The Thermenregion is south of Vienna - really just on the city's outskirts. The name refers to the thermal springs that abound in the area.

Zierfandler is an indigenous grape grown in the tiny region and basically nowhere else. The Mandel-Höh vineyard is the grape's favorite spot on earth - Stadlmann's bottling represents the most noble expression of Zierfandler, from the kind of vintage that only comes around every decade or so.

The Zierfandler in the Mandel-Höh vineyard is roughly 45 years old and the gem of the estate. The grapes are harvested with great care and fermented in large old wooden barrels. Fermentation takes about two weeks, though the wine is left to settle for an additional 8 months before it is bottled.

The Stadlmann winery was founded in the late 18th century and is one of the region's best. The passionate Monica Caha imports the wine and has been a tireless enthusiast for the great wines of Austria - we're thankful to count her as our great friend. As for the Stadlmanns, the winery is is currently run by the seventh generation - Johann Stadlmann - and the wines must be counted as amongst the best of this little-known region.

I wrote in my "Wine of the Year" email that "Stadlmann is too small a producer (less than 200 cases of this wine make it to the US) and the Zierfandler grape too esoteric to ever be welcomed into the mainstream."

Well - I happily stand corrected, though I think the fact that this wine is showing up at all on the national radar is simply a testament to the quality of the wine, and honestly the rigor of Schildknecht's scholariship, which I very much admire.

I love Austrian wine labels - they so often have this strange, playful modernist thing that I find really kooky and charming. Like the Bauhaus meets Playskool. Coming way out of left field then, is the label for FX Pichler's Riesling "Unendlich" - a super-rare bottling the Master puts together in great years. For those of you who know FX's pretty staid dark green labels, nothing prepares you for the Unendlich...

It was a lot to chew... eh, swallow, but we lined up for it anyway. As comprehensive an overview of the 2006 Austrian Gruner Veltliner vintage as a few weary mortals could put together with the idea of keeping our pocket books, and livers, in some form of reasonable health. It was considered enough that the big boys were collected together to guarantee some form of authoritative stamp: FX Pichler's Kellerberg, Hirtzberger's Honivogl and Knoll's Vinothekfullung. At the same time, a rationed dose of chaos was heartily welcome - young Michael Moosbrugger's Schloss Gobelsburg, wiley Wachau legionaire Jamek, under-the-radar Holzapfel and even the esoteric Setzter, unabashedly seeking top quality in the otherwise maligned Weinviertel. Trestle on Tenth kindly hosted us and did a great job of putting together a thoughtful menu; a great group of people were in attendance, and many thanks go out to all for helping to make the night what it was.

This is going to be an insanely long post, covering both some big-picture issues but also delving into the fine points of the 18 wines encountered. Click below to read the entire post at your own risk.

What can I say, I LOVE Austrian wine. Just such a whacky lineup of really profound, kooky wines, everything showing great. We were hosted by Wolfgang and Eddie at Seasonal, a new Austrian restaurant on 58th Street in Midtown that deserves some serious attention. Sophisticated, pure food with contrasting yet integrated flavors. Really worth visiting NYCers - I can't say enough good things about this restaurant.

We had a lot of wines, but I'm only posting on a few because I'm lazy and I didn't take good enough notes and honestly the great wines were just so, so compelling that they sort of overwhelmed the just plain old good wines.

For the most scholarly, enlightening essay on Moric, written by David Schildknecht for The World of Fine Wine, click here.

Austria's Burgenland is southeast of Vienna, pushing up against the border with Hungary. This is the home of Austria's reds, with Blaufränkisch ("Lemberger" in Germany and the U.S., "Kekfrankos" in Hungary) gaining more and more acclaim. Speaking with Velich it is obvious he has thought long and deep about Blaufränkisch, about Burgenland and about how to make wine.

The foundation of Moric is, as it should be, the vineyards. Velich focuses on parcels in the villages of Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsberg. These vineyards have very high densities, old clonal selections and very old vines - up to and beyond 100 years. Yields are extremely low, vinifications take place in open-topped fermenters with natural yeasts and are allowed to progress at their own rate.

"Blaufrankisch" is not a word that drips elegantly off the tongue. (Most often, the wines made from the Blaufrankisch grape don't exactly glide across the palate either.) That said, this is arguably the most important red wine varietal in Austria. Its favorite spot in Austria is just south and east of Vienna, in a region known as the Burgenland. Known as Lemberger in Germany, and in the few places in the U.S. that it is grown, Blaufrankisch produces a wine of a dark, midnight blue hue and the wines can have immense depth and power to them with dark fruit, pepper and bramble notes.

 

How many winemakers do you know would plant a high-altitude site even when everyone in the region warns against it?

How many winemakers do you know work painstakingly hard to re-cultivate some of the oldest and most extreme sites in historic vineyards? Sites that are an adventure just to access, let alone tend or harvest.

How many winemakers do you know fight for genetic diversity, not with trite one-liners or bumper stickers, but by actually sourcing diverse selections from all over Austria, Germany and France and cultivating them in one vineyard? (This is the "Noah's Ark" of winemaking.)

Well, here's one: Toni Bodenstein at Prager. Herr Bodenstein is one of the most interesting, engaged and thoughtful winemakers in Austria or anywhere else for that matter. His collection of 2007s is a testament to this extreme rigor, not to mention the incredible vineyards he works (more on that below).

What words describe the signature of Weingut Prager? Pure. Precise. Mineral. Intense rather than powerful, with a weight of concentration that is belied by the sharp focus of the wines, the dramatic cut and precision, the missile-like thrust and lift.

Also known as Lemberger in Germany, Franconia in Friuli and Gamé in Bulgaria, Blaufränkisch is a red grape whose homeland is eastern Austria.

But what's it taste like? Winemaker Roland Velich suggests thinking of it as a taste/body/character amalgamation of Burgundian Pinot, Northern Rhône Syrah and Nebbiolo from Piedmont. Humble little references, you know?

The 2008 Loibenberg presents fireworks on this fine razor's edge. The Loibenberg is perhaps the most exotic, most lavish and generous site in the Wachau - the wines flaunt heady perfumes. It is a "Grand Cru" site if ever there was one, farmed by many of the greats of the Wachau (FX Pichler, Knoll, etc).

Crush Press: Volume 2

Everything you Wanted to Know about Austrian Wines but Were Afraid to Ask

With essays from David Schildknecht, Aldo Sohm and Terry Theise

This wine has drive and a just unbelievably slick structure - as if the entire wine were whittled down to its essentials.

Indeed, the Kellerberg is, in my opinion, perhaps the greatest site in Austria. The reason I think this is simple enough: Time and time again, when I come to old Kellerbergs (whether FX Pichler or top Knoll vintages) the wines are simply so complete - they are everything. They are luxurious and long and detailed and so, so, so finessed.