Austrian favorites

Few stores anywhere can claim a good selection of Austrian wine. Usually they stock a bottle or two, usually Gruener Veltliner, maybe a Zweigelt or Blaufrankisch, but not much more. Past experience with the Hoepler winery in Austria gave me a good basis in what made Austrian wines attractive.

Our host was Louise Hoepler, wife of the winemaker and daughter-in-law of the founder, Jost Hoepler - who met eight years earlier when he visited our wine store, knowing we were among his accounts. 

Hoepler's vineyards sit on the easter shore of the Neusiedlersee, a narrow, shallow lake with no natural outlets. The lake creates the climate necessary for grapes to grow along with hilly terrain and mountains to the north.

The Gruner Veltliner is a classic of the grape, dry and with strong minerality. Notes of peach and white pepper emerge quickly. Along with a natural pairing for sushi, the Gruner ages well for a steel tank wine given its high acidity.

Pinot Blanc is a fuller bodied specimen. Still with a strong sense of minerality, the Pinot Blanc has accents of tangerine, apricot and honeysuckle plus a finish that is straight-up lime. Less acidic and more versatile in food pairings, it's also a favorite of Johannes Von Trapp of Sound of Music fame.

The Pinot Noir tasted young, tight and herbal. Along with strawberry, it flashed notes of tobacco beneath a nose of petrol that I could not shake. This wine tasted young despite six months in used French oak.

Zweigelt is named for the man who cross St. Laurent and Blaufrankish to create a new grape that is among my favorite from Central Europe. The Hoepler Zweigelt isn't too tannic but presents notes of cherry, strawberry and raspberry. It packs a punch of spiciness plus a little oak influence.

Hoepler also offers Pannonica, a second label dedicated to affordable blends designed to introduce drinkers to Austrian grapes. The name refers to the Roman name for the region, Pannonia.

Pannonica offers a red (Pinot Noir, Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch), white (Chardonnnay, Pinot Blanc and Gruner Veltliner) and a rose ( Pinot Noir, St. Laurent and Blaufrankisch). All three are approachable wines suited for a summer day, even the red.

The tasting saved the rarest wine for last, Hoepler's 2017 Trockenbeerenauslese, a dessert wine made from grapes affected by noble rot to where they resemble raisins on the vine. Conditions don't arrive for the wine every year - 2017 was the first year Hoepler made it since 2015. It presents a big range of flavors including apricot, honey, apple and mustiness unsurprising given its grapes of origin.

The wine store limited the tasting to 20 people, a perfect size as it allows everyone to socialize with their table and with the winery representative. Everyone had their moment to speak with Mrs. Hoepler. 

The only painful part came when I handed in my slip to order more Austrian wine than I needed in the short term. But from what Mrs. Hoepler told us, I could age these for a little bit and see how they evolved. When I get to the second bottle of Zweigelt in a few years, I'll let you know how it matured.