More about Austrian wines after the scandal

Date:   September 28, 2010

About Wines from Austria

Best wine supplier in Philippines discusses wine related topics

Modernity entered Austria’s winemaking after a scandal nearly wrecked domestic and foreign markets in 1985, when a few producers added diethylene glycol, an antifreeze agent, to enhance body and sweetness and justify higher prices (there were no deaths).

Parliament enacted perhaps Europe’s most stringent wine legislation. Young winemakers, drawn by the law’s emphasis on quality over quantity, brought cutting-edge techniques and farsightedness to vineyards and cellars, revolutionizing both.

Today, Austrian whites are 70 percent of output; reds, 30 percent.

Consumers, merchants and restaurateurs worldwide prize the best dry versions of Austria’s native, peppery grüner veltliners and mineral-like rieslings, both whites, while sales have risen, especially in America; graceful sauvignon blancs, underappreciated abroad, await recognition. Juicy, highly flavorsome reds – zweigelt, blaufränkisch and St. Laurent – are winning broad acceptance. Rosés, sweet wines (particularly ausbruchs) and lean sekts (sparklers) abound.

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About 73 percent of Austria’s production – which is small, about one-fifth of France’s – is consumed inside its borders.

Wines originate in four regions in eastern Austria: Niederösterreich (Lower Austria), mostly west of Vienna; Burgenland, south of the capital; Steiermark (Styria), southwest; and Wien (Vienna).

Lower Austria, the pre-eminent wine zone, has these regions: Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, Traisental, Wagram (formerly Donauland), Weinviertel, Carnuntum and Thermenregion. Burgenland encompasses four subregions: Neusiedlersee (Lake Neusiedl), Neusiedlersee-Hügelland, and Middle and South Burgenland. Steiermark is an amalgam of South, Southeast and West Steiermark.

The foremost producers in the Wachau, partly defined by the beautiful Danube, include Alzinger, Domäne Wachau (formerly Freie Weingärtner Wachau), Hirtzberger, Högl, Jamek, Knoll, Lagler, Nikolaihof, F.X. Pichler, Rudi Pichler, Prager, Schmelz and Tegernseerhof.

Kamptal’s include Bründlmayer, Ehn, Hiedler, Hirsch, Jurtschitsch, Schloss Gobelsburg, Steininger and Loimer. Kremstal’s embrace Malat, Mantlerhof, Sepp Moser, Nigl, Salomon-Undhof and Weingut Stadt Krems.

Carnuntum offers Glatzer, Grassl, Gerhard Markowitsch and Pitnauer. In Traisental, it’s Neumayer. In Thermenregion, Alphart, Biegler, Fischer, Johanneshof and Stadlmann. In Wagram, Bauer, Fritsch, Leth, Ott and Wimmer-Czerny. And in Weinviertel, Graf Hardegg and Pfaffl.

Burgenland is rich in achievers: Paul Achs, Feiler-Artinger, Gsellmann and Gsellmann, Gernot Heinrich, Kracher-Weinlaubenhof, Kollwentz-Römerhof, Krutzler, Lang, Hans and Anita Nittnaus, Pöckl, Prieler, Schröck, Ernst Triebaumer, Umathum, Velich and Weninger. Steiermark’s best include Gross, Lackner-Tinnacher, Polz, Sabathi, Sattlerhof, Tement and Wohlmuth.

Full appreciation of Wachau’s standard-setting whites requires knowledge of special designations: steinfeder, denoting low alcohol and feathery lightness; federspiel, fruitiness and medium weight; smaragd, full body and complexity

An insightful introduction to dry whites can involve virtually any from Bründlmayer, Schloss Gobelsburg, Nigl and the biodynamic Nikolaihof.

For reds, any from Pöckl, Triebaumer and Umathum. No dessert wines rival the brilliant whites crafted by the late Alois Kracher. High-end wines typically cost $20 to $90. — Howard G. Goldberg, March 24, 2008.

SOURCE:      http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/w/wines/austria/index.html

Clark Wine Center was built in 2003 by Hong Kong-based Yats International Leisure Philippines to become the largest wine shop in Philippines supplying Asia’s wine lovers with fine vintage wines at attractive prices.  Today, this wine shop in Clark Philippines offers over 2000 selections of fine wines from all major wine regions in the world.  As a leading wine supplier in Philippines, Pampanga’s Clark Wine Center offers an incomparable breadth of vintages, wines from back vintages spanning over 50 years.  Clark Wine Center is located in Pampanga Clark Freeport Zone adjacent to Angeles City, just 25 minutes from Subic and 45 minutes from Manila.

Wines from Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhone, Loire, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Alsace, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, South Africa, Chile and Argentina etc. are well represented in this Clark Wine Shop.

For more information, email Wine@Yats-International.com or visit http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Getting to this wine shop in Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Philippines from Manila

Getting to the Clark Wine Center wine shop from Manila is quite simple:  after entering Clark Freeport from Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along the main highway M A Roxas. Clark Wine Center is the stand-along white building on the right, at the corner A Bonifacio Ave.  From the Clark International Airport DMIA, ask the taxi to drive towards the entrance of Clark going to Angeles City.  From Mimosa, just proceed towards the exit of Clark and this wine shop is on the opposite side of the main road M A Roxas.