Weingut Josef Jamek

“I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.”

Oscar Wilde

Friday (Part II)

It is time for lunch.

Weingut Josef Jamek has three things going for it.

Firstly, it has a reputation for excellent, albeit expensive, wines. Secondly, it provides an outstanding lunch. Finally, it is set in an open garden.

It is a perfect day for a long lunch in a garden with beautiful company and wine.

“A garden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space — a place not just set apart but reverberant — and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.”

Michael Pollan

We were seated at our table and asked what wines we would like to try.

It was hard to focus on the wine list. Rachelle is always a distraction. The beautiful garden was pulling my eyes away from the list. A giant old pear tree, climbing roses, some kind of nut tree in full fruit.

I needed a moment.

Our tasting started with Grüner Veltliner. Two Federspiels from the same vineyard but different vintages.

2022 Weingut Josef Jamek Federspiel Steinwand Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)

The pick of the two vintages. More structure and a pronounced white pepper. Lemons and light acidity.

2023 Weingut Josef Jamek Federspiel Stein am Rain Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)

Similar to the 2022 yet lacked the white pepper which gave the previous year its complexity.

We shifted to the Smaragds. Two different vineyards from the 2022 vintage.

2022 Weingut Josef Jamek Smaragd Liebenberg Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)

These single vineyard Smaragds continue to show power and balance despite the high alcohol. Grapefruit and white pepper with excellent structure.

2022 Weingut Josef Jamek Smaragd Achleiten Grüner Veltliner (Wachau, Austria)

Achleitin continues to impress me the most. This is the third wine from the vineyard that has stood out for both balance and elegance.

We are starting to get Grüner Veltliner fatigued and switch to Riesling.

There are three Rieslings all from the 2023 vintage. Two single vineyards and a vineyard blend, which is similar to the Bourgogne concept in Burgundy.

2023 Weingut Josef Jamek Federspiel Jochinger Riesling (Wachau, Austria)

It is elegant and fresh but lacks the structure of the Grüner Veltliners.

2023 Weingut Josef Jamek Federspiel Pichl Riesling (Wachau, Austria)

The Jochinger may have lacked power and structure due to the blend of vineyards yet the single vineyard is similar. It is a pretty wine, by no means bad, yet lacks both the structure and complexity to make it special.

2023 Weingut Josef Jamek Federspiel Klaus Riesling (Wachau, Austria)

See above.

We moved on to the two Smaragd Rieslings.

2023 Weingut Josef Jamek Smaragd Dürnsteiner Riesling (Wachau, Austria)

A step up in both structure and power yet it still does not rival the Grüner Veltliners.

2023 Weingut Josef Jamek Smaragd Klaus Riesling (Wachau, Austria)

This wine has obvious botrytis. There are honey and apricots that push aside most of the acid and other fruit. I have no problem with botrytis, it makes a delicious dessert wine, but these table wines with botrytis-affected grapes are not for me.

Our waiter was excellent and before I realised I was talking to someone else, I asked if the wine had botrytis grapes. The answer was a firm no, and it was characteristic of the Klaus vineyard.

Moments later, I asked the same of our waiter and he confirmed our suspicions.

And then we ordered lunch.

The menu was in English, so I don’t get to write meals that make no sense.

For starters, Shell ordered the river pike with coriander cream sauce and rice. I went for the blood sausage with horseradish, potato and sauerkraut.

For mains, Shell ordered the whole oven baked trout and I went for the boiled beef with vegetables. It sounds simple, and it certainly tasted like corned beef, but it was delicious.

Home to relax for an hour or so before we head to Weingut Hiedler.

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”

Albert Camus