by Paul B. » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:50 am
Dan, many thanks for the notes. As you may know, Austria is one of my favourite wine-producing countries, and not just for Grüner Veltliner. Here in Ontario, we have a small number of wineries growing Zweigelt, and frankly it works quite well in our climate - much better, in my experience, than Cab Sauvignon, which always tastes green. I prefer Ontario Zweigelts to Gamay, Pinot Noir and Cab Francs from here; I find there to be a nice development of mid-palate weight and appetizing white-pepper spice that's well defined - even in poor vintages like '06, in which Pelee Island Winery was able to still craft a very, very nice example (a Zweigelt/Gamay blend, actually). More wineries don't plant Zweigelt because its Germanic name is seen as woefully clunky and unfashionable and the wine press doesn't try to fight this inertia against non-Romance-language grape names - something that I see as, ironically, being a form of provincialism all of its own.
Saint Laurent - unfortunately, none ever makes it here to Ontario. In terms of reds from Austria, we tend to get a spotty selection, and too often we get Lenz Moser. I've tried Lenz Moser reds and have been disappointed every time - I know that Austria produces much better wines than that. Thing is, the only way to really get a taste (pun intended) of the Austrian wine scene would be to visit the country itself and do an intensive tour of the wine regions. Now that's something I'd love to do sometime.
