Austrian Wines: What To Drink Now

Austrian wines have a well-deserved reputation amongst wine lovers for their food friendly attributes. They have great acidity, relatively low alcohol and are refreshing to drink during meals.

Restaurant sommeliers have been championing Austria's famous white wine, Gruner Veltliner, for many years. A few of Austria's lighter style red wines have gained attention as well, such as St. Laurent, Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch.

Paul Darcy and Carlo Huber, of darcy and huber selections, both grew up in Vienna. Although, they have been happy to see an increase in Austrian wines over the past few years, they still missed the wines their families drank in Vienna.

To sate their own longings, they decided to start importing wines themselves. This is a relatively new venture for them both and the wines are primarily available in New York at the moment. Although consumers can get their darcy and huber fix online here.

darcy and huber imports many wines but they have really hung their hat on Gemischter Satz, a traditional white wine blend from Vienna.


Not all of the wineries they import are certified organic or biodynamic, but most farm naturally and all are growing indigenous grape varietals.
Jutta Ambrositsch is a young female winemaker that Alice Feiring wrote about earlier this year. Her wine is reviewed below.

Rotes Haus Gemischter Satz 2008 $19.99
Beautiful light golden color. Slightly effervescent. Enticing peach and citrus flavors. Bright acids keep it light on its feet. Delicious. Great aperitif or match it with lemon roasted chicken.

Edlmoser Gemischter Satz 2008 $22
Clear golden color. Honeydew melon and lime flavors. Floral nose. Slight fizz.
Another winner. With all that melon flavor and nice refreshing acids, would be a great match for prosciutto wrapped melon slices.

Ambrositsch Gemischter Satz Sommeregg 2008 $29.99
Wow. Very bright tangerine and lime flavors but with a strong mineral backbone for balance. Assertive acids make it a great match for creamy pasta dishes.