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| Source: http://www.weygandtwines.com/austrian-wine.htm |
I tell an anecdote about traveling there as a dumb college student and "translating" some German. Then, after some great shoutouts (thank you for writing in and reviewing us on iTunes), we move on to the main topic.
Download it on iTunes, or here's the link to the Podcast: LINK
- Since 70% of production is white, we first discuss the main white grapes of Austria: Grüner Veltliner (Grooner Felt-LEAN-ah) and Riesling.
- We chat a bit about the reds of Austria: Zweigelt (SFY-Gelt), Blaufrankish, and St. Laurent.
- Then we cover the regions. We talk about Vienna and the three super high quality regions of Kremstal, Kamptal, and Wachau (along with classifications of dry whites: Steinfeder, Federspiel, Smargd)
- We touch on the classification system of wines and what it means -- Landwein, Tafelwein, Qualitatswein, and Pradikat.
- Then we touch on the slightly scandalous, tabloid history of Austria. From the Romans, to Charlemagne, to the Cold War and then to the wine scandal that rocked the industry in the mid-1980s, we surmise that Austria ultimately rose like a Phoenix from the flames.
One more horrible pop culture reference and then we sign out. Enjoy!
If you like the podcast, please review it on iTunes, drop a comment below, or join the awesome conversation on Facebook (Wine For Normal People page) and Twitter @normalwine!
And...if you've got a question you want us to answer, post it on any of those places and we'll include it on the show.
Thanks for listening! We can't wait to hear from you!
Podcast music: "Café connection" by morgantj / CC BY 3.0, ©2009 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Map: Licensed under theCreative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license
Great post! When you originally spoke about Gruner Veltliner on the Grape of Week segment it inspired me to try it. I have to admit I was disappointed at first, but it has grown to be one of my favorites. I wanted to thank you for all that you have done because wine has become an important and enjoyable part of my everyday life because of your blog and podcast. You truly are unique in the sense of your contagious passion.
ReplyDeleteI have been inspired by you to start a wine based twitter of my own, @wordswine. I wanted to help newbies like myself understand wine, term by term. Any shout outs or retweets from you would mean so much to me.
Anyways, just wanted to let you know you're doing a great thing and keep it up!
Are you sure about Bodegas Ontañón being just 10 years old? Me and my wife went to Rioja on our honeymoon 10 years ago and we visited Bodegas Ontañón on that trip - and it didn't seem new to me then.. I could be wrong, I often am - but they had a lot of wine in the cellar for being a newstarted venture at that time if I am :)
ReplyDeleteAre you sure about Bodegas Ontañón being on 10 years old? Me and my wife went to Rioja for our honeymoon ten years ago and we visited Bodegas Ontañón and their immense art collection was a thing to be seen as well as very good wines. I could be wrong, I often am, but it would be strange if their cellar was full of wine if they'd just started :)
ReplyDeleteThe visit to their oak-barrel-filled cellar was the tipping point for us not drinking Rioja wines for about 5-6 years after visiting :) - we could smell the oak as soon as we read the name... fortunately even Rioja is modernizing :)
Anyways, off to Alsace in about a week so here wishing for good weather ;)
Wordswine!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for writing. I'm thrilled that you like Gruner! I had the same experience of hating it then liking it so I understand completely. It's wonderful that you were inspired to start a Twitter account about wine and that you feel passion. That's what life is about -- feeling great about the things you're doing! I love wine and I'm glad it comes across...and is slightly contagious : )
I will follow you on Twitter and try to give you some PR!
Take care and thanks for listening/reading!
Elizabeth
Hey Matthias,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing. The deal with Bodegas Ontañón, at least according to the woman at the Rioja event, is that the family has been growing grapes and making wine under various monikers for a while, but that the Bodegas Ontañon brand only began with the 2001 or 2002 vintage. So technically they've been small grower producers for generations, but have only had this particular label on the market for 10 years.
I could have misunderstood and I just pinged the woman from Rioja and asked her! I'll report back when I get an answer!
Either way, their stuff kicks arse, no?
Hope you had a great time in Alsace. SO jealous. I'm posting on Auxerrois tomorrow!
Take care,
Elizabeth