{"id":492,"date":"2019-01-27T10:14:05","date_gmt":"2019-01-27T10:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/?p=492"},"modified":"2021-03-03T06:46:19","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T06:46:19","slug":"sourcing-austrias-finest-wines-in-australia-by-jack-simmonds-hahndorf-hill-brand-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/?p=492","title":{"rendered":"Sourcing Austria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s finest wines in Australia – By Jack Simmonds, Hahndorf Hill Brand Ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Wines from the Old World – the cellar at Austria’s Weingut Allram<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Australian wine market has always been dominated by local producers (and rightly so) with the import component largely ruled by New Zealand, France and Italy. And while the wines we are importing from the big three global-producing countries are famous for quality and eminence, they are not well known for stylistic innovation or varietal experimentation. New Zealand and Western European wine sales are still very strong here, but for how long? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a bottle of red was passed around my father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s table, it would\nundoubtedly have been Shiraz, and someone ordering a glass of the house white\nat almost any bar could, until recently, safely expect a glass of Sauvignon\nBlanc. This almost industry-wide homogeneity has been frustrating, but the\nlight at the end of the varietal tunnel is getting much brighter. The last 20 or so years has seen a slow but\nsteady revolution in Australian wine bars, restaurants, bottle shops and\nvineyards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This quiet but implacable growth owes its momentum to several forces,\nall of which have made a conscious effort to look beyond the immediate whims\nand demands of the comfortable yet easily intimidated consumer. These brave few\nhave scoured the earth in an effort to liven up and rejuvenate our dining\ntables and trendy wine bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the country courageous importers, sommeliers, retailers,\njournalists and vintners have put their money and reputations where their mouths\nare; and now the range available to the curious drinker in Australia has grown\nexponentially, and I for one thank them.\nWe in Adelaide are particularly lucky to have Liinaa Berry of 2KW and Shaun Lau\nof Orana, two somms who have embraced Austrian varietals. Dan Traucki of\nWinestate Magazine has committed more column inches to Gruner Veltliner than\nanyone else I know, and importers such as Cellarhand and Vinous Imports have\nspent years chipping away at our resistance to anything difficult to pronounce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nUntil recently the only place adventurous drinkers could find alternate varietals and styles was the boutique and independent bottle shops. For a generation now Adelaide\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Edinburgh Cellars, East End Cellars and Stirling Cellars have been challenging the status quo and offering a range of depth and quality. Nicks Wine Merchants and Blackhearts & Sparrows serve the Victorian and Canberran markets faithfully and Prince Wine Store keeps Sydney on the cutting edge.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\nThe large supermarket-style and online retailers have also played their part in bringing alternate varietals and the traditionally ignored wine-producing regions to the public palate – Dan Murphy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ranges a few wines from my friend Gerhard Pittnauer and a selection of Dom\u00c3\u00a4ne Wachau. The online giant Vinomofo has also thrown its weight behind the cause and it is two of their wines that inspired this article.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Weingut Allram from the Kamptal wine region in Austria is a\nmulti-generational family business with three tiers of kin actively involved on\na daily basis. Like the other few houses who have earned the right to display\nthe prestigious Erste Lage or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Grand Cru\u00e2\u20ac\u009d insignia on their bottles, they know\nthat all great wines begin in the vineyard. They see themselves as custodians\nof the land first and vintners second; every effort is made to care for each\nvine thus providing the best vehicle for the terroir to express itself. A \u00e2\u20ac\u0153less\nis more\u00e2\u20ac\u009d attitude in the winery allows each bottle to stay on message; to speak\nof the warm days that slip into chill nights, of the cool dark slate hidden\nbelow layers of calcareous loam and loess, and of the steady hands which care\nfor each vine with reverence and respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Erich
Erich and Lorenz Haas of Weingut Allram in the Kamptal<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lorenz Haas-Allram took the wheel in the cellar from his father Erich in\n2015 and his first few vintages in charge indicate he will be a steady pair of\nhands. He has held firm to the family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s viticultural and vinification\nphilosophies and continues to blend ancestral experience with modern techniques\nand technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2016 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Renner\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gruner Veltliner is true to form; this wine is all\nabout purity and structure. Apple, pear and white stone fruit ring like a bell\nwhile a delicate and faintly nutty bass line chaperones this orchard orchestra\nacross the palate. There are a few common denominators in Gruners of this quality\nand the acid is one of them; this is a crisp and flinty wine that, while\ndelicious now, has me rueing not ordering more. I predict this wine will age\nwith grace and those lucky enough to sample it in another 10-12 years will be\nrewarded with a glass of pure sophistication and textured elegance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This wine will sing with Coffin Bay oysters with just a twist of lemon,\ncrunchy veggies in a light tempura batter or a good old fashioned roast chicken\nwith all the sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wellanschitz family produced their first Burgenland Blaufrankisch\nover fifty years ago; several generations have since shaped the business but\nthe original vision has never changed: Only the best will do. A member of the\nfamily is always personally involved in every step of the process and the firm\nnever buys in fruit or wine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ripening grapes at Weingut Wellanschitz in Burgenland<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I spoke before of certain qualities and philosophies being shared by\nmany of Austria\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s top houses; a deep respect for the terroir, scrupulous fruit\nselection and a light touch in the winery all mark out the elite producers and\nWeingut Wellanschitz deserves its place in such company. Their blocks are\npeppered across Mittelburgenland and cover a diverse range of sites; each\nselected for its unique terroir and voice, which is then allowed to say what it\nwants to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well\u00e2\u20ac\u009d block is a relatively flat site consisting of rich heavy clay\nwith pockets of ironstone and is situated in the village of Horitschon, only a\nfew minutes from the winery in Neckenmarkt and close to the region\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest\ncentre, Deutschkreutz. This article is all about the growing diversity\navailable to the Australian drinker and the 2015 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Blaufrankisch is a\npoint within a point; this wine will provoke and intrigue even those who\nconsider themselves to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Blau literate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If Muhamad Ali could \u00e2\u20ac\u0153float like a butterfly and sting like a bee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, then\nthis would have been the wine for him. The 2015 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has the waistline of a\nPinot or Syrah but delivers an aromatic jab and a tannin hook. Blackberries and\ncherries make up the primary fruits but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fret, there is tannin for days.\nThis is no fruit salad; delicate oak and extended maceration have imparted a\nbalance and sophistication that makes for pleasurable drinking now but hints at\nthe treats that will reward the patient. If you were to put this wine down for\nanother 10-12 years (as I fully intend to do), I suspect you will have a table\nmate as charming and engaging as any Burgundian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Game meats such a venison, duck or braised rabbit will pair beautifully\nand if you were to support the protein with roasted field mushrooms, onions and\nbeetroot on a polenta foundation, than I can guarantee you will have to set at\nleast one extra place! I promise I will bring another bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As attitudes evolve and horizons broaden, the experiences available will\ninevitably multiply. The Australian wine scene was once called stagnant and\nboring, but with the help of the brave few listed above and numerous others,\nthere is hope. I delight in not being able to recognise or sometimes even pronounce\nall the varieties I can now source at my local bottle shop or at the click of a\nmouse. It is incumbent upon all of us to help lift the veil that so often\nscares the drinking public back into the arms of the familiar and tired. We now\nhave an arsenal brimming with new weapons with which to titillate and tease,\nfrom Assyrtiko to Zweigelt, and I am very excited about the direction our\nindustry is heading in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look forward to new\nchallenges, to sharing something new and learning right along with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prost, Jack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Australian wine market has always been dominated by local producers (and rightly so) with the import component largely ruled by New Zealand, France and Italy. And while the wines we are importing from the big three global-producing countries are … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,47,31,29,39,27,5,30,22,33,51,1,8,16,17],"tags":[37,42,11,9,38,21,40],"class_list":["post-492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adelaide-hills","category-adelaide-hills-best-cellar-door","category-adelaide-hills-gruner-veltliner","category-adelaide-hills-wine","category-blaufrankisch","category-cool-climate-wine","category-gruner-veltliner","category-gruner-veltliner-australia","category-hahndorf","category-st-laurent","category-sticky-wine-adelaide-hills","category-uncategorized","category-wine","category-zweigelt","category-zweigelt-australia","tag-adelaide-hills","tag-adelaide-hills-wine-region","tag-blaufrankisch","tag-gru","tag-gruner-veltliner","tag-hahndorf-hill-gruner-veltliner","tag-zweigelt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thegrufiles.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}