Fine-Tuning in Victoria, Austria’s Red Wine Refinement and Sweetly Italian: Weekly Tasting Report (Oct 9-15)

The southeastern Australian state of Victoria is steeped in history and diversity, especially when it comes to wine, and it’s also from where Associate Editor Ryan Montgomery hails. He recently made the trip there from California to explore some of Victoria’s most distinctive wine regions – there are 21 in total – and he found winemakers thriving by following their own distinctive styles, in many cases by working with non-mainstream varieties.

In Geelong, Lethbridge Wines co-founder Ray Nadeson, who has a PhD in neurosciences, brings his experimental mindset to his unique offerings. His Between Five Bells Savignan Geelong Yellow NV – inspired by the oxidative vin jaune style from France’s Jura region – is a standout. Made from 100 percent savignan, Nadeson adds his own twist by employing the solera method, which is more commonly used in the Jerez region of Spain.

His innovation prevents the wine from turning to vinegar, preserving its freshness while developing complex notes of bruised apple, poached pear, and nutty flavors, all lifted by sharp acidity and a generous mouthfeel. It made for a perfect pairing with 30-month-aged Comte cheese, which also originates from the Jura region.

Ryan also caught up with Gus Pollard and Matt Holmes of Bannockburn Vineyards. They make some of the best chardonnays and pinot noirs in Geelong, and they’re celebrating their 50th anniversary this year with the release of their Bannockburn Chardonnay Geelong S.R.H. 2023. Made from vines planted in 1976, it’s a perfect balance of power and finesse, with layers of complexity and tension.

A short distance away at Clyde Park, proprietor Terry Jongbloed is producing refined, vibrant chardonnays. His Clyde Park Chardonnay Geelong Single Block B3 2023 showcases the purity and freshness that define Victoria’s 2023 white wines. This vintage stands out despite the challenges of a cool, wet year: it was marked by the third consecutive La Niña, which brought heavy spring rains during flowering and fruit set, leading to lower yields and higher acidity levels.

In Victoria’s historic Rutherglen region, famed for its fortified sweet wines, Ryan explored the four classifications of Muscat, guided by Jen Pfeiffer of Pfeiffer Wines. He was joined by sixth-generation winemaker Madden Morris of Morris Wines, Adriaan Foot of Stanton & Killeen, and Angela Brown from All Saints Estate. Each winery showcased its own distinctive house style, with All Saints leading the way with its rich backstock of older Muscats.

The All Saints Estate Muscat Rutherglen Rare NV, with an average age of 50 years, is extraordinarily complex, offering intense aromas of baked apple tart, caramelized fig, and burnt orange creme brulee. Remarkably, it retains its freshness and depth, with the potential to continue aging for another half century and beyond.

The Pfeiffer Muscat Rutherglen Rare NV also impressed with its complex layers of burnt orange, roasted walnuts, sandalwood, dried fruit and dark chocolate. The Muscat classifications, which range from standard (around 160 g/L of residual sugar) to rare (up to 320 g/L), provide a fascinating glimpse into the aging process. As these wines mature, their acidity levels rise due to the "angels' share” – the evaporation that occurs in the region’s iconic corrugated iron sheds. The unique humidity levels in these sheds play a crucial role in shaping the wines' character as they concentrate over time.

AUSTRIA UPS ITS RED WINE GAME

When Senior Editor Stuart Pigott was in Austria recently, he devoted a lot of his time to tasting the nation’s red wines. Austria is widely regarded as a white wine producer, and its signature grape is the white gruner veltliner, which comprises roughly a third of the vineyard area. However, several regions, most important Burgenland on the border with Hungary, have a strong red wine tradition, but since the turn of the century, producers have made significant improvements to their red wine game.

For Stuart, the question is how far have they come. After many days of deep immersion tasting and a string of visits to producers, Stuart is convinced that 2021 and 2022 are the best vintages to date for Austrian reds, with both eclipsing the excellent 2019 vintage.

His skepticism as to whether 2022 could match the elegance was dissipated by wines like the sensationally concentrated Moric Blaufränkisch Burgenland Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben 2022, the nose of which is like diving into a pool of violets and discovering a wealth of earthy and spicy notes. It has incredible finesse, the finish extending up and up as if you were climbing Mount Everest.

Even the same producer’s entry-level Moric Blaufränkisch Burgenland 2022 impressed with aromas of summer flowers pistachios and Amarena cherries and a racy elegance. So it wasn’t only a handful of special bottlings that excelled.

“We’re really pleased by the way the wines turned out,” said winemaker Roland Velich. “It’s a great vintage for us.“

Several new wines from Hannes Schuster stunned with their completeness. The fireworks began with the Schuster Blaufränkisch Burgenland St. Margarethen Ried Lamer 2022, which is enormously deep and powerful for a medium-bodied red. The clove and cardamon character is intense, with herbal and slate emerging at the finish like a whale surfacing from the deep.

Sankt laurent, a close relative of pinot noir, is a traditional regional specialty in Burgenland that fell from favor during the 1970s due to its small yields during a period where quantity was sought after. It was a 2009 from Schuster that persuaded Stuart of the grape's potential.

The Schuster Sankt Laurent Burgenland Zagersdorf Ried Repistye 2022, from vines planted in 1959 and 1961, is the best wine Stuart has ever encountered from this grape. It has incredible aromas of beautifully ripe red fruit, savory and forest floor plus a great interplay of restrained richness and herbal freshness. The finish is still tightly wound, suggesting it has a great future ahead of it.

The Leithaberg only became a clearly defined wine-producing region 20 years ago, and now this most easterly set of foothills of the Alps is really starting to show what it’s really capable of.  Winemaker John Nittnaus of the Anita & Hans Nittnaus winery produced two amazing blaufrankisch reds from these hills, where limestone is the dominant soil type, but some altitude sites have a mica slate soil.

The Anita & Hans Nittnaus Blaufränkisch Leithaberg Ried Gritschenberg 2021 has incredible grace and finesse thanks to the interplay of very fine tannins with precise aromas of forest berries, candied orange and cinnamon. And the Anita & Hans Nittnaus Blaufränkisch Leithaberg Jungenberg 2021 is like a prophet in the wilderness, because this sleek and focused masterpiece is still tightly wound. However, it already has haunting savory and slate nuances.

The limestone ridge of the Spitzerberg in the Carnuntum region, close to Austria's borders with Slovakia and Hungary, has also only recently emerged as a special terroir for red wines. It is sunny and very dry but also windy, and Stuart experienced all of those when he visited.

He’s still astonished how this rugged situation can lead to blaufrankisch reds with the breathtaking elegance and silkiness of the Dorli Muhr Blaufränkisch Ried Spitzerberg-Obere Roterd EL 2021. The incredible concentration and refinement reminded Stuart of a Musigny Grand Cru from Burgundy, but nothing from Burgundy ever has this kind of spice!

The equally amazing Dorli Muhr Blaufränkisch Carnuntum Ried Spitzerberg-Obere Spitzer EL 2021 has enormous structure, the fine tannins building to a fantastic crescendo at the finish. It is further proof that Muhr deserves to be as well known for her achievements as a winemaker, as for the PR agency Wine + Partners that she co-founded more than 30 years ago.

The most important red wine regions of Austria also produce some spectacular dry white wines, but they are totally different from the refreshing, peppery gruner veltliners for which Austria is famous.

With the 2022 vintage Andi Kollwentz further solidifies his standing as the leading producer of dry whites in Burgenland. His Kollwentz Chardonnay Burgenland Gloria 2022 is a masterpiece of chalky and flinty chardonnay, the minerality married to ample fine tannins and super-elegant lemony acidity to create a totally compelling harmony. Scroll down to see the tasting notes for Kollwentz’s other stunning chardonnays, sauvignon blancs and his best red wines to date.

SWEETLY ITALIAN

There is no need to underscore the fact that sweet wines, and Italian vin santos in particular, comprise a niche market, according to Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli. In fact, they are so niche that they struggle commercially and so fewer and fewer producers continue to make them. But Aldo admits that he still enjoys serving them to friends during dinners at his home because they always elicit a big “wow” effect.

Tuscan vin santo, in particular, is the result of a deeply rooted cultural tradition that has shaped its production. It starts with the grapes: malvasia for the aromas, trebbiano for the acidity and sangiovese for structure and the slightly tawny color, locally known as “occhio di pernice.”

Then comes the process of “appassimento” to concentrate sugars and acidity by evaporating the water. Finally, and perhaps most important, is the aging in small, sealed barrels (called “caratelli”), which are stored in the attics of old cellars to maximize the wine’s evolution.

In our opinion, the best examples are those that lean more toward the old-fashioned style – no longer bone-dry, but with such high acidity that the wine remains balanced despite its sweetness. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the most remarkable examples this year comes from Rufina, one of the coolest areas of Chianti. The Selvapiana Vin Santo del Chianti Rufina 2015 is outstanding, with notes of orange peel, dried figs, and toasted hazelnuts plus a richness reminiscent of vermouth, along with great tension on the palate.

Also among the top vin santo contenders is the Capezzana Vin Santo di Carmignano Riserva 2016, which has huge concentration and tension, while a more old-fashioned style, with hints of rancio, can be seen in Borgo Scopeto’s 2016 and Felsina’s 2017. Among the other Italian sweet wines we tasted over the past week, standouts from Alto Adige were the Cantina Bolzano Goldmuskateller Alto Adige Passito 2021, the Kaltern Moscato Giallo Alto Adige Quintessenz Passito 2020 and Manincor’s 2021 Le Petit.

Aldo also tasted the two new releases of Dom Perignon: the 2015 vintage and the P2 2006. They are nearly equal in quality, Aldo said, with the 2015 showing the beautiful tension typical of this Champagne, despite the dry and hot growing season, while the 2006 offers incredible depth and complexity. Dom Perignon’s signature is tactile tension on the palate – very chewy, almost on the verge of being phenolic, yet perfectly refined.

In the 2015, there’s no chance of the green notes in other samples from the same vintage, perhaps from a blockage in the vineyard during the heat and dryness. Instead, freshness and complexity go hand in hand. The 2006, on the other hand, has a more indulgent character, with cotton candy and toasted notes. It is an evolved offering, and while perfectly balanced, it feels more complex than energetic.

HUNGARIAN EVOLUTION

Last year, while visiting several key wine regions in Hungary, James highlighted the dry wines found in Tokaj. They impressed him with their freshness and complexity – so much so that he even compared them to Chablis wines.

Since then, we’ve been following the region closely, and over the past week Associate Editor Andrii Stetsiuk tasted new releases from several Tokaj producers in our Hong Kong office. The region is truly evolving toward producing high-quality dry wines, especially with its furmints, which stand out with their citrusy freshness and minerality. Furmint gains more body and structure when blended with harslevelu, as seen in the Disznókó Tokaji Dry Inspiration 2023. When bottled as a single varietal, harslevelu produces full-bodied, rich wines with stone fruit and beeswax characteristics, as seen in wines like the Balassa Hárslevelű Tokaji Szent Tamás 2023 and Tokaj Nobilis Hárslevelű Tokaji Barakonyi Dűlő 2020.

In addition to the whites from Tokaj, Andrii came across some very pretty and characterful wines from western Hungary’s Balaton region, located north of Lake Balaton, which is one of the largest lakes in Europe. The wines here impress with their ease, unobtrusiveness and incredible drinkability, with some of the best being the balanced and delicious Szászi Birtok Olaszrizling Badacsony Szent György-Hegy Rókaluki 2022, as well as the rich yet fresh and vivid Feind Chardonnay Balatonfüred-Csopaki Batonnage 2022.

Among the Balaton reds, kekfrankos really shined, especially the offerings from the Homola winery, which come with a very transparent, terroir-driven character. You can check out the tasting notes for these below.

– Ryan Montgomery, Stuart Pigott, Aldo Fiordelli and Andrii Stetsiuk contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.