Austria and Prague...Wines?

Both Salzburg and Vienna have outlets of the fine wine supermarket chain "Wein & Co" (--> ). In Salzburg Vinothek Stangl is a good place to go, in Vienna Vinissimo in the 6th district.

The best Austrian wines are white (Wachau riesling and grüner veltliner smaragds from FX Pichler, Hirtzberger, Knoll, Prager; top wines from Bründlmayer, Hiedler, Jurtschtitsch, Loimer; sauvignons from Styria from Tement, E&W Polz, Gross) or sweet (Trockenbeerenauslesen from Kracher, Feiler-Artinger, Haider-Rosenhof, Franz Tschida, Nekowitsch, Opitz). There are a few outstanding reds, but they are really hard to find (Gernot Heinrich's "Gabarinza", "Salzberg", and "Pinot Noir; Gerhard Markowitsch's "M1" and Pinot Noir Reserve; Gesellmann's "G" and Pinot Noir "Siglos").

M.

I would also recommend a few: Wachau gruner veltliners & rieslings from Lagler, Johann Donabaum, Högl, and Gritsch Mauritiushof; Styrian Sauvignons from Sabathi and Tscheppe; and sweet/dessert wines from Franz Heiss, Wenzel, Lang and Pasler. None of these are widely available in the states yet, and most not at all, so might be more interesting to share with friends. Wenzel also has a good Blaufrankisch, called Bandkraften, as does Feiler-Artinger (Umriss.) I was also recently impressed with the Blauburgunder (pinot noir) from Gsellmann & Gsellmann.

Most that have read my posts know that I am hoping to bring some of these wines to the States, but I'm months away still, so this isn't a shill. I did just get back from tasting the 2003 white wines, and am really excited about them! That epically hot summer over there was a boon to the vinters who worked hard.

In Praha, there are some good Bohemian Champagnes and some tasty Bohemian Roses. Taste some in the local restaurants to see which labels you prefer.

-Wendy

"wendy henson" skrev i melding news:c69c0d$56n2$ snipped-for-privacy@sp15en20.hursley.ibm.com...

A "Vinum exclusive" Cab. Sauvignon 1995 (I think) was very nice and very low priced at restaurant Nebozizek in Prague last year, proving at the least that local red wine should be tested. Anders