zwei schnelle Österreicher

Had two Austrian whites recently. I love trying so-called heirloom varietals from Austria as Austria has some of the greatest indigenous grapes of any wine-producing country. From Gruner Veltliner to Blaufrankisch to St. Laurent to Neuberger there is always something interesting in Austria to put a smile on the wine lover/geek's face. The first wine I tried was the 2008 Stadlman Zierfandler Anninger which is either a new bottling or a re-packaging of the entry level Zierfandler bottling. From what I can recall Stadlman has an entry level Zierfandler bottling that was just called Zierfandler in the past and a single-vineyard one called Mandelhoh (which can be an epic wine). It says Classic on the back label which clues me in that this is indeed the basic bottling. In 2008 this was not so good. Pretty shrill with very high acidity and some tangy citrus/peach fruit. The acid was zippy but very high and dominated this wine. The fruit seemed underripe and all I was really getting was rind-like fruit. As it aerated it became to shrill to drink. Too bad as this is the first vintage of this wine I did not really like. Usually what I love about this wine is the combination of a rich body with vibrant, clarifying acidity. This did not pull it off. Hopefully the 2009 will.

The Neumeister 2008 Gelber Muskateller "Steirische Klassik was a fantastic bottle of wine. I haven't met many dry Muskateller's I haven't liked. This was 11.5% alcohol and could have some RS in it as the palate and the nose had a creaminess. The nose was classic Muskateller with lime, citrus, some veggie-greens (pea pods) and intense minerality. Pungent, very clean and high-toned aromatics. Clean, crisp, pure with lovely fruit and I think some RS which rounds it out as if there was not any this could have easily gone the way of the Zierfandler. Not too much fruit and an overload of mineral that is balanced by a creaminess which holds it all together. Killer wine and very gulpable.