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4thWednesdays - April Showers

Texas Wine School, Houston, Tx

Tasted April 27, 2022 by Heynetty with 91 views

Introduction

4 wines and a lot of poorly covered labels and bottles. I ignored the visual clues and just stuck to what my notes were telling me.

Flight 1 - Blind Taste 1 (4 notes)

I had no idea each of these were from the same country at the start of the tasting, Just thought it was a random assortment of European wines.

White
2018 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Tasted Blind

Medium gold
Medium (+) nose of peach.,lemon, yellow flowers, honeydew melon flesh, melon rind, cheese (others added ginger)
Dry, medium (+) acidity, medium alcohol, medium (+) intensity notes of peach.,lemon, yellow flowers, honeydew melon flesh, melon rind, cheese (others added ginger), medium (+) body, medium (+) finish
The wine shows a fair balance between fruit concentration and acidity, While The length and intensity contribute significantly to the quality of the wine, it does lack complexity (other found lots of primary and tertiary including banana and mushrooms.
The wine is of very good quality and is suitable for ageing

Guess:
I thought Viognier was the grape because of the peach dominance. There was also a herbaceous element which brought me to Condrieu.

Mistakes:
I think I may have underestimated the acidity here. The ginger call may have moved me to a grape that was given to some botrytis.
White
2020 Weingut Berger Grüner Veltliner Austria, Niederösterreich, Kremstal
pale lemon
Medium (+) nose of cheese rind, lemon rind, grapefruit, sharp green apple, wet rock
Dry, high acid, medium alcohol, medium body, medium (+) intensity flavors of cheese rind, lemon rind, grapefruit, sharp green apple, wet rock, medium (+) finish
Balanced wine - acid and fruit ripeness
The length is significant
Intensity is significant
Lacks complexity

Guesses:
Muscadet as the cheese rind was consistent with sur lie and the clear wet rock and citrus simplicity said Muscadet to me.

Mistakes:
There was no honey, no white flowers and NO WHITE PEPPER. It was in a 1 Litre bottle and I remember tasting this at a sale day at TWS. It tasted quite different. I think it wasn't built to last. Was definitely better last year.
White
2018 F.X. Pichler Riesling Federspiel Ried Burgstall Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
pale lemon
Medium (+) nose of peach pit, lemon, honey, (from George), white flowers, grassy, apple,
Dry, high acidity, medium alcohol, medium (-) body, medium (+) intensity and medium (+)finish
Balanced - yes
Length - yes
Intensity - yes
Complex - no.
Very good quality and worthy of ageing

Guesses: Sauvignon Blanc. I got a grassy and stonefruit element here. Seemed rather sharp and fresh.

Mistakes:
The honey call from George should have been a clue and I did not get petroleum at all so I missed the Riesling guess.
Sav Bl (others got petrol so they thought it was Riesling) it was Pichler
Red
2015 Moric Blaufränkisch Reserve Austria, Burgenland
medium ruby
Medium (+) nose of candied parma violets, black cherry, red cherry, bramble, liquorice, chocolate, dried thyme (from Sarah) wet earth
Dry, medium (+) acidity, medium (+) tannin chalky , medium alcohol, medium (+) body, pronounced intensity (others got medium +) of candied parma violets, black cherry, red cherry, bramble, liquorice, chocolate, dried thyme (from Sarah) wet earth and long finish (others got medium +)
Balance - yes
Length - excellent length
Intensity - optimal
Complex - not yet
Very good quality
Suitable for ageing with tannin, and sufficient fruit to increase in interest as it ages

Guesses:
Saw a hint of purple and personally missed the dried herbs but the other flavors were consistent with a Beaujolais Cru and so I went for that.

Mistakes:
There is usually black pepper and allspice in wines from this grape.
3 people found this helpful Comment

Closing

Got it all wrong but decent guesses. Bit concerned that the Smaragd wasn't immediately obvious. Need to taste more of it.

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