Wanted: Listed Austrians

Dear B.Juice Reader:

Look, I know over the last several months I have let you down.  My per-week posting rate has dropped dramatically.  Forgive me.  However, as many out there know, it's incredibly draining to write nearly every day about wine (especially when one considers the fact that I live in #$%#$%ing Ut.).  However, my pledge to you is this:  I will go for quality over quantity.  The Juice may not be as freshly updated as it once was, but in the near future, you will see seriously good stuff.

Ok.  Now that you've been slathered with butter substitute, I've got a favor to ask:

Have you seen a good selection of Austrian wine on a wine list or in a retail shop?  And by good selection, I don't mean 1-2 bottles of G. Veltliner gathering dust on a rack.  I mean, you've visited a restaurant or shop that offers a gaggle (or at least 4-6 bottles) of tasty Austrian wine.

So, if you have a favored sipping or shopping spot for Oesterreichische Weine, please let me know in the comments!  Danke & Cheers.

Comments

Hello, I've really appreciated your championing Austrian wine the past few years. I've had similar reactions to what you've written with Austria which, translated to wine, recalls what I learned in my grad school poetry class. Poetry (and I'll never equate wine as poetic) consists of language, meter, form, and SURPRISE. Wine in turn, color, aroma, flavor, and hopefully, surprise. Austrian wine as much as any loose region has provided me with surprise.

I live in Grand Rapids, MI and, while not the most cosmopolitan city I've been to, does have some merit. One of its small treasures is the shop I work at, Art of the Table, which is an independent specialty store in which I have the back corner devoted to wine. I have about 325 facings, in which I've tried to highlight the small yet significant in the world of wine. Today on my shelf you can find: Brundlemayer '04 Gruner "Kamptaler Terrassen", Kracher '06 Zwiegelt Roseh, Domaine Wachau '06 Gruner Federspiel "Terrassen", Schwarz '04 Zweigelt, a bunch of Heidi Schrock:(big fan) '04 Grauburgunder, '05 Muscat, '05 Furmint, '06 Reid Vogelzang, Kracher '01 Eiswein, Loimer '03 Gruner Kaferberg, Lehrner '05 Blaufrankish Gfanger, Loimer '06 Gruner "Lois", and Poeckl '04 Zweigelt. Not enough by any means, but, what I can get and what I can smoosh in between the rest. The crazy thing is, when I put an Austrian wine in someone's hand, they always remember it, whether it was spot on for them or not, returning to the element of surprise.

Thanks for your wonderful blog, and no big deal on the infrequency thing, it's always fun to visit because I'm continually searching through the past. Story of my life.

Regards,
Mike Dombrowski

[David McDuff]

Sorry about the Utah thing. I'm based in Pennsylvania, so we're in a similar boat. Austrian wine is next to nonexistent in PA. However, there are a few excellent destinations in nearby NYC. The most obvious are the restaurants of Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, in particular his flagship Wallse and the more casual Blaue Gans. Wallse has the deepest Austrian wine list I've seen outside of Vienna and Blaue Gans has a pretty respectable selection as well. Also in NYC, Chambers Street Wines has probably the best retail selection of Austrian juice I've yet to stumble across in this neck of the woods, including choices from Alzinger, Nikolaihof, Knoll and others.
cheers,
McDuff

[pierrot]

You'll have to visit Chicago. Gruner is pretty big here and the better restaurants will all have a selection of Austrian wine. Check out vin divino's website, they are the biggest importer for Austria here(but i don't think you can order directly).

i work at a small store (fine wine brokers, 4621 n. lincoln, chicago 60625) and our selection isn't extensive-about 10 or so austrian wines, but we do have some unusual/hard to find bottles. if utah allows it, you could have some bottles shipped.

[Erin]

Can't think of a specific store or restaurant list off the top of my head, but I just wanted to make sure you were familiar with the Hoepler products from Burgenland - www.hoepler.at/en. Their entire line is phenomenal. I had a chance to work with the owner, Jost, last year, and just cannot say enough wonderful things about him, the wines, and the way they run their company.

[Beau]

Hazzah! to Mike, David, Pierrot and Erin. Thank you for the suggestions and insights. I shall now visit Grand Rapids, PA and Chicago..

[Jay]

Do these help? All based in California, though, I'm afraid. Me digs the Austrians!

http://www.bluedanubewine.com/

or

http://www.klwines.com/content.asp?N=4294966724&Ne=37&Nr=OutofStock%3AN&Ns=QtySoldLast30%7C1

or

http://www.weimax.com/austria.htm

[Duncan Salmon]

Wine Source, in Baltimore Maryland! Hands down the best source for Austrian wine in the area. I have seen over 25 different white and red Austrian wines on the shelf during a recent visit; the wines of Terry Theise, Vin Divino, Domaine Select, Klaus Wittauer among others are easily available. It hasn't been easy, but the wine guys love Austrian wines and promote them, and although they may not sell as fast as the usual suspects, they do move. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.