Pittnauer 2008 St Laurent

Burgenland, Austria - 

St Laurent is a grape variety unfamiliar to most Australian wine drinkers. It's grown in eastern Europe and is particularly important in lower Austria. Like its 'rumoured' relative pinot noir, it is juicy with supple, velvety tannins. Conveniently it ripens ahead of pinot noir, making it an excellent choice for very cool regions.

Patrick Walsh of Cellarhand introduces Pittnauer wines:

'It has been 15 years since Brigitte and Gerhard Pittnauer started to run the winery in Gols near Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland, at the eastern extremity of Austria bordering with Hungary. With only 3.8 hectares of vineyards they took over from Gerhard’s parents and dared to jump in at the proverbial deep end.

Today the Gerhard & Brigitte Pittnauer Winery ranks among Austria’s rising red wine producers. Gerhard is interested in bio-dynamics, which he’s now implementing in his vineyards, and he told me that he stopped spraying synthetic chemicals last year. "We only use sulphur and copper,"Gerhard emphasizes,"and we spray BD500 and BD501." These are two of the biodynamic preparations that assist with plant and soil health . "We use a quad-bike as well as the tractor to spray, because this has less weight,"says Gerhard. "We use mechanical tilling, and this year I will try a natural green cover beneath the vines." Switching to bio-dynamics so far seems to have gone well for Pittnauer. "It was a big risk to change everything, but now I’m happy and optimistic for the future." Across the board these are impressive wines – a true indication that Austria can do really exciting red wines as well!'

"There are some older vine, single vineyard Pittnauer wines made with Saint Laurent – the name of the grape variety, and a relative of pinot noir – but this is the less expensive version. I really liked this. It’s spicy, easy-going, elegant, and ripe. A red wine that is light on its feet, but bright and funky. Chewy finish. Different, in a good way. Excellent freshness and vibrancy. Rated : 91 Points' Winefront's Campbell Mattinson Aug 29, 2010

At Pinot Shop we were very excited to taste the sample bottle and were immediately enamoured of the rich colour and perfumes of sweet dark cherry crossed withg licorice and black currant. There was a brambly/spicy/peppery overlay that was almost reminiscent of the wines of northern Rhone. In the mouth, Pittnauer's St Laurent is soft and full but with a finely honed backbone and just enough gentle grip to work very well with food.

Do something interesting for yourself today and buy some!

2008 Pittnauer St Laurent (Austria) $39: $220 for 6