Krems, Austria
Winzer Krems, Kremstal Vineyard
I first had a Zweigelt wine during a visit to Vienna. The grape’s original birthplace is in Austria and many say the varietal is close to a Pinot Noir.
My story began, in 2007, while on a hunt for good homemade Wiener Schnitzel at a recommended Gasthaus, which is generally where you’ll find traditional dishes, homemade specials and a pleasant home-like atmosphere. These places are somewhat hard to find in the big cities anymore and more prevalent in the countryside towns. On our hunt, we must have passed the restaurant 3 times circling the block since it was so small with minimal signage. In the end, it was worth the adventure as the meal was wonderful along with samplings of at least 4 local beers I couldn’t even begin to remember.
So, I decided to buy a bottle of Zweigelt and make our own Wiener Schnitzel with egg noodles and mushroom/rosemary gravy here at home. This wasn’t the exact same wine from Vienna although the Winzer Krems vineyard is in Krems, Austria which is a small town located 55 miles northwest of Vienna. The city is over 1000 years old and rich in history.
With rich scents of ripe berries, black pepper and a hint of molasses it definitely brought back memories of that wonderful dinner. Tastes of plum and black cherries combined in this easy drinking wine with soft tannins and fruit forward flavors. An essence of licorice, spice and tobacco existed in its velvety finish. Considered to be a medium bodied wine, I’d love to find another bottle however I believe the 2006 is now what’s out. I guess I’ll have to try that vintage as well.
I found it at Total Wine although you can try here to find a distributor near you.
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