I really enjoyed this post, Joshua, because it reminded me of all of the lovely fruits you can find in Austria, each in their own season. My favorites were the Zwetschke, which are unheard of here in Ireland. My Austrian husband's favorites were the small, red, seedy, sweet wine grapes that appear in September. He can literally eat kilos of them--seeds and all--in a couple of days.
We planted a red currant bush in our garden, which grows just fine. Unfortunately, the birds eat all of the berries before they become ripe! And several wild strawberry plants have appeared at the edge of our sidewalk, but the fruits are very tiny and not very sweet. Wild blackberries grow in the hedgerows everywhere in Ireland, though, and they are great for eating come fall.
As a former resident of Portland, Oregon, what I REALLY miss--either in Austria or in Ireland--is the fantastic cherries we used to get, as well as the blueberries.
Thank you Clarice. I used to enjoy driving down to Newberg and Yamhill for wine tasting. And those cherries! Rainier cherries from WA apparently sell for $8 per cherry in Japan! I went picking out by Hood River once and if was fantastic.
Hood River cherries are the best in the world! But I wouldn't pay $8 per cherry for them. Since moving to Europe 11 years ago, I have just learned to live without them...
With all of these growing things (including grapes) and a climate similar to France’s it makes me wonder….is their Austrian wine? I’ve never heard of any if so.
I’m not sure about why it’s not really exported, because in Germany you can get good Austrian wines but perhaps it’s too expensive to ship further abroad. Depending on the metric, Austria is something like the 15th biggest wine producer in the world. There was a big scandal in the 80s that hurt the country’s reputation though. Today most commercial production is in the east, like around Vienna, and further southeast too.
Austria has some of the best wines in the world! They hardly export any of it, however, so people in other countries just don't know about it. The only Austrian wines that do get exported--like normal Gruener Veltliner--are those the Austrians themselves will not drink.
Trust me, there are hundreds of excellent „Grüner Veltliner“ here that Austrians definitely drink, among many other types from about 7 different regions.
I agree! But they're not exported. Which is why so few foreigners realize how wonderful Austrian wine actually is. On the rare occasions when you see an Austrian wine on the menu in the US or elsewhere, it is almost always Gruener Veltliner, and it is almost always bad.
Absolutely. I'm generally more of a red wine person, but the Austrian whites are delightful. I love going to the Heurigers and partaking in the local tipples.
I love the Heuriger, too. In general, I much prefer white wines to reds. But here again, I really like Austrian Zweigelt and don't think I've ever had an undrinkable bottle of it.
Hmmmn. One of our favorite vintners in the Weinviertel here has imported a gold medal winning Veltliner to the US and Canada for years. We also drank a lovely veltliner in an upstate NY fish restaurant years ago. All of the above has changed greatly due to Trump tariffs, but just needed to clear up generalizations here.
I have lived in Austria for all of my adult (musician’s) life, the last 42 yrs in Vienna, raising 1/2 Austrian sons and grandkids. We DO know wine from every corner of Austria.
Delightful post, I learnt a lot! And there are some terrific comments from other readers as well. I know so little about this, I admire tackling a tricky subject (I'm useless at describing taste and the natural world in general).
I really enjoyed this post, Joshua, because it reminded me of all of the lovely fruits you can find in Austria, each in their own season. My favorites were the Zwetschke, which are unheard of here in Ireland. My Austrian husband's favorites were the small, red, seedy, sweet wine grapes that appear in September. He can literally eat kilos of them--seeds and all--in a couple of days.
We planted a red currant bush in our garden, which grows just fine. Unfortunately, the birds eat all of the berries before they become ripe! And several wild strawberry plants have appeared at the edge of our sidewalk, but the fruits are very tiny and not very sweet. Wild blackberries grow in the hedgerows everywhere in Ireland, though, and they are great for eating come fall.
As a former resident of Portland, Oregon, what I REALLY miss--either in Austria or in Ireland--is the fantastic cherries we used to get, as well as the blueberries.
Thank you Clarice. I used to enjoy driving down to Newberg and Yamhill for wine tasting. And those cherries! Rainier cherries from WA apparently sell for $8 per cherry in Japan! I went picking out by Hood River once and if was fantastic.
Hood River cherries are the best in the world! But I wouldn't pay $8 per cherry for them. Since moving to Europe 11 years ago, I have just learned to live without them...
With all of these growing things (including grapes) and a climate similar to France’s it makes me wonder….is their Austrian wine? I’ve never heard of any if so.
Also southern Germany grows much wine, and the former Czechoslovakia and Hungary too
I’m not sure about why it’s not really exported, because in Germany you can get good Austrian wines but perhaps it’s too expensive to ship further abroad. Depending on the metric, Austria is something like the 15th biggest wine producer in the world. There was a big scandal in the 80s that hurt the country’s reputation though. Today most commercial production is in the east, like around Vienna, and further southeast too.
Interesting
Austria has some of the best wines in the world! They hardly export any of it, however, so people in other countries just don't know about it. The only Austrian wines that do get exported--like normal Gruener Veltliner--are those the Austrians themselves will not drink.
Trust me, there are hundreds of excellent „Grüner Veltliner“ here that Austrians definitely drink, among many other types from about 7 different regions.
I agree! But they're not exported. Which is why so few foreigners realize how wonderful Austrian wine actually is. On the rare occasions when you see an Austrian wine on the menu in the US or elsewhere, it is almost always Gruener Veltliner, and it is almost always bad.
Absolutely. I'm generally more of a red wine person, but the Austrian whites are delightful. I love going to the Heurigers and partaking in the local tipples.
I love the Heuriger, too. In general, I much prefer white wines to reds. But here again, I really like Austrian Zweigelt and don't think I've ever had an undrinkable bottle of it.
Very cool, and weird at the same time. Why don’t they export more of the good stuff? Not enough made maybe?
I'm not sure, but I think you're right. They must just produce enough for domestic consumption.
Hmmmn. One of our favorite vintners in the Weinviertel here has imported a gold medal winning Veltliner to the US and Canada for years. We also drank a lovely veltliner in an upstate NY fish restaurant years ago. All of the above has changed greatly due to Trump tariffs, but just needed to clear up generalizations here.
Good to know. I went to college in upstate NY, and my wife and I did a wine trip there years ago. They have some good wineries there.
I can only advise…
Joshua…based on these comments: I think we need a piece from you on Austrian wine at some point 😉
I have lived in Austria for all of my adult (musician’s) life, the last 42 yrs in Vienna, raising 1/2 Austrian sons and grandkids. We DO know wine from every corner of Austria.
Sounds like you’ll have to be his expert researcher then Maura!
Delightful post, I learnt a lot! And there are some terrific comments from other readers as well. I know so little about this, I admire tackling a tricky subject (I'm useless at describing taste and the natural world in general).