Last Friday we talked about two dry white wines from Hungary’s Tokaji region, a spot that’s famous for its sweet wines. So today I wanted to turn the tables a bit and cover a sweet wine from a place that’s known for its crisp, dry whites.
That place would be Austria, home of the iconic Grüner Veltliner grape. Although these vibrantly fresh, undeniably unique wines seem to dominate most of the conversations you hear about Austrian wine today, many of their sweet wines are also truly spectacular. Some of the most notable of those are made with the Muskat Ottonel grape, a member of the well known Muscat family.
Which is why today’s Sip of the Day features just that. Coming from the esteemed Kracher family, this wine is a Trockenbeerenauslese, or TBA. This indicates that the grapes were harvested at the highest level of ripeness on the Pradikat scale. Only individually harvested grapes that have been infected with botrytis, called “noble rot”, are used in the making of TBA wines. Botrytis, a type of vineyard mold, pierces the skins of the grapes, allowing moisture to escape and concentrating their flavor, sweetness, and acidity, while yielding its own unique spicy aroma and flavor. These wines can only be made when conditions are just right for noble rot to take place, and because only grapes that have been infected are used, production quantities are extremely low. With low yields also come high prices, but these wines are so unique and decadent that they are absolutely worth looking into.
Very dense floral tones of white roses and gardenias drive this wine’s aroma. Coming through almost as strongly are tones of apple jelly, peaches, pears, tangerines, and subtle hint of citrus blossoms. A spin in the glass reveals some honey and a light touch of beeswax.
The palate is just as deep and concentrated as the nose leads you to expect. Tones of honey and beeswax seem to appear in both the flavor profile and the mouthfeel, giving this wine a wonderful richness. The same complex cocktail of fresh fruit and floral tones that was found on the nose makes its way to the palate, showing through in an ever changing evolution of flavors that lasts long into the finish. This is a very impressive, action packed wine that truly delivers.
Worth Trying. 93 points.
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The Grapevine: What’s your experience with Austrain wine?
