Austria
There’s really only one thing holding Austria back in this competition: the number of entries. Our tasters adore these wines, and can completely see how all the styles could work for them on a wine list. With dryness, richness, structure and minerality, they tick a lot of somm boxes.
If you’re only going to list one wine from Austria, it’s probably going to be a Grüner, and this category was a real good news story. 2018, it seems, was a superlative year for the grape – our tasters absolutely loved these wines – and it delivered in every style, from fresh to rich. So feel free to rummage around the medals listed here for bargains.
Rieslings, frankly, we could do with more of, so to get one on our Gold List from a fairly small pool of submissions was a good effort, and what we would like to see more of are the reds – particularly lighter, fresher styles at sub-£16.
From The Tasting Teams
‘The quality of the Grüners was really good, with no bad wines. All were recognisable in terms of grape variety and where they come from. The wines at the lower end were a bit fresher, and the higher price range was ripe and rich, with luscious, large-format oak and some residual sugar. It’s a style thing, and there’s a place for both. Quality–wise these were really good.’ Charlie Young, team leader
‘I find Austria hard to sell. It’s difficult when it’s competing against other areas that are more prominent.’ Nelio Pinto, Candlesticks
‘I really loved the reds. There were good varietals and blends, with bright colours and fresh, crunchy fruit. They can be quite practical in a restaurant, maybe with buttery risotto or fish with tomato sauce.’ Chiara Sieni, MM Grocery
‘I really liked the Grüners. They were very interesting and a good expression of Grüner across the board. I liked the richer wines with less acidity, though the cheaper styles work well for wine bars.’ Stephanie Robertson, RA Group
‘I didn’t find particularly great value in the reds – we were finding more of the riper, oakier style rather than the freshness and liveliness that you’d expect. Austria is cool again, but this representation felt slightly dated.’ Jan Konetzki, team leader
‘Grüner styles with more residual sugar work well with Asian cuisine and richer foods. As a wine it complements spiciness well.’ Gaetano Giangaspero, C&C
‘I’d love to see how some of these more unctuous Grüners age. I was still chewing them after five minutes.’ Mattia Mazzi, Cornerstone
‘I thought the reds were really good. There was some spiciness, and that Dr Bayard cough-sweet aniseed note, which I quite liked.’ Rui Pereira, Cavalry and Guards Club