“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future.”
Hermann Hesse
Thursday
Breakfast provided.
A short drive today so we linger at the apartment. Lay in bed and read.
We arrive at Spitz. A pretty town on the Danube that rises above its unfortunate name.
Our apartment is in a great location. We check in and head straight for lunch.
“A man may be a pessimistic determinist before lunch and an optimistic believer in the will’s freedom after it.”
Aldous Huxley
Restaurant Heinzle sits on the Danube. It is a warm summer day, but not too hot. Our table is outside in the shade and has an uninterrupted view of the river and the steep hills beyond.
Shell looks stunning and we order a bottle of 2023 Alzinger Grüner Veltliner.
Perfect.
We spend some time working through the menu.
In the end, we decide on the streifen mit brezel ausrollen to start. Trout strips fried in garlic with a pretzel stick. For mains we choose lachs in meerrettichsauce mit kartoffeln und fenchel, a fillet of salmon in a rich horseradish sauce with potatoes and a fennel salad and fettucine mit pilzen und sahnesauce.
Both are delicious, but you could eat a shoelace with Shell as company in this setting, and it would taste incredible.
We are informed that the dessert takes 25 minutes to prepare if we want to pre-order. I couldn’t understand what exactly we were ordering, but we decided on one each.
It is some kind of dumpling with apricots. I am not a fan of apricots, but this dessert is very good.
We have a few hours to kill before we make our way back to the apartment.
I have a few of the more unique wineries booked for tomorrow but nothing confirmed for today. I planned to visit Domäne Wachau if we had time this afternoon.
Domäne Wachau is not the type of winery that interests me. High volume, very commercial, and operated as a cooperative. What these larger wineries inevitably have is access to some of the best vineyards, and Domäne Wachau is no exception.
The second reason for the visit is to get my head around how the wines in Wachau Valley are classified. The labels are confusing, at least for me.
Breaking down the Wachau Valley, or, how to read the wine label.
The obvious is obvious, the domäne name and the vintage.
Next is the vineyard name. Like Barolo and Burgundy, along the steep hills that straddle the Danube are a series of vineyards that produce the iconic wines of the region. Each of these vineyards has a unique microclimate and soil structure.
Like Barolo and Burgundy, these vineyards are not owned by one family. In the case of most of the premium vineyards, a single family might own a single row of multiple vineyards.
Finally, there is the style of wine. Not to be confused with dryness, all the Grüner Veltliner and Riesling are dry, but rather the fullness of body. Steinfeder is the lightest of the classification. Next is Federspeil, and the heaviest is Smaragd.
It is this classification that caused me the most confusion. Taking the Alzinger we had today, it was from the Mühlpoint vineyard, of which the Alzinger family owns three rows. From these three rows Weignut Alzinger also makes a Steinfeder and Federspeil.
To throw a final spanner in the works, the Mühlpoint vineyard is planted to both Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.
In summary, the Alzinger winery produces the following wines from a single vineyard –
2023 Alzinger Steinfeder Mühlpoint Grüner Veltliner
2023 Alzinger Federspeil Mühlpoint Grüner Veltliner
2023 Alzinger Smaragd Mühlpoint Grüner Veltliner
2023 Alzinger Federspeil Mühlpoint Riesling
2023 Alzinger Smaragd Mühlpoint Riesling
I need a lie down.
The trip to Domäne Wachau helped to clarify the difficult wine labeling system and it also gave us an opportunity to taste single vineyard wines from the same vintage in Steinfeder, Federspeil and Smaragd.
The difference in wines from each vineyard was remarkable, as was the different weight.
My pick from Domäne Wachau was the wines from the Alchleiten vineyard. Both the Federspeil and the Smaragd balanced tight minerality with great fruit and a unique smokiness.
Today’s wines –
2023 Alzinger Federspeil Mühlpoint Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)
Perfect with lunch. Lemons and nectarine on the nose. The heat of white pepper. Great wine.
2022 Domäne Wachau Smaragd Alchleiten Smaragd Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)
This is a serious wine. Limes and grapefruit on the nose but there is a striking minerality and smokiness that makes this wine special. Ver good drinking.
I drink the Alchleiten while Shell has a nap. I probably should save her some.
Tomorrow we explore the more exciting vineyards.
Food looks very good as I am sure are the wines!