Fall Flavors
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While I don’t take pleasure in the early darkening of the afternoon sky now that daylight saving time has ended, my wine clock has also changed, and to a brighter mode. This is the time when the white wine months yield to red. But not just any reds. Now is when I shift over to midweight “bridge” wines, which are graceful rather than burly. Once the cold winds blow, I’ll get on to the big, warming cabs, syrahs, and zins that will stand up to a winter stew.
My old dependables for this season are Beaujolais and lighter reds from the Loire Valley and northeastern Italy. Then, two weeks ago, I gained an intriguing new autumn option when I attended an eye-opening tasting held at Wallse restaurant in the West Village. On the table were 15 red wines from Austria, a country best known for its white wines. These reds were fragrant and fruity. Their lively acidity was balanced by modest tannins, which firmed up the wine without biting the gums. I’ve long sipped Austrian whites, mainly Gruner Veltliner and a few Rieslings. But super reds from Austria, perfect for fall? Who knew?
These wines issue from grapes that are distinct from the red wine mainstream. Ever heard of Blaufrankisch, Zweigelt, or Saint Laurent? They are the big three of Austria’s red wine spectrum. Zweigelt, the most heavily planted, is a cross between the other two. It was created in 1922 by an eponymous Austrian professor who reportedly lost his job for being an enthusiastic Nazi. Zweigelt the grape may be little known outside Austria, but it does have the distinction of being the last entry in the “Oxford Companion To Wine.”
The importer Terry Theise, who built an imposing portfolio of German white wines before venturing into adjoining Austria, calls Austrian reds “Golden Retriever wines.” That is, “Ya gotta love’ em.” But not all in the same way. Blaufrankisch has the most thrust of the three, and it can have a gamey, even pungent core. This is wine that will stand up to a garlicky lamb roast. Zweigelt is the juiciest of the trio, the most joyous. It often smells of fresh pepper and tastes of tart cherries. Saint Laurent, still sparsely planted due to its finicky nature, is for me the most elegant and seductive Austrian red. It has a supple vinousity and lively undercurrents of spicey fruit that make it a nearringer for a fruit-forward pinot noir – if not from Burgundy, then from New Zealand.
Austrian wine exports are currently on a roll, with sales to America jumping from 49,000 cases in 1999 to an estimated 90,000 this year. Yet in 1985,Austria became the pariah of the wine world after some wine-makers were found to be adding diethylene glycol, a compound related to antifreeze, to their white wines in order to give them extra sweetness and richer mouth feel. That dirty little secret was only found out when one winemaker applied for a tax deduction for the chemical, leading an auditor to wonder why diethylene glycol was needed to make wine. In the aftermath of the scandal, Austria instituted strict new standards for wine.
The truth was that the tainted wines had to be “pumped-up” to mask poor quality. “Austrians realized that their country was much too small to succeed at wine unless they aimed for high quality,” said Michael Thurner, director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. White wines, traditionally sweet, became drier. Red wines, formerly ignored, became the focus of a young generation of winemakers. Grapes of global renown – cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah – were planted and blended with the native blaufankisch, zweigelt, and St. Laurent. “The winemakers made their point that they, Austria, could make big, rich wines in the international style,” said Mr. Thurner. “Now we have a movement back to the wines that are distinctive to Austria.”
With Germany slurping up the lion’s share of Austrian red wine exports, only about 15% of Austria’s wine exports reaching America this year will be red wines. But these reds can be found at New York wine shops that are alert to the pleasures of these distinctive wines. At Chelsea Wine Vault, manager Ralf Kuettel is an especially knowledgeable and enthusiastic exponent of Austrian reds, although he has a hard time keeping them in stock. When I visited last week, 18 Austrian whites but just two reds were on hand. Normally, Mr. Kuettel assured me, he has more, and expects to soon replenish the selection.
For expert pairing of Austrian wines to food, I recommend the Monday night wine dinner at Wallse (344 West 11th St., 212-352-2300): Five courses with five wines for a flat $95, excluding aperitifs and coffee. The matches have been worked out by chef Kurt Gutenbrunner (the restaurant is named for his Austrian hometown) and Aldo Sohm, an expert young sommelier new in town. Mr. Sohm, formerly of the Hotel Stanglwirt in the Tyrolean Alps, was named his country’s champion sommelier three times.
Mr. Sohm is not bound to the conventions of wine and food pairing. Last Monday night, for example, he matched foie gras with a gentle riesling that was just off-dry. Traditionalists would have chosen sauternes or another distinctly sweet wine. “I don’t see the point of coating your mouth with sugar if you’re moving on to dry red wine,” explained Mr. Sohm, who has even given deep thought on what wine to pair with a cucumber and potato salad.
All wine glassware at Wallse is by Reidel, the innovative Austrian firm that shapes the glass to the wine. Unusually, Mr. Sohm may decant white as well as red wines to bring out their best. Depending on the aeration required, Mr. Sohm has three differently shaped Riedel decanters at the ready.
WINE HUNTING
Recommended Austrian Red Wines
BLAUFRANKISCH 2002, Gernot Heinrich, $16.99 at Chelsea Wine Vault (75 Ninth Ave., 212-462-4244). From a winery known for a high-end blend called Gabarinza, this blaufrankisch represents a return to basics. The wine is cherry- and chocolate-scented, then lively and fruity, with a slightly bitter core. “Not a fist in your face,” Mr. Kuettel of Chelsea Wine Vault said. “It keeps on telling a story.”
BLAUER ZWEIGELT, 2003, Berger, $10.99 for a liter at the Wine Shop at Whole Foods (Columbus Circle, 212-826-9600). At this price, the wine undercuts any other Austrian red I found in town. It’s all about effusive fruit rather than structure, but it does show off the splendid ripeness achieved in the hot European summer of 2003. A bottle sitting on my windowsill for two days only improved. Cru Beaujolais, watch your back!
ZWEIGELT, RUBIN CARNUNTUM 2002, Markowitsch, $18.99 at Astor Wines & Spirits (12 Astor Place, 212-674-7500). This is much darker than the Berger wine above; it shows how well-made Zeigelt gains power and intensity without losing its bright fruitiness. Like syrah in silk.