote about a bottle of Styrian Sauvignon blanc from Weingut Wohlmuth. Unlike some other examples from that marvellous region – sadly underrepresented in the UK – Wohlmuth’s Sauvignon offers something a little more sumptuous. Austrian Chardonnays, particularly when left unoaked, can also be a bit on the lean side. So it was a recent thrill to discover broader, more generous examples from Weingut Zull in the Weinviertel, the Burgenland’s Weingut Wagentristl and Weingut Johann Topf in the Kamptal. To that list, you can happily add Weingut Wohlmuth. Their 2012 Chardonnay from the slaty soils of the Edelschuh vineyard certainly makes it presence felt. The nose is high, with appeal sweet solvent notes, followed by a burst of acid at the front end. This mellows to reveal dank wood notes, followed by a deliciously succulent finish. The Wohlmuth website suggests this could be a good red wine substitute, which is testament to its complexity.

Truly Hospitable Wines

Yesterday was the first day of spring, meteorologically speaking. Even if there’s still a chill in the air and a little snow on the ground, here and there, we can start looking forward to long balmy evenings with a glass in hand. Vienna does that particularly well, given the array of Heurigen in the outer districts of the city. Convivial places offering copious food and wine, they are the homely hub at the core of the Viennese wine industry. Yet how do you keep such places fresh to change and chance? Stefan Fuchs of the Fuchs-Steinklammer Winery has a few novel and rather enticing ideas.

The inheritor of two families’ experience in winemaking, Stefan and his brother Alexander are keen to preserve what has allowed his family’s business to thrive since 1697. But they’re also passionate about new techniques and ideas. Working on land in Vienna’s 21st district, Florisdorf, right in the northwest of the city, as well as in the 23rd, Liesing, in the southwest, the Fuchs-Steinklammers have a good range of sites and soils on which to grow their grapes, though the distance of over 15km between the two areas poses practical challenges.

Yet, practicality is the Heuriger owner’s watchword. And, knowing how popular (and potent) an evening at the Heuriger can prove, even with pregnant mothers, Stefan has made good use of his August Verjus harvest. These unripe grapes are high in acidity, but also sweet (rather than vinegary) and, with a little added carbon dioxide, the juice makes for a thirst-quenching (non-alcoholic) aperitif. For those not ‘with child’, there’s always the sparkling Cabernet franc (frizzante rather than méthode champenoise), which ripens early and makes for easy sparkling wine. Despite its youth, comparatively speaking, there are already some rich red notes on offer here too, making for an earthy but fun drink.

Although the Heuriger business demands high turnover and calls on most of the Fuchs-Steinklammers’ wine to be sold ‘at home’, the family doesn’t skimp on the process. Everything is harvested by hand and all the grapes are treated as gently as possible. Beyond the initial contact, Stefan is also keen to keep in touch with his wine and so his reds are fermented in open casks. And he’s been experimenting with white processes too. A cask tasting of a 2014 Sauvignon blanc, with cold maceration and skin contact, revealed really smooth gentle fruit, without overpowering the palate with ‘natural’ tastes. More potent was the new orange wine (made from Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay), which is kept in used barrels, revealing an amazingly ‘sweet’ nose, whose honey continues in the mouth. It’s feels quite punchy at 13%, offering both white and black pepper notes, brilliant for accompanying hearty Viennese cuisine.

Of the reds, the 2011 Cabernet franc is light but has power enough to age. It’s a smooth red, low on tannins, meaning that it doesn’t close off. And that’s exactly what Stefan wants to make, an approachable, multi-glass wine. The black liquorice, spice and darker, deeper fruit of the 2011 St Laurent brings bounty out of what Stefan describes as a ‘horrible site’ in the 23rd district. From another vineyard in that area, as well as from grapes from the 21st district, is the cold maceration Pinot noir, inky in colour and offering a compelling mix of fruitiness, spice and minerality. All in all, these are hospitable wines, easy for drinking but never pale, offering intensity and breadth of flavour. They make you feel welcome, but also challenge the drinker. I look forward to returning to the Heuriger Steinklammer later in the year, when the sun is out and Stefan’s cloudy Sauvignon blanc has been bottled. Click here for more information.

A Sparkling Trio

The Bründlmayers know how to sparkle. In fact, they know how to sparkle in three different ways… their Brut, their Extra Brut and their Brut Rosé. When I moved into my new home, 18 months ago, it was with a bottle of the Rosé that I toasted my new abode (as pictured here). Made from Zweigelt and Pinot Noir, this is a traditional fizz with some earthier fruity notes. The Brut, made with Blauer Burgunder, Chardonnay, Grauburgunder, Weissburgunder and Grüner Veltliner has a fresher and more direct acidity, really slaking the taste buds. But you might, like me, prefer the woodier notes of the Extra Brut, kept in barriques at first, bringing out the herbier flavours, as well as a bit of cream and butter in that delicious natural biscuity taste.

The Comprehensive Local

The Burgenland is the most temperate part of Austria. Although it didn’t feel particularly balmy on the December afternoon I was there, some vestigial warmth could certainly be felt in the small market town of Großhöflein. It’s here that you’ll find Weingut Wagentristl, a small family winery, tending 12 hectares of vineyards and producing 45,000 bottles, all run by 30-year-old Kellermeister Rudolf Wagentristl. I first met Rudi, as he’s known, at a Leithaberg DAC tasting in London and I was keen to visit him when I was next in Austria. My trip was more than amply rewarded.

Rudi is the fifth generation of Wagentristls to make wine in Großhöflein and he’s really taken the bull by the horns, producing new lines, getting a chic Viennese marketing company on board and creating an excellent new website. But none of that would register if the fundamentals of his business weren’t securely in place. Rest assured, you’re in safe hands with Rudi, one of the most encyclopaedic people I’ve ever heard talking about wine… and not just his own. Couple nascent talent with a flair for hospitality – the Austrians outstrip almost any other nation in this regard – and a sensitivity to loyal local customers and you have a winery that’s in really rude health. It’s just a shame, as I noted back in November, that Wagentristl’s wines aren’t currently available in the UK.

The quality of Rudi’s work is absolutely evident right across the range. The light and breezy whites – with 2014 Welschriesling, Muskateller & Co. and Weißburgunder already available – are good quaffable drinking wines, though you shouldn’t overlook the impressive floral notes in the Muskateller, proving that these whites aren’t all about green grass tastes. Turn to the 2013 Leithaberg Chardonnay, however, and you’re in full grown-up territory, with a superb balance of fruit and minerality… little wonder this is Rudi’s signature white.

Strength and spice are predominant in the reds from the prime Wagentristl sites around the area. As I wrote back in November, the Leithaberg terroir brings significant complexity to Blaufränkisch, but if had to make choices from this excellent range, then I’d plump for the deeper soils of the Föllikberg, south of Großhöflein, where the fruit just slightly outshines the minerality – it’s also one of the sites where the Gelber Muskateller and Muskat Ottonel are grown for Rudi’s excellent sweet wines – or the more aromatic Zweigelt from the warm microclimate of the Setzen vineyard. The Kreideberg Pinot Noir is a manifestly elegant example of the grape, though you may, like me, prefer the 2012 Gutswein Pinot Noir, offering delicious jammy fruit as well as darker notes.

In a cross-range tasting, those succulent flavours often get my vote – call me a cheap date! – though I’m coming to admire the minerality of the Leithaberg Blaufränkisch wines more and more every time I taste them. But the final and lasting memory I have is of Rudi’s beautifully balanced Trockenbeerenauslese Cuvée. Here, unlike some of his colleagues in the Burgenland, he doesn’t let the sugar cloy and run away with the prize. A healthy dose of acidity lets you really enjoy the wine itself, as fresh as it is luxurious, closing an excellent afternoon’s tasting.

But it was plain to see that I wasn’t alone in my admiration for Rudi’s wine. A family, who had previously lived in the area, had come down from North Germany to Großhöflein to taste the latest additions to the range – including Rudi’s bubbly Rosa Sprudl – as well as to catch up with some of their old favourites. Various people popped in from the village while I was there and the Wagentristl parents were constantly packing up cases of wine and loading them into the vans and cars of happy locals. It’s really cheering to see this winery cherished by its community, as well as, year on year, increasing numbers of commercial and restaurant customers… but it’s high time that Weingut Wagentristl was seen on shelves and wine lists far beyond the German-speaking world. Meantime, you can order your own selection via the winery’s excellent new website.

Catch and Collect

Schrattenthal may be the smallest wine town in Austria, with only 850 inhabitants, but it’s a place that proves size really isn’t everything. This quiet corner of the Weinviertel region is home to Phillip Zull and his family’s impressive wine-making business. Based in their elegant home (renovated with panache in 2007), Phillip’s family, their trusty Weimaraner and a team of occasional workers toil for 18,000 hours a year, on just over 18 hectares of vines, to produce 120,000 bottles of white, red and sweet. These may be comparatively modest figures, but quality is clearly guaranteed, echoed by Phillip’s appealingly quiet confidence in his work. He produces wonderfully elegant wines, speaking of a sharp disinterest in fads, but an absolute love of this unique, dry terroir, close to the Czech border.

His easy-drinking wines are called ‘Lust und Laune’ (Mood and Fancy). There’s a light and green, herby Grüner Veltliner which has already been harvested and bottled for 2014. The 2013 rosé, made predominantly of Zweigelt is, like the white, light and clean, with a gentle hint of red tannic structures, while the 2013 red itself, made from Blauer Portugieser and Zweigelt, has subtle tobacco and concord grape notes, which, combined with a little bit of oak, make for a smooth wine with muted tannins.

The Schrattenthal classic Grüner shows more complexity. Here, harvested a touch later, from three different vineyards, the green zest of an earlier harvest turns to more pear-like flavours. Some of the fruit is a little too muted for my taste in the spicy 2013 Zweigelt, aged in used barrels for 8 months. But I absolutely adored the 2013 Chardonnay, drawn from 1983 vines in one of the cooler spots in Phillip’s vineyards. These grapes are picked late and undergo malolactic fermentation, making for a gloriously buttery Chardonnay.

Richer too is the Grüner Veltliner Äußere Bergen. These vines are something of an experiment, in which cuttings were taken from seven old Veltliners from other esteemed sites and then propagated on this east-facing plateau to the west of Schrattenthal (where they are sheltered from cold winds by the warming Waldviertel). The variety of original sources offers welcome complexity here, with spice and riper fruits, accentuated by the 50% of the wine that is kept in barrels before bottling. But perhaps the most charming of Phillip’s whites is his Riesling Innere Bergen 2013, from a south-facing slope near the Äußere Bergen, offering fresh, chalky minerality, followed by an amazing bloom of honey and apricots. Tasting the 2006 Beerenauslese Riesling, those flavours were even racier, turning towards mango when a little more oxidised.

Although the reds from this area are cooler in nature, I was delighted to find loads of jammy fruit in the signature Schrattenthal 9 cuvée of Zweigelt, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon (on a 70/20/10 split). This red, named after the winery’s address, is made from grapes grown closer to home, while the Pinot Noir 2011 is, like its white Burgundy counterpart (the Chardonnay), picked later from one of the cooler corners of Phillip’s land, with subtle fruit and long notes of tobacco and spice.

With wines of this quality – Austrian magazine Falstaff has given Weingut Zull a much sought-after ✭✭✭✭ rating – you wonder why Phillip is not more ambitious. How, for instance, are his wines not currently imported into the UK? There’s certainly space for him to grow and for others to learn about his wines. But, ‘as a human being’, he says, you may want ‘to catch and collect, but you have to be happy with your status’. For Zull, running this superb but unpresuming winery, that means being ‘out in the vineyard and in the cellar, rather than in a dress coat, flying from A to B’. Tasting his thoroughly sophisticated range, I think he’s got that balance just right. To read more about Weingut Zull and to place an order click here.

Cleansing Auslese

Having tasted Johann Topf’s 2011 Hasel Chardonnay, I was treated to a bottle of the 2013 Auslese from the same site (pictured here). Just like its full-bodied, creamy cousin, this late harvest wine is a real pleasure… in fact it impressed my entire family at our early Christmas dinner this weekend. Together, we loved its balance of sugar and acidity, which, when coming from a Chardonnay, gives wonderful depth and roundedness of flavour, without ever outstaying its welcome. After a big meaty roast dinner, the wine accompanied meringues and raspberries and proved a superb foil, cleansing rather than coating the palate, with a hint of the tropics and a clean cut of citrus.

A Topf Chardonnay

It’s no secret: I love the Kamptal. So I was thrilled to receive a delivery of really interesting wines from Weingut Johann Topf, based in Straß, on the eastern side of this extraordinary wine-growing valley. The winery originates from 1751 and has been family-owned ever since, taken over by Johann Topf Senior in the 60s and by Johann Topf Junior in the 90s, who now works with various members of his family, including his four sons, who will become be the new generation of Topfs making wine in the Kamptal.

Rather than opening a bottle of the Topf family’s Grüner Veltliner or Riesling – they, like a number of the top Kamptal makers have vineyards on prime sites for these grapes, such as the Gaisberg and the Heiligenstein – I plumped for their 2011 Hasel Chardonnay. Sometimes Austrian Chardonnays can be a little aloof, but not so this wine. Don’t make my mistake of over-chilling it… but after the effects of my schoolboy error lifted, the fullness of the grape emerged beautifully, offering subtle toasty oaky notes (also evident on the nose), thanks to the small barrels in which it’s fermented and later aged. A rounded and creamy Chardonnay with a wonderful open finish, comparing very favourably with those from Burgundy. Am really looking forward to tasting the Auslese Chardonnay from the Topfs’ same south-facing vineyard.

Choices, choices, choices…

This is not the first time I’ve featured Markus Altenburger‘s wine on Grape Wein. He’s something of an old favourite now, stocked by Newcomer Wines in London and now available in numerous restaurants and bars across the city (and beyond). Start with a good pour of his £11.90 Blaufränkisch Ried Satz 2013 and you taste why. Explosions of berry fruit – fresh, lively and youthful – offer a no muss, no fuss illustration of the glories of this grape.

Truth be told, I couldn’t get that palate-quenching wine out of my mind when I tasted the immediately more sophisticated Leithaberg Blaufränkisch that Markus produces. These are meatier, richer and spicier wines, brilliant with food, albeit leaving me hankering for that younger fruitiness. Luckily, however, his Gritschenberg Blaufränkisch – OK, it’s the crème de la crème of his range – offers both. From a little vineyard with old vines, producing tiny little clusters of grapes, this wine keeps the grape’s fruitiness totally intact, while offering a goodly slug of cultivated spice. At £68.90 a bottle, it’s never going to be an everyday event, but it’s certainly one for special occasions.

And then, if you’re a white drinker, Markus has a 2011 Jungenberg Chardonnay on offer, which ages in various different barrels, offering breadth but also some delightful sherbety touches, and the Neuburger Reserve 2013, a veritable pear crumble in a glass. Even across these six wines, Markus offers a vast range of flavours, styles and approaches, testament to the Leithaberg land on which he grows his grapes, but also, most importantly, to his own choices and tastes.

Snap up Wagentristl

Us Brits may not have heard of Weingut Wagentristl in the Burgenland, though they’ve been making wine for five generations. One of a handful of wineries in the Leithaberg DAC (part of the Austrian equivalent of the Appellation d’origine contrôlée system), Rudi Wagentristl is currently looking for a UK importer. Judging by the tasting I went to earlier this week, it won’t be long before Wagentristl is on many a discerning restaurant’s wine list.

I tasted some of his Chardonnay and two examples of Wagentristl’s Blaufränkisch, the only red grape in the Leithaberg DAC. The whites, on the other hand, can be made from Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay or Neuburger. All of these grapes absolutely thrive on the unique mix of terrain offered by these mountains, which form part of the border between the Burgenland and Lower Austria. There’s gneiss, limestone and sedimentary soils, bringing out different qualities in the varietals grown here. The Chardonnay, for instance, offers both a creamy breadth of flavour and some really delicious tingly fruit.

As regular readers know, I love Blaufränkisch, for its immediacy and for its earthiness, with fruit and spice in equal measure. The soils of the Leithaberg bring a complexity to this fundamentally unpretentious grape. Wagentristl’s 2012 Leithaberg Blaufränkisch is a model of the kind of multifaceted wines that flourish here. It’s a great food wine, though the fruitiness also makes it a great solo drinker. With a little added Zweigelt in the Föllikberg 2012, the flavours open up even more, which is also true of Wagentristl’s lively Pinot Noir Kreideberg. I didn’t have the chance to taste the Trockenbeerenauslese on offer or the other whites that the Wagentristls produce, but I cannot wait to have a crack with them. And a UK importer should snap this winery up, so we can all get the chance!