In America, even dedicated fans of Austrian wine have probably not heard of Birgit Eichinger. This is a pity, because in Austria she is consistently recognized as producing top quality Grüner Veltliner and Riesling wines. Once the rest of the world catches on, these wines will be even harder to get, and right now they are a bargain for their quality.
I was first tipped off to Birgit’s wines by my local wine seller Michael Alberty of Storyteller Wines (link). Michael remembers her wines from his days in Chicago. When I mentioned that I was going to be visiting Austria and some Austrian winemakers, he immediately told me to visit Birgit and Christian Eichinger. “Racy and brisk”, he said. I’m glad I had a chance to taste them myself, they are some of my favorites from the entire trip.
By the time of our visit in late October, most of the 2011 wines were already sold out. It also turns out that Weingut Eichinger had already brought in all of their grapes for the 2012 vintage, and they were “resting comfortably” in their fermentation tanks. Photography-wise, this means a lot of cellar photos (!), and of course a few of the tasting room.
The cellars are a mixture of both old and new. The current winery was purchased a few years ago from a pre-existing, smaller winery. Since then the Eichingers have expanded, building upon the somewhat ancient cellars to accommodate their needs. (Christian Eichinger is himself an architect.) Perhaps the coolest part of the cellars, aside from the reuse of salvaged bricks dating back to the Habsburg empire, is the “library”. Here are the treasures dating back to the time when Birgit took over the winery, from her first vintages. The library is beautiful and I can imagine more than a few wonderful parties have been hosted there. (“Hey, is this ’94 Heiligenstein Riesling any good?”)
After our cellar tour, we sat down and tasted through the 2011 vintage. As I’ve said before, I’m not much one for detailed tasting notes, but I think you can guess our favorites from the wines we took home with us. We tasted a total of eight wines, essentially the entire lineup, with the exception of the Roter Veltliner. The Roter Veltliner, despite its name, produces a white wine not a red wine.
Prices, where shown, are for wine at the winery (“ab Hof”), not the price. Prices include the required 12% sales tax. Asterisk = wines we selected as outstanding examples.
2011 Chardonnay, Gaisberg vineyard. “Niederösterriech” (11.00€)
Produced in stainless steel tanks (no oak). Delicious.
*2011 Grüner Veltliner, Hasel vineyard. Kamptal DAC (6.50€)
Classic. This is a very satisfying example of Grüner. If I lived in Austria, this would be our “house wine“.
*2011 Grüner Veltliner, Wechselberg vineyard. Kamptal DAC (9.50€)
Less light and fruity. A bit rounder mouth feel. Some slate in the soil here.
2011 Riesling, Vom Berg. Kamptal DAC (9.50€)
Easy drinking. From Gaisberg and Heiligenstein, early harvest.
“Kamptal Reserve DAC” wines
*2011 Grüner Veltliner, Gaisberg vineyard. Erste Lage (15.00€)
All stainless. Tropical nose, banana, pineapple
*2011 Grüner Veltliner, Lamm vineyard. Erste Lage (9.50€)
Some oak, some funk. Second vintage from young vines planted in 2006. Hold 3-4 years.
2011 Riesling, Gaisberg vineyard. Erste Lage (14.00€)
Rich, will age well.
2011 Riesling, Heiligenstein vineyard. Erste Lage (19.00€)
Bright on the nose, red apples.
All of these wines are vinified using clear must (juice). Once the grapes are pressed, the juice is permitted a considerable amount of time to settle before being allowed to ferment. This is in contrast to wines that are permitted a spontaneous fermentation, which works best if a “dirty” must with all the heavy molecules and wild yeasts are still present. Fermentations typically take two to six weeks.
You can visit the winery’s website here: Weingut Birgit Eichinger
Next: more about the vineyards and classifications of the Kamptal region, and Weingut Birgit Eichinger in the trade press.