Austria in Chinatown

R

Rahsaan

Rahsaan
The stated goal was to convince Lyle of the glories of Austrian Riesling. But it was really an excuse to eat drink and be merry. So while Mr. Clooney and Mr. Pitt spent their time outside the restaurant playing with cameras, we went inside for the serious business.

Jay started us off-theme with NV Étienne Calsac Les Rocheforts, which was a perfect Blanc de Blancs, a good dose of firm juicy fruit and fine classy structure, that’s how one settles in to Chinatown.

Lyle also had a few German contributions, so we went back in time with a feathery-light 2001 P. Licht Bergweiler Erben Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Spätlese Trocken. Would have been a lovely accompaniment on its own to a meal (and really sang with the salt and pepper shrimp), but as one might have expected, the bigger boned Austrians muscled it out of my attention.

2020 Kühling-Gillot Nierstein Riesling was shades of the Mosel via the Rheinhessen. Much lighter than one expects for the region, although still fairly broad and the flavors hinted tropical.

Jayson’s last bottle of 1998 Hirsch Gaisberg Riesling Alte Reben was certainly ready to drink. A nice evolved bottle of evolved golden wine. Not dead and there was enjoyment for those who enjoyed it. But no need to wait.

I thought one might sense a through line with the 2011 Hirsch Gaisberg Riesling Reserve, but this was a completely different universe. Bright linear and elegant. Not the most stuffing, but that was part of my plan to convince Lyle that not all Austrian wine is ponderous!

Also no through line detected with the 2019 Gobelsburg Gaisberg Riesling, which was absolutely delicious, filled with more body and girth but still plenty of elegance. That said, a touch young for me to enjoy fully, with the other more aged bottles on the table.

As our offering to the gods of Why Did I Cellar This for 2 Decades, Marty presented a corked bottle of 2001 Knoll Ried Loibenberg Riesling Smaragd.

2007 Prager Wachstum Bodenstein Riesling Smaragd was one of the highlights for me. Broader than the Gaisbergs, but so wonderfully delicate, mellowed with age, a perfect moment of harmony for my tastes.

Another highlight was the 2013 Hirtzberger Singerriedel Riesling Smaragd which was the full package. Power, elegance, depth, grace. It made it difficult to focus and appreciate the 2014 Hirtzberger Hochrain Riesling Smaragd, which would have been perfectly delicious on its own.

And lest the peking duck clash with Riesling, we drank 1999 Texier Hermitage. For my tastes, this was wide open in that almost-lewd way where it feels like it’s gushing and showing all of its secrets. And yes, that’s a good thing!
 
Nice lineup! I'm fortunate that in my main offline group, two people collect Austrian wine. One of them was born and raised there. He now lives in SF. He's poured some treasures.

A couple of years ago, there was a 4 bottle auction lot of that Texier on K&L. I figured out my Austrian friend had already placed a bit. Rather than go against each other, we decided to split it. Amazingly, his bid (the only bid) won. $160. I feel like we stole it. He had the Texier side-by-side with Chave and preferred Texier. Less oak influence. Marvelous wine.
 
originally posted by Larry Stein:
...a 4 bottle auction lot of that Texier on K&L. I figured out my Austrian friend had already placed a bit. Rather than go against each other, we decided to split it. Amazingly, his bid (the only bid) won. $160. I feel like we stole it. He had the Texier side-by-side with Chave and preferred Texier. Less oak influence. Marvelous wine.
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$40 per bottle does sound like a steal! It may have even cost more than that on release?!

I don't have the same experience with Chave that others do. But this was pretty glorious last night for my tastes. Maybe the Chave will last longer?
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
I don't have the same experience with Chave that others do. But this was pretty glorious last night for my tastes. Maybe the Chave will last longer?
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I've been banned from Disorder on account of Chave Hermitage. Had to change my login id.

Very sorry to miss this dinner, particularly for the company, the Hermitage, the perfect Blanc de Blancs (TM), and a couple of imposters from Deutschland :-) :-)
 
originally posted by Larry Stein:

A couple of years ago, there was a 4 bottle auction lot of that Texier on K&L. I figured out my Austrian friend had already placed a bit. Rather than go against each other, we decided to split it. Amazingly, his bid (the only bid) won. $160. I feel like we stole it. He had the Texier side-by-side with Chave and preferred Texier. Less oak influence. Marvelous wine.
Click to expand...

Have you forgotten that the '99 Texier Hermitage was Chave?
 
I assumed that was the point. Not sure if anyone knows the exact difference between the barrel given to Texier and what remained with Chave, but presumably it wasn't the same?
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
I assumed that was the point. Not sure if anyone knows the exact difference between the barrel given to Texier and what remained with Chave, but presumably it wasn't the same?
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that was the point, but my friend's mentioning it there makes it official :-)

They are never the same, Rahsaan, or at least weren't back in the 90s. Not sure what they are doing these days, and don't have the brain cycles to bother finding out.
 
Of course, it was the point. That's why I mentioned the side-by-side comparison. My friend was well aware of this fact prior to doing that. His theory/SWAG was the barrels less influenced by new oak were offered to Eric.
 
Apologies in advance for the thread drift away from the Hermitage topic, but by the end of the night, was Lyle convinced of the glories of Austrian Riesling? There were enough good Austrian wines that night to maybe swing him in the right direction (although probably not enough to give up his obsession with the Germans).

Me, I like the 2014s from Austria but would never serve them alongside similar wines from 2013, 2015, or particularly 2021. Much riper, crowd-pleaser vintages overall and the more restrained 2014 (and 2011) will pale in comparison, sort of like when I hang out with my friends Madonna and Cher (although Madge is looking a little worse for wear since the latest "work" was done but wtf, it's only the Grammys and she'll probably get it all smooved out in time for the Oscars). And Pichler (FX) and Hirtzberger to me are the prime examples of the old "everybody looks good at the starting line" adage, but Hirtzberger is gonna evolve over time, while Pichler (FX) usually looks like Madonna after cellaring (the wine, not her). Prager's pretty much going to be the head of the class (Wachau division) though, but Rudi Pichler's wines have been getting so good lately that Toni probably handed the keys over to his son to relieve the stress of always being the best. Knoll's consistent and often thrilling, but Peter Veyder-Malberg is right there with Bodenstein when it comes to making WINES I WANNA DRINK. Unfortunately, buying a 6-pack is gonna cost you somewhere in the neighborhood of a monthly car payment on a new Bentley Bentayga Macallan X (not to mention you'll need a shot or two of Macallan 24 to be able to calculate the amount of said payment) and besides, even if you were able to thrill Lyle out of his sneaks, it'd be tough to find those sorts of producers he'd want to import. (but would this be a half-world problem, because there's aren't many people in the first world who know that wines this mind altering exist?)

And as regards Gaisberg, Hirsch is great (loved him in Taxi) but Schloss Gobelsburg is my benchmark. Moosbrugger can seem a little stiff and formal (well, he's Austrian!) around people but he's all grace and fluidity around grapes and he pulls stuff out of them that others miss. Find magnums of his stuff -- they're reasonably priced (cheaper than Chave) and are worth postponing that payment on your Bentley (or maybe youse are rockin' the Rolls-Royce Cullinan already and it's all "payments, schmayments -- I scrounged around in my seat cushions and paid cash")

-Eden (oh-oh, I think I've just about used up my daily allocation of ellipses
 
Unfortunately I had to miss the dinner and exposure of Lyle to the Ludovico Technique, but had I attended my intent was to bring reds from the burgenland - blaufränkisch, zweigelt, pinot noir - in an effort to juxtapose with their counterparts from baden-württemberg & eviorons. Perhaps we can do that another time, as it strikes me as more of an apples to apples exercise.
 
That could have taken things in a very different direction, and broadened the comparative spirit! Thankfully, no shortage of reasons to have dinners...

For Lyle, he can chime in if he's reading, but said he was impressed and may be open to doing more Austrian offers. So, another channel to purchase them may appear...
 
If you ever do another Austrian dinner let me know I have lots of 90s though mid 2000s. I never open them for no other reason that I can only drink so much wine,.
 
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