76 light dishes including seafood. Other white grapes that are grown are: Chardonnay which is usually not fermented in oak barrels and Sauvignon Blanc that have their own unique taste. Also to be noted are a few indigenous grapes. Welschriesling is one and has a crisp slightly acidic wine used for their sparkling wines. Rotgipfler and Zierfandler were grapes that where vinified together to produce a wine called Gumpoldskirchner which is a spicy white wine. Now both of these grapes are produced in their own right to produce their own wine.
By Art LiPuma, General Manager SeaSide Wine & Spirits, Old Saybrook, CT
Austria Austria has been producing wines since the 1800s, however it wasn’t until the 1950’s that they concentrated on producing better quality wine to attract more people visiting the country. In the 1980’s there were rumors of wine producers adding chemicals to the musts to change the complexity and flavor of the wine. As a result of this many new wine producers and wine makers, took over to produce much better quality wines. Around 75% of the wines Austria produces are white. Even though Riesling is considered to be some of the best in the world, the white grape they are now best noted for is Grüner Veltliner. This grape has light grapefruit notes, with a crisp finish which pairs well with
Neuburger is another grape which is a cross between Pinot Blanc and Silvaner. There are just a couple of major red grapes grown for wine making in Austria. The most well known grape is Zweigelt. This was developed by Dr. Zweigelt who crossed Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent. This wine has rich flavors of bright cherries and has soft tannins., The other red grape from Austria is Blaufränkisch, this widely grown grape which resembles Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is dense in flavor with raspberry notes slightly acid and a dry finish. In Austria the soil for growing grapes are generally rocky with a good amount of limestone. The climate is also generally mild during the growing season. There are many areas for growing wine in Austria. The four main regions are Niederősterreich, Vienna (Wein), Burgenland, Steiermark (Styria). Steiermark (Styria) is one of the smaller wine growing regions in Austria. It just has three districts that wine comes from and most
are white and dry with the exce ones. Grown mostly for the locals complex basic wines mostly whit region is newer than the other th fresh wines to the local area and producing Riesling.
Niederősterreich is the biggest g 50 percent of the grapes come fro wine that is made is from Grü comes from over half of the vin there is Zweigelt, Műller-Thurga and Welschriesling. The next bigg Burgenland. This area grows a v that the others don’t but does als grapes of Austria. The most wide Blaufränkisch. Other grapes grow Nebbiolo, Syrah, Tempranillo, C Chardonnay, Weissburgunder an their four districts. Austria is an u try noted mostly for their whites coming more popular.
The next time your shopping fo choose a Grűner Veltliner and for dishes try a Zweigelt, two class from Austria.
Art LiPuma, General Manager at Se 118 Main St, Old Saybrook, Conn www.seasidewineandspirits.com
