This week we’re all about Austrian wine! Specifically natural Austrian wine produced by innovative female winemakers like Christina Netzl, Barbara Öhlzelt, Stefanie and Susanne Renner. Not only are these women creating beautiful and tasty wines, but they represent an exciting new period for the Austrian wine industry, which has made great strides in recent decades. 

In the 1980’s, the Austrian wine industry suffered greatly when it was revealed that wineries were adding harmful chemicals to their wines as a way of augmenting sweetness and body. In the decades that followed, the Austrian wine community worked very hard to clean up their practices and restore their reputation. Thus, wine laws in Austria are among the strictest in the world, and the quality of their wines is superb. With a new generation of winemakers focusing on organic, biodynamic and natural practices, we have much to be excited about!

Take Christina Netzl, whose family has grown grapes in Niederösterreich since 1820. Beginning in 2013, Christina and her parents made the switch to organic methods in the cellar and vineyards. Her interest in wine has continued to grow and a few years ago she launched her own line of naturally made and slightly funky wines: the Christina series. The Christina series features labels with colorful cartoon bugs and garden critters that are all beloved and beneficial to grape vines and vineyards. 

2019 Christina St. Laurent is an easy drinking red wine from the classic Austrian grape St. Laurent, which is almost like a more plummy Pinot Noir, and a less fruity Grenache. These grapes undergo a slow carbonic fermentation over three weeks before being pressed into old oak vats, resulting in a medium-bodied red with quenching notes of cranberries and ripe plums. Try pairing this staff favorite with seared duck breast, roasted vegetables, or a hearty lentil stew.

2019 Christina Grüner Veltliner is a playful version of the famous white Austrian grape. The red gravel and loess soil that the grapes are grown upon coaxes out the slightly spicy notes of the Grüner alongside notes of pineapple and candied citrus. Grüner pairs well with almost everything, but we recommend enjoying it alongside pan seared pollock with a simple butter and caper sauce.

2019 Christina ‘Orange’ Chardonnay has smooth tannins and notes of white flowers, tangerines, and apple pie. The grapes are left in contact with their skins for 24 days, imparting a beautiful amber hue. Pair Christina ‘Orange’ with food that has a slight toastiness - we’re thinking fish and chips or homemade chicken pot pie with fresh pastry crust. 

In nearby Kampstal, Barbara Öhlzelt specializes in Grüner Veltliner on her 7 organic hectares. Barbara’s grapes are all handpicked. Even if she wanted to use machinery for harvesting, she wouldn’t be able to because most of her vineyards are too steep for large equipment. 2019 Barbara Öhlzelt Grüner ‘Leader’ is a vibrant blend that boasts savory acidity and mouthfuls of spice, flint, and lime. It’s seriously delicious with white pizza topped with salty prosciutto.

Further south on the Hungarian border is the region of Burgenland, home to sisters Stefanie and Susanne Renner, who took the reins from their winemaking parents Helmuth and Birgit Renner. While incorporating more sustainable practices into the Renner line, they created their own natural wines, under the label Rennersistas. 

2018 Renner & Rennersistas Welschriesling is a dynamic and fresh white wine. (Fact: Welschriesling grapes are completely unrelated to the Riesling grape!) The grapes are handpicked and aged in amphorae where they undergo spontaneous fermentation, an involved process that yields amazing wine. This wild white is aromatic with yeasty aromas of chamomile, honey, herbs and ginger.

Get your glitter out to cheers 2019 Renner & Rennersistas Superglitzer Red. Named for Stefanie and Susanne’s love of glitter (seriously!) this wine is as rad as the best party you’ve ever been to. It’s a funky blend of some classic Austrian red grapes and some more unusual ones: Roesler, St. Laurent, Zweigelt, and Blaufränkisch. Superglitzer has fine tannins and notes of licorice, tart boysenberries and black currants.

Thank you to the Barbara, Stefanie, Susanne, & Christina! Y’all rock and so do your wines!

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