Wine Tasting in the Trapp Family Lodge Wine Cellar

Wednesday, December 23th 4:00 to 6:00

We will be tasting new releases of Austrian Grüner Veltliner, for inclusion on our list. The vineyards in Austria cover 51,000 hectares which, for the most part, lie in the east and southeast of the country. Amongst the wines produced here, white wines unquestionably make up the larger portion – cultivated in 70% of the vineyards. Nevertheless, red wine has come to represent 30% of the vineyards in recent years. Austria has approximately 20,000 small wine producing estates, many of whose financial existence is based on the selling of wine directly on the premises. However, more than half of the wine-growing country features estates with over 5 hectares of vineyards, with most of these highly competitive export-wise. Wine estates regarded as large, according to an international standard (consisting of more than 200 hectares), are rare in Austria. Grüner Veltliner’s Peppery spice, fruitiness with a usually dry finish, share of about a third of Austria’s total viticultural area. The Grüner Veltliner is the most important variety grown in Austria. The quality spectrum of the Grüner Veltliner is sweeping, extending from light, effervescent wines that are best drunk young – as “Heuriger” – to Spätlese wines that are rich in extracts and alcohol and thus age particularly well. In Austria, however, it is still very much the tradition to drink the wine as young as possible, which is somewhat regrettable; and to drink them with food, which is absolutely correct. Grüner Veltliner is perhaps the single most versatile food wine in the world, often surpassing even Riesling because of its ability to pair with "difficult" foods such as artichokes and asparagus. The format will be casual, walk around with cheese and bread.  The wines featured will be:

Biohof Pratsch, Niederösterrich 2008

Anton Bauer, “Gmörk”, Wagram 2008

Tegernseerhof, “T26”, Wachau 2007

Sepp Moser, “Breiter Rain”, Kremstal 2006

Höpler, “Guttenberg”, Burgenland 2006

A sign-up sheet will be available at the front desk (253-5742 or 800-826-7000) and there will be a $15.00 fee per person.