I have previously covered most of what I would consider to be the MAJOR wine producing countries of the world: Italy, France, Spain, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and Portugal. But, there is one I have yet to cover (Germany), and a couple of “minor” ones worth mentioning (Austria & Hungary). As always, I will be using my notes, as well as the 2 reference books: The World Atlas of Wine (WAoW) and The Oxford Companion to Wine (OCtW). Starting with Hungary, the #14 producer of wine in the world, most of its crops are used to make local red & white wine (much more white than red). But, there is one area that is famous, Tokaj. “Tokaj was the first wine knowingly to be made from botrytized or “nobly rotten” grapes; over a century before Rhine wine and perhaps two before Sauternes” (WAoW). It’s a sweet, acidic, apricot-like tasting wine. Of the 3 Tokaj grape varietals, Furmint & Harslevelu are blended together to made 95% of the Tokaj that is produced today. It’s made to one of six distinct levels of sweetness, with Eszencia being the sweetest and “most luxurious” (WAoW) of them all.
Although Austria is the #17 wine producing country, it’s somewhat better known that Hungary. It has 14 distinct DACs (Districtus Austriae Controllatus), like French AOCs or American AVAs; but, produces much more white Riesling style wines than red ones. It’s whites tend to be more “potent” than Germany’s. Of the reds, the Zweigelt is the most popular varietal; so much so that this Cab-like grape is now being grown in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and western Hungary. The far east of the country, around Vienna, is where most of Austrian wine is made. Along the Danube River, slowly flowing towards Vienna, there are several DACs; but the best one is Wachu. “It constitutes just 3% of the country’s vineyards,” but is “Austria’s most famous wine region” (WAoW). Made from Gruner Veltliner grapes these “spicy” Rieslings can compete with some of the best German Saars or French Alsace Grand Crus, for a much more reasonable price (Billy, instead of Steve or Reggie). Additionally, Austria is now a serious producer of decent sparkling wine, worth checking out.
As the world’s #9 wine producing country, Germany is well known for it’s Rieslings, mostly grown along the Mosul River. It also makes an excellent Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir), grown in several of its 13 major wine growing regions. Germany is home to the original ice wine (Eiswein), primarily made from Riesling grapes. While having a reputation for its variety of sweet white wines, Germany is now producing more single vineyard, dry whites. The best dry Rieslings come from the Saar Valley. In fact, some wines grown here are more expensive than the finest French Bordeauxs. Really good, less expensive whites come from the Rheingau, Rheinhessen, and Pfalz wine regions. The best Spatburgunders come from Ahr, which has many Burgundian clones. According to the Wine Spectator (WS), 2022 was a very good year for German wines and the best wines can be had from Joh. Jos. Prum, Dr. Loosen, Robert Weil, & Whittmann wineries.
That should be enough for this one. Next time, I will have a new Wine of the Month, something to look forward to. Until then………Cheers!