Two Austrian Vintners @ VinoVenue, March 8th

Hmmm... Sounds interesting, Emily. I 'll have to see if I can do it. Are you going to be there, perchance?

Mark Lipton

I'm trying, but I might have to send the Austrian (AKA my husband & partner) along for the fun without me. We'll see. But you should definitely try to make it- Johann & Franz-Josef make some great wines, and they are so young that it's almost scary to think of how good their wines are going to get. e.

I'd seriously recommend to visit the tasting. Both are exciting newcomers to the scene and offer outstanding wines from the coolest part of the Wachau, the village of Spitz.

M.

I've also noted that in the Mosel; several young upstarts fresh from wine school taking over family wineries and easily surpassing their fathers, even in those cases where their daddies had a good reputation. Those wine schools seem to be on a winning track! Anders

Hi again to all! A reminder for this tasting tomorrow night, and also an update.

Franz-Josef and Johann have brought with them another wine which they will have on hand at the tasting. It is a joint project between the two winemakers; a Gruner Veltliner called "Kalmuck". The name of the wine comes from the plaid jacket worn in this region (Lower Austria) which was traditionally made from the saddle blankets of a Mongolian tribe. The wine itself is a classic Gruner Veltiner, with all of the pepper, spice & mineral notes you'd expect, and is a joining of the two vintners philosophies. As they also described it to me, it's Gruner Veltliner dressed up in a new tailored jacket ("Veltliner im Neuen G'wand"

best, e.

Also often spelled "Kalmuk".

A ladies version is to be seen here:

The piece on the right hand side.

M.

And if you want to see one live and in person, Franz Josef will be wearing his at the tasting tonight. See you there!

And quite an interesting item it was (speaking of the Kalmu(c)k, not the charming and interesting Franz-Josef). I will write up my impressions of the wines soon, but as a preview I will mention that it was a very enjoyable tasting and the two young winemakers were most gracious and interesting (and spoke English quite well to boot). The two of them had quite a bevy of young things surrounding them by the time we took our leave -- their trip to CA may be more of an experience than they had imagined... or perhaps not! ;-)

Mark Lipton

So glad you could make it, Mark! I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the wines. And I actually got a call from my partner who was there- apparently it was something of a non-stop bevy from start to finish! e.