“These wines have charm, unique flavors and offer good quality/value!”
Austria has steadily gained increased recognition in the world of wine, and rightfully so! Some of the best values in wine these days are coming from this land-locked European country and they reliably deliver with incredible integrity. The Austrian wines are unique, complex, honest — and just plain delicious! Gruner Veltliner is a grape varietal that was the big buzz a few years back. But the novelty has not worn off, and these wines have established themselves permanently on wine lists around the world, and serve as favorites for many wine professionals and sommeliers. One particularly inspiring wine importer: Terry Theise, his name gracing a bottle is always a good sign. His portfolio focuses mainly on German and Austrian wines, and he is a champion of small producers. Mr. Theise has developed a cult following, and he received an award by James Beard Foundation for the “Nation’s Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional” in 2008.
Mr. Theise states, “I am categorically certain there is no country on earth making better dry white wines!” He’s a big fan of grüner veltliner, the last of the great European white wine grapes – “unique in flavor, adaptable, food-loving and delicious”
In addition to his serious proclamations about “GruVe”, he waxes poetically about other Austrian varitals such Zweigelt. In his most recent 2008 Austrian Catalog he describes this varital and the wine in a amusing and proficient way! – “ The last word in red wine! Rolls right of the tongue, eh? Well is rolls off my tongue and down my happy throat, because at its best it is oh-so-drinkable…Imagine if you could somehow skim the top notes of a really ripe Syrah, so that you had the deeply juicy fruit and could leave the animal-herbal aspects behind. That might be Zweigelt.”
For us here at Rendezvous, the “food-friendly” aspect that Mr. Theise points to is the most important aspect of selecting and offering wines here at the restaurant. In addition, these wines have charm, unique flavors and offer good quality/value! We believe that you too, will enjoy these wines with our Sunday Menu. They are available by the glass $6, carafe $16 and liter bottle for $28.
Hugl. 2008. -Grüner Veltliner- 1.0 L.
This is an intense and concentrated wine offering pleasant citrus and grapefruit aromas, exotic tropical fruits with a hint of freshly ground white pepper. A full-bodied dry wine with a firm mineral backbone, giving it the strength of character to work well with many cuisines.
Berger. 2007. -Blauer Zweigelt- 1.0 L
It’s the same as just-plain Zweigelt. It is fragrant, slightly floral and varietally true; It has a slim, straight line of spicy fruit, it’s full of character and imprinted with cherries. Bright, clean and very drinkable! And as T. Theise states about Erich Berger’s wines “His wines exist to do nothing but make you happy!” Now that is an endorsement we can get behind!