Austrowein!

From Istanbul, R. and I flew into Linz, Austria. Our friends R. and S. were getting married at his elementary school's church, followed by a reception near the town of Gmunden on the Traumsee. The reception itself was held in Schloss Ort, a small castle built on a small island on the lake. R. was the guy who got me started with Austrian wine, so we were sure to be well taken care of.


The reception started with a 2 hour cruise on the Traumsee, kicked off with the N.V. Marquis de Montclerc. In truth, I can say that this Champagne is from a small, family-run production. It was crisp and refreshing. In reality, the air was also crisp and refreshing, so much so that after about 90 minutes, we had all moved inside... having done so, the sun came out and all was glorious..


Entering Schloss Ort. In the courtyard, we had a delicious pink sparkling wine, the 2004 E & M Müller Schlicher Sekt. Rich and wonderful body. Complemented the colours of the wedding nicely (Austro-Hong Kong-ese, so lots of crimson about). A GREAT bubbly, pretty rare outside of Styria.

2005 Freie Weingärten Wachau Grüner Veltliner Achleiten Smaragd: A golden colour, beautiful nose, surprisingly complex and rich. On the palate, grass and herbs, white pepper, with an interesting citrus finish. Definitely a higher order of g.v. - easily the best example we had on our trip.

2001 Chateau Reynella "Basket-Pressed" Shiraz: This was a real fruit bomb...this was RICH & SWEET. Vanilla, cedar, cassis, plums, mint and bitter chocolate. Definitely over the top.

2004 Winkler-Hermaden Beerenauslese: Heavenly, and again a rarity. Only 250 half bottles produced for '04, and we must have destroyed about a quarter of that supply. Not quite a Kracher, but something different as well. A gorgeous orange colour. Honey and apricots (marillen) dominates, acidity was rather muted.... or my tongue... not sure...but delicious.



Sometime after this, the evening descended into an amalgam of Austro-rave, edelbrand shot races ( a type of high-quality schnaaps), bride-stealing (a great custom whose appeal is lost when stranded on an island castle), and midnight drunken swimming... the water was, erm, refreshing...


The next morning, the wedding party took a "hangover hike" up nearby Sonnstein, taking in the view of Traumsee and Traumkirchen from the hut/cafe at the top. Schloss Ort can just about be made out - it's a white dot at the top of the lake just right of center (of the lake).


A great trip to Austria, as usual!