Laurenz V Gruner Veltliner Tasting

When the call came through on our direct
WOW Line extending an invitation to a dinner hosted by the famous Austrian wine maker, Laurenz Moser V, only three quarters of us were able to accept due to previous arrangements. It had been a while since we had been to a structured wine dinner together and even though Jules was missing it, the idea of having dinner with a member of the legendary Moser family had us all excited. Laurenz is the grandson of Professor Dr. Lorenz Moser III, the man who introduced the high trellessing system, named after him which changed vine-growing across Europe and greatly improving the quality of GrÜner Veltliner. In a nutshell, his granfather is some what of a legend in the wine business....

GrÜner is an indigenous grape of Austria and the most widely planted variety in Austria with most of it's success occurring in the north-east of the country. Laurenz concentrates solely on this grape and is committed to creating a dry white in many different styles of which we saw clearly the other night.

Upon arriving we tried the Laurenz V "Sunny" 2009 so named after one of his twin daughters(both pictured below), Anna. He explained to us that the style reflected her personality hence the name. It was fresh and as he put it himself "fun" and not too serious a wine although the typical varietal flavours were present such as peppers and tropical fruits; perfect as our aperitif.

With the starter of salmon, crab and fennel salad we enjoyed the Singing 2009 which is called after his other daughter, Sophie who is involved in the business. Both the Singing and Sunny are treated identically with the grapes just coming from different areas. I found the Singing to be slightly less zippy than the Sunny with more floral notes to it and a little rounder. We also tried the Friendly 2008 so called after his wife, we presume!Thjis had quite a burgundy nose to it, tropical notes which were soft and elegant on the palate with a certain creaminess and a spiciness to the finish.

I chose the Roast Loin of Pork with apricot and sage stuffing which worked amazingly well with the Silver Bullet 2008 . This was somewhat of a privilege to try as not only is it relatively new to the range but also unfortunately not available to purchase in Ireland.
It comes in a 50cl bottle which as Lenz explained to us is the ideal size for ladies lunching! Average age of vines for this particular wine is 35 years old and 40% of the wine is left in contact with the skins during fermentation as with red wine, something he learnt from his time working with Mondavi. This produces a deeper coloured white which has a certain nutty character to it and a fuller palate which worked well with the pork. There were also 2 vintages of the Charming served with this course, the 2007 & 2008. This wine is selected only from the best vineyards and is left on the lees for 6 months. I prefered the 2007 of the two as I found it to have more body yet still holding on to it's freshness. A buttery nose, could be confused as oak even though stainless steel was used. Minerality and spice on the palate with more citrusy flavours possibly grapefruit.

We had a gorgeous selection of Irish cheeses to finish the meal off and even older vintages of the Charming which blew the theory of GrÜner being a youthful wine right out of the water! The 2005 was still very zippy and had plenty of youthful acidity. Round tropical fruits on the palate but with some lemon in the background somewhere. The 2004 was the star of the night as far as I am concerned. Golden in colour with a fresh nose of pineapples and subtle vanilla. On the palate there is honeyed fruit with that typical gruner spiciness and possibly a good alternative for the Burgundy-drinker. The 2005 came across way more youthful than the '04 which might have something to do with the fact that the latter was under cork whereas the former is stelvin so it is ageing at a slower rate. It was a really interesting and enjoyable night with great food, fantastic wines and superb company.

I had heard it being said that GrÜner is set for world domination, knocking Pinot Grigio off it's perch on the way to the top, Lenz is obviously firmly behind this and after seeing the diversity of this grape and the quality of these wines, Cellars will be too. GrÜner is like an "all in 1" grape; in it's youthful form it sits nicely as an altenative to Sauvignon blanc, with a bit of lees ageing will really do IT for the Burgundy drinker and all along has the drinkability to suit the Pinot Grigio gluggers.

All together now ...GRÜNER, GRÜNER, GRÜNER....!!!

Till Next time

Clare
CELLARS,NAAS ROAD

Cesario Frizzante Sauvignon Blanc

This Frizzante is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc and comes from a family-owned vineyard in Mittelburgenland in Austria. The Kirnbauer family started making wine in 1979 when Irmgard and Walter(husband and wife team) bought the land and commited themselves to making superior quality wines. They are still very much involved in the running of the vineyard together with the help of their son, Markus and his wife, Alexandra.  Markus and Alexandra visited us in Cellars a few months back to introduce us to their family's wines. He works full-time in the winery whereas Alexandra works as an airhostess however it was quite apparent just how passionate she is about the wines as she would hardly let him get a word in edge ways!

  Austria is mostly known for it's dry white wines with Gruner Veltliner apparently set for world domination however the Kirnbauers are red wine producers, working with indigeneous Austrian grape varieties such as Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt. They also make small quantities of a straight chardonnay, a gorgeous Eiswein and more importantly this gorgeous little sparkler which is made in the traditional champagne method with secondary fermentation occuring in the bottle.

                                                                                                                          The Kirnbauer Family

Back in 1985, Austrain wines came under serious attack when the media realised that a few Austrian winemakers were adding a chemical to their wines that was also present in anti-freeze. This chemical apparently was added to the wines to add body and some sweetness. The Austrians were accused of trying to poison the Germans who were their biggest export market at the time and it spelled disaster for their wine industry. This whole scandal was all a little exagerated as the chemical in question is actually less toxic than alcohol but the media had a field day on it and Austrian wines dropped off the radar for a while.  As a result of the scandal the Austrian government were encouraged to improve the quality of the country's wines and put many regulations into place and now 25 years later we are seeing some super wines coming out of here.

 I particularily love this wine of theirs as not only is it something diferent to offer those looking for a nice sparkling wine but also it is light and refreshing. Most sparkling wines are made from  Burgundy grape varieties or the Prosecco grape in Italy it is not so usual to come across a sauvignon blanc sparkling. It is crown closed somewhat like a beer bottle top so you don't get that same POP that you get with a champagne but it is a frizzante so has lighter bubbles than a champagne.  Served in the famous Austrain glassware Riedel (pictured right), it has a pale straw colour.It has a very fruity nose with white peach evident. It is refreshing and light in the mouth with fine bubbles. €19.99 on the shelf, a lovely summer alternative to Cava or Prosecco.

Apparently the name is a tribute to their collie-sheep dog, Cesar  who had just turned 1 when they launched this fizz back in 2002. Unfortunately they never considered the Italian meaning to the word Cesario when launching it as they now have the only sparkling wine in the world called after a Caesarean section...

Till Next Time
Clare
CELLARS,NAAS ROAD

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