Fred hosted our little local group for a look at Austrian wines- with a nic e spread of sardines, cheeses, tapenade, zucchini salad, duck breast with c herry sauce, liver pate, and more
We started with 2 non-blind starters
2015 Meinklang Frizzante Rose A little sweetness, light froth, nice cherry raspberrry fruit, fun. B
2016 Schloss Gobelsburg Cistercien Rose Hint of spritz, bright, easy. B
Then to the blind wines
1998 Knoll Loibenberg Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Softer than I remembered, but with nice apple and pea flavors, a hint of pe trol. Drink up based on this bottle. B
2014 Stadlmann Rotgipfler Anninger Aromatic, floral with some pea and spice notes over pear fruit, light. My g uess was Gruner (because I thought it wasn’t Riesling , Chardonnay, or Sauvignon blanc, and those are only Austrian white grapes I usually thi nk of). Off, because it’s Rotgipfler, which I’ve never hear d of, but I liked this. B
Mayr Gruner Veltliner (didn’t note vintage, liter) Light, hint of spritz, apple B-/C+
2015 Schloss Gobelsburg Gruner Veltliner (Kamptal) Good structure, minerally, peas and citrus, good value. B+/B
2014 Glatzer Blaufrankisch Midbodied, good acidity yet with a jammy note. A little odd. B-
2012 Hans Igler Zweigelt Spicy, almost seems like it has a touch of RS, fun though B
2014 Meinklang Recognized this one. Juicy berries, lively, good value. B
Saturday to sister in law’s for Betsy gazpacho and Cal’s pa ella (clam, shrimp, chicken and chorizo)
NV Moet and Chandon “Imperial Rose” Good acids, but kind of blocky/bulky on palate. Tasty cherry fruit, just no t singing. B/B-
2016 Pecina Rioja Rosado I love Pecina reds, but this was round fat and soft. C+
1998 Riojanas “Albina” Rioja Gran Reserva Terrible match (sausage spicier than I expected), but nice wine. Vanilla, c edar, dill, and red fruit, good balance. B+
Nice group of 6 for dinner Sunday. I had out pate and lonza, guest brought a smoked trout appetizer, we started with NV Philipponnat “Rosee” Rose Champagne This is more like it. Yeast and red berries, citrus and honeydew topnotes. Full, vibrant, tasty. A-
First course was roasted cauliflower with pea pesto, feta/ricotta cream, an d pea shoots
2005 Michel Bouzereau “Les Grands Charrons” Meursault. No premox, pear and a little hazelnut, straightforward mature white Burg. B
1967 Produttori del Barbaresco One couple had just had their 50th anniversary.. Stood up for 3 weeks, deca nted about 4 hours before service, a pointe. Red fruit with a hint of macer ated cherries, roses and a little balsam, light bodied but quite long. Grea t showing for the normale. A-
Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a p arty where it was only choice.Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivi ty, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.