Höpler: A Fabulous Austrian Producer For Normal Wine People

Post Summary Points

• Background on Höpler and the wines of Lake Neusiedl
• Christof Höpler: A winemaker for normal wine people
• The wines: The Whites, The Reds, The Sweets

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Sometimes serendipity happens. And last week it did! 


I was so excited when, following the podcast on Austria, I got a last minute invite to have lunch with an Austrian winemaker. Although I've been to Austria and have studied up on the wine (both by reading and by sipping) this was a great chance for me to supplement the podcast with some extra info on the country and what's going on there now.

But what I found out was that fate was even kinder to me than I had originally thought -- the winemaker was about my age, and he was a TOTAL normal wine person. No BS, no spin, just honesty and openness. Christof Höpler is such a down-to-earth guy that you would never know that his wines are served in some of the best restaurants in the US and the UK -- from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill in New York to French Laundry in Napa to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen in London, these wines are big time.

But you know what? These aren't like a lot of other wines on those lists -- we can actually pick these up for a great price. And let me tell you, they are worth it. I was so excited to find a new go-to Grüner Veltliner and taste some amazing reds from Christof as well, including the best and most interesting Blaufränkish (called Lemberger in Germany) that I've had.

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BACKGROUND ON HOPLER AND THE WINES OF LAKE NEUSIEDL

Before I get to the wines, a little about Höpler and Christof.

If you listened to the podcast, you'd be surprised when I tell you that the winery is not located in the "Big Three" -- Kremstal, Kamptal, or Wachau -- widely considered the best areas for white wine in Austria. Instead it's in Burgenland, about 45 minutes from Vienna, on the banks of Lake Neusiedl (noy-SEE-dle). Settled by the Cistercian monks, after they rocked out the vineyards in Burgundy, this area has a long winemaking tradition and share some similarities with that place in France.

Here cold winters allow the vines to go dormant, but hot, sunny summers (they claim to have the most sunshine in all of Central Europe) with humidity rising from the lake allow the grapes to develop balance between fruit flavor and great acidity. It's Austria's biggest red grape area and as another awesome bonus, that humidity that works for reds also allows for the development of botrytis, that nasty rot that changes the flavor of white grapes to give them a honeyed, nectar taste that is lights-out delicious.

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CHRISTOF HOEPLER: A WINEMAKER FOR NORMAL WINE PEOPLE

Christof and his dad Jost are the Höplers behind the wine. 50% of their production is white. 45% is red and 5% is sweet (which I will review later in the post -- insanely good). If you associate Austria only with Grüner Veltliner, that white, tropical fruity, peppery grape, these wines can push you a little further into a love of Austria. Höpler's wines will quickly convince you that there is a world of lighter style red wines that are food friendly, delicious, and unlike anything else you've had.

Christof was funny, sweet, and dedicated to quality winemaking. He reminded me of why I dig Austrians -- to stereo type: they like life, they've got a great sense of humor, yet they are very practical and precise. A good combo for living life. 


Christof embodied what I just described -- he's confident but has such a grip. The guy started out studying economics in college and is a self-taught winemaker, so he's totally pragmatic. Although there's merit in going to school for winemaking, I often find that the most creative people in the industry are the ones who learned by doing and traveling (Christof studied in Australia, the US, France, and Germany, I think to figure out how to do all this).  

As we were tasting, he admitted that he may do some things differently next vintage (so cool to do that, rather than boast about how good it is if you think it could be better!). We talked about various things in the industry and how they are such BS -- winemakers who live and die by scores, ones with so much ego they never admit fault, and those who claim they get barrels made from specific trees in specific forests (he claims this is a total scam and that winemakers have no idea what wood they get from barrel makers. He also explained that he happened on using oak from Georgia and Azerbaijan in Eastern Europe by trial. It's what when best with his Pinot Blanc so he used it). We also chatted about the strange, voluntary classification system of Austrian wine that the government there is trying to impose but to which few have subscribed, and the problems with large production wineries and their drive to make all wine the same.

Normal wine people will love Christof. If you go to Vienna, I recommend visiting his tasting room, which is part art gallery, part tasting experience, part natural paradise from what I can tell. I know I'll be heading there when I get to Vienna again!

Ok, so clearly I loved the guy, but what about the wines? Here are the reviews. Not a "sink" in the bunch. I'd recommend any of them...and for the value you could try all of them without killing the budget (except for the dessert wines, but even those are less than most of their competitors!).

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THE WHITES

Höpler Grüner Veltliner, 2010. $15.
Color: This wine is always super green regardless of producer. I asked Christof why this is, and he said he looks for the greenest grapes in the harvest. He finds the greener grapes to be more aromatic than those that are more yellow. I loved that tip. I'll be checking out all Grüner before I buy it to see if I agree with the theory.

Smell: A very classic Grüner smell. What the hell is that? Limes, green salad/lettuce, and a ton of white pepper spice. Christof said that he feels Grüner lies somewhere between Sauvignon Blanc (acid, "green" notes), Riesling (tropical, minerally), and Pinot Grigio (lime/lemon). I guess I see the shared traits but I think Grüner is a style all its own and something with no real comparisons! You just have to drink it to see.

Taste: Tropical fruit -- like kiwi, pineapple, and guava. It tasted like limes and had a ton of white pepper spice too. Great acicity made it amazing with my salad because the acid of the greens and of the wine combined to make everything taste smooth and soft. My new go-to Grüner. For $15, it's a steal.

 

Höpler Pinot Blanc, 2009. $16.

Color: This wine was pretty green for the normally straw-colored Pinot Blanc. Christof said it was from skin contact...more on that in a minute!

Smell: Pinot Blanc usually has pretty tame aroma -- just a little citrusy or floral. This smelled like plant stems and green stuff. It was still delicate but what I smelled I didn't love.

Taste: I liked the texture of the wine a lot. It had great acid, and because it was fermented in older oak (from Eastern Europe, as I mentioned above), it had a nice creaminess to it. The problem was that it wasn't great without food. That plant stem bitterness stuck out a bit. Christof admitted that it was probably not the best idea to leave the juice in contact with the grape skins for as long as he did. I agree and I'm sure he'll fix it in the next vintage (love that -- no hubris!!). That said, with the parmesan cheese and greens from my salad the wine was pretty darn delicious. It was soft, had nice acidic fruit flavor that lingered on and on. This vintage is a food wine, and worth the money if you have it with a meal.

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THE REDS

Höpler Pinot Noir, 2007. $20.
This is a totally different style Pinot than California Pinot Noir, for example. It's a lighter, earthier version. This is the definition of a summer wine, but don't be disappointed if you buy it and find that it's not dark in color or fruity. It's a milder version. This wine spends 14- 16 months in French oak to give it some subtle flavors and softer textures.

Color: After 5 years the wine is showing it's age a bit. It was slightly brownish, which happens to reds with time.

Smell: I didn't love the smell of this wine. It was kind of oaky and earthy, but had a nail polish remover smell at first. The other people at the table were raving about it, so...

Taste: This is why we taste wine and not just snort it! This was such a delicious Pinot. It was very outdoorsy. It reminded me of camping smells -- wet soil, sticks, and decaying leaves with a little bit of roasted marshmallow, wood char, and bright raspberry to make it super delicious. Another one that was really great with food. A light wine and so good.

Höpler Zweigelt, 2007. $20.

A note on this wine. I say it wrong all the time. It's said like:  ts-VEYE-gelt.  I always want to (wrongly) call it Zveee-gelt. Must retrain my brain. 


This grape is Austria's red. It was created by a dude, Fritz Zweigelt, in 1922 when he crossed Austria's other big red grapes, the very finnicky St. Laurent (Christof claims it's harder than Pinot Noir to grow, which is hard to imagine) and the more steady Blaufränkish. The result is a really hearty, pleasant, light red that is always fruity, sometimes spicy, and never offensive.

Color: Ruby colored with decent legs from the 13% alcohol (water drips down the glass before alcohol and sugar. In a dry wine like this, the legs indicate the alcohol content and 13% is getting up there).

Smell: Raspberry, strawberry, and a little black cherry with earth and a sniff of heat from the alcohol. A simple, nice aroma.

Taste:  Tasted like it smelled, with just a little more candied cinnamon spice and pretty high acidity. It had a long finish, and like most of the other wines was great with food. I wasn't crazy about it until I had it with cheese. Then I was sold. 

Höpler Blaufränkish, 2008. $20.

If you need to be convinced that Austria makes some interesting red wines, look no further. I've only tasted a few in my time (they are hard to get, since most people associate Austria with Grüner, shops don't want to do the marketing involved to educate people on the fact that the country makes some kick ass reds), but this grape is fabulous and one to seek out. Light, but complex, fruity but spicy, this wine has a lot going on. The grape and the soils it's grown in (the ligher soils produce more interesting flavors -- chalk, sand, and slate make magic) make this the pinnacle of fabulosity.

Color: A little brown-red, the wine was kind of garnet in color with a clear rim around the edge.

Smell: There was this warm spice -- like a hot cinnamon or nutmeg drink -- blended with a dried strawberry smell that made my mouth water. I couldn't smell it for that long because I wanted to dive right in. 

Taste:  AMAZING! Spicy nutmeg bite with raspberry and strawberry flavors and a little bit of dusty earthiness. The acid was good, the tannin was light, and the wine just seemed to keep unfolding with more rich flavor. Don't get me wrong -- this is still a medium wine, but damn! it was great. This is the best red I've ever had from Austria. I need a case.

Rosenberger Single Vineyard Pinot Noir, 2008. $35.

There are only about 300 cases of this wine made a year (3,600 bottles) so this is hard to get. The vineyard's soils and the location allow for riper Pinot Noir, so this version was fruitier than their standard bottle.

Color: A nice light brownish garnet color, I like to see Pinot Noir in lighter shades because it means the winemaker didn't let the skins sit too long for the sake of appearance.

Smell:  Salty, minerally soil, nuts, and dried raspberry. I loved that this wine had a sense of place. You could really get a sense for what the vineyard soils are like based on smelling the wine. Very cool.

Taste:  Super acidic with a great hit of raspberry and strawberry. There was that dirt/mineral flavor and a little vanilla from the oak. Solid wine.

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THE SWEETS

It's a rare opportunity to get to taste the three great sweet wine types of Austria side by side by side. I wasn't expecting to have this opportunity but I was so glad for it! Austria has a similar classification system to Germany. The Pradikat wines, or those with "characteristics" are ranked by sweetness, as follows:

Spätlese: Fully ripe grapes (can be sweet or dry) 

Auslese: Later harvest grapes, specially selected (can be sweet or dry) 

Beerneauslese: Made from over-ripe grapes and/or those affected by botrytis (always sweet). The fungus gets into the skin of the grapes, water evaporates and concentrates the sugar, minerals, and flavors. 

Trockenbeernauslese (TBA for short): Almost all grapes are affected by botrytis and the bunches are raisined and dried (Trocken = dry). This is the sweetest wine. It's made from the ripest grapes that have been affected by botrytis and is a gooey paste that is pressed and made into wine. 

Eiswein is also in the classification, but it's a beast of its own. Christof confirmed that this is a VERY stressful kind of wine to make. You have to wait until the first frost and then pick and press the grapes while they are still frozen. This allows you to get the water out of the grapes, leaving primarily sugar and acids for you to press off. All this has to be done under ideal temperature conditions and, as you can imagine, you don't get a whole hell of a lot of wine from this process. Small production, lots of stress, but high payoff, since these wines can cost a chunk of change, and rightfully so given what a pain in the ass it is to make it.

Austria also has Ausbruch, made from 100% grapes affected by botrytis. These wines are nearly as sweet as TBA. Strohwein, or straw wine, requires that the grapes air dry on straw or reeds or hanging on lines for at least three months (this is similar to Italy's passito method).

Producers use all sorts of grapes to make each of these wines. In Germany, it's mainly Riesling that is used (since Riesling is used for nearly everything). In Austria, it seems less uniform. Grüner is used in the Beerenauslese and TBA, but Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, a grape called Welschriesling (not related to Riesling), Sämling 88 (Scheurebe in Germany), and many more (up to 22 white grapes can be used in these wines.

Ok, to the good stuff...

Höpler Beerenauslese (non-vintage). $30.

Grapes: Chardonnay, Sämling 88, Grüner Veltliner

Color: Dark, golden yellow. Super rich.

Smell:  Once you have a wine where the grapes have been affected by botrytis, you will recognize it instantly. The honeycomb, apricot, and cooked peach aromas persist and the combination is unlike anything else you've ever smelled.

Taste: The great thing about this wine -- it tastes like it smells but it has great acid which leaves your mouth with a delicious sweetness, that isn't cloying or sticky. This would be amazing with crème brûlée.

Höpler TBA 2008. $45.

Grapes: 35% Gewurztraminer, 35% Sämling 88, 30% Welschriesling

Color: Much darker than the Beerenauslese this was an amber, orange, dark yellow color.

Smell: Honey, raisins, apricots, flowers with just a touch of spice -- like nutmeg.

Taste: Rich! Sweetness balanced by acid and flavors of nectarine, apricot, and honey. Not something you can have more than a sip or two of, but delicious with cheese and fruit.

Höpler Eiswein 2009, $53.

Grape: Pinot Noir

Color: Dark yellow, almost amber in color

Smell: The difference between this and the wines that are affected with botrytis? This wine didn't smell like honey at all. It was like sweet, baked fruit -- peaches, apricot, and nectarines. Delicious but a little more straightforward.

Taste: Lighter than the previous two wines. It was like kiwi, baked pie crust, with light spicy. Tart, with great acid but lighter and less oily than the previous wines. Another great wine with fruit or creamy desserts. 

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All in all an amazing lunch, very exciting to see a dude who is about my age doing things his own way -- with a nod to the past, a dedication to quality, and a good hit of skepticism about the silliness of the status quo in wine to keep his feet on the ground. Most importantly, he's making it work. The wines are great. 

Listen to the podcast on Austria, get some Höpler and let me know what you think!