Fine Wines of Austria

Austria! The land of The Blue Danube - or, rather, the brown one...

Austrian wines have come on by leaps and bounds over the last number of years. The country's wine authorities are strongly focused on quality. Recently, it was fanfared that over 25% of the country's vineyards have now been certified as organic.

Some of the best vineyard sites are in the near catchment of the Danube - think Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal - while others are in the Burgenland, close to the border with Hungary. Yet, amongst other fine wine areas, Austria is the only country in the world with appellation vineyards within the confines of its capital city. Yes, Vienna has vineyards within its boundary!

Ben Drury has come and spoken to us, previously, on a variety of subjects. He has recently returned to work with Alpine Wines, and has agreed to talk to us about wines from Austria. Alpine work with a select few producers, including royalty, in Austria. The specific wines he is bringing with him have not been disclosed to anyone, as yet, but the range of producers they represent is of high quality.

It should be disclosed that none of the wines on show tonight will be those that we tasted at the summer's away day to Ayr. Alpine do not represent Weingut Kracher!

Ben has indicated that he will be tending towards the drier end of the flavour spectrum from Austria. So, if you have discomfort with sweet wines, your fears should be allayed.

This evening's tasting will undoubtedly cover some indigenous grape varieties, alongside some international ones. They will all be at the finer end of the quality scale. We will learn and enjoy many good things, here, tonight.

We look forward to seeing you.