Austrian Wine, and Remembering a Meal

We were reading an article in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. The article pretty much skewers three out of four fancy NYC restaurants for their wine pairings menus and makes a case for ordering bottles in restaurants, not only for the value and for the attention from staff, but also to allow you pace your own meal, rather than get rushed by an eager server.

One thing we noticed in the article, which was really terrific and eye-opening, was the number of references to Austrian wines. “We explained, as we always do, that we are wine-obsessed, and we clearly got our sommelier’s attention when we said ‘we even like Zweigelt,’ the unusual, peppery red from Austria,” they wrote. At Daniel, they said, they were served “2006 Austrian Sauvignon Blanc from Tement”.

And at Per Se, they wrote: “…our favorite once again turned out to be a red wine, an Austrian Blaufränkisch, with fish… For dessert, the sommelier, who spent a great deal of time at our table, poured us each a glass of Zweigelt Trockenbeerenauslese from Alois Kracher, a rare wine made by a leader of the Austrian wine industry, who died recently at age 48…”

At this point, our minds were reeling. Since when did Austrian wine become so trendy, so admired? And how on earth did we manage to be so forward thinking that we were admiring Austrian winemakers way back in 2000?

Our education on Austrian wine began when we joined the list for Sine Qua Non, whose winemaker is Austrian-born Manfred Krankl. Krankl and Kracher teamed up to make some gorgeous wines, which we have cellared.

Then, in 2007, we began to plan a trip to Vienna to celebrate a 40th birthday. We spent some time at our favorite local wine shop, talking to the Austrian wine expert on staff. He sent us home with plenty of great bottles, all of which we thought were expensive due to the euro, but all of which we loved.

We drank Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt, deciding that the former tasted like big Zinfandels and Syrahs, while the latter was more vintage Beaujalais. We drank Gruner Veltliner and were reminded of crisp, clean Sauvignon Blanc.  We felt that we were good to go in terms of Austrian wines, and we enjoyed meal after meal with great bottles that we’d never find back home. We also noticed our Sine Qua Non friend’s bottles on almost all the best wine lists. The world felt very small and cozy to us, back on that November holiday.

All this thinking of Austrian wines and Viennese dining brought to mind one of our top restaurant experiences ever, when we had dinner at Steirereck.

The atmosphere was lovely, the food amazing, and our fellow diners were interesting. Lots of large groups of well-dressed, chain-smoking couples. A few parents with adult children and their dates. We laughed at the printed translations of the menus (pork with pork juice, venison with nature juice) and were grateful for the high quality of service, in English, that we received. (Our German is…not great. Although we tried.)

The most amazing part of the entire meal, however, was the use of carts. When we first sat down, the staff wheeled a big trolley, filled with crushed ice, bottles of wine and champagne and vodka all sticking out. There were glass pitchers filled with vividly colored juices. We had flutes of sparkling Austrian wine, and they whisked the trolley off to another table.

During our meal, we were visited by the bread trolley, where we could choose from a dozen or so different loaves. This trolley was fitted with a cutting board and a muslin bag on the side to catch the crumbs. How well thought-out!

There also was a cheese trolley, but the best came last.

The tea trolley.

This looked like a mobile plant stand, filled with clay pots and rangy-looking plants. We ordered a peppermint and lemongrass tea with a naturally sweetening herb, then we watched as the tea master snipped fresh greens off the plants and washed them in a little bowl. He then poured them into a pot, added hot water and placed this on our table along with a little egg timer. After the timer ran out, he said, flip it. Then he’d be back to pour.

The tea was pale in color but delicious, the best tea I’ve ever had. I loved this tea cart, and I can’t believe that more restaurants don’t have them.

So there you have it. From an article about New York wine snobs, we went halfway across the world and remembered a tea trolley.

Now, if only Austrian wines hadn’t become so trendy. We can hardly find them any more.