Wenzel Winery named to Top 100
Wine & Spirits magazine has named Wenzel to its Top 100 Wineries in the World list for 2006, and their SAZ Ruster Ausbruch 2001 dessert wine to the Top 100 Wines of the Year list.
Awarding it with 96 points, their tasting notes regaled:
“The flagship wine of Wenzel, the 2001 Saz retains the traditional character of Ausbruch while striving for a modern sense of concentration and purity. Blended in a time-honored proportion of 60 percent Furmint and 40 percent Gelber Muskateller, its exotic aromas of kumquat, candied citrus and Chinese herbs lead to a smoky, nutty complexity, building with subtle intensity towards a palate-staining finish. It’s vivid and regal, promising a long and rewarding development.”
The SAZ Ruster Ausbruch was already named to Wine Enthusiast magazine’s Top 100 of the Year list in 2004, Vinaria magazine’s Top Dozen Sweet Wines, and has been heaped with high points such as 96 from A La Carte, 94 from Falstaff, and 96 from Wine & Spirits to name a few. Go ahead and read the full measure of raves and reviews for this wine and you’ll start to see what all the fuss is about.
In celebration, they are holding their Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting at the San Francisco Design Center on October 11th from 6 to 8:30 pm. We can’t say which of the top 100 wineries will be pouring that night, but we’ll be representing with that SAZ 2001 and the Bandkraften Blaufrankisch 2001.
Go here for more information about the event, and here for tickets.
History and tradition run very deep at the Wenzel winery, which has been family run at the same location since 1647. One of the results are some of the most exquisite noble sweet wines in the world (as those Top 100 lists suggest!) The aforementioned SAZ blends Furmint and Gelber Muskateller, which is the recipe followed for hundreds of years in both the production of Ruster Ausbruch and Tokaji across the border in Hungary, and is a blend only recently revived by head winemaker, Michael Wenzel. For those more familiar with Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) wines, Michael describes it as such: “The difference between Ausbruch and TBA is a matter of finesse and elegance. The acidity is more pronounced in Ausbruch, while TBA tends to be sweeter.”
Michael Wenzel spent time working at the Happ winery in New Zealand and traveled extensively to see and learn how the new world is making great wines before taking over the reins at home. This bridge from old to new perhaps shows off best in the red wines: a traditional Austrian varietal such as Blaufränkisch gives a nod to international wine tastes while still remaining true to its varietal and terroir: the result is a powerhouse both like and unlike anything most folks have quaffed. Michael: “We want to bring back [the red wine’s] reputation. To maintain individual styles, but to discuss issues such as oak, acidity to sugar relation, the elegance, the drinkability of the wines. There is a new generation here that understands the importance of creating a prestigious product.” His 2001 Bandkraften Blaufrankisch is a fine example of this.
To try all of the stunning wines from the Wenzel winery, including his dry Pinot Gris, you need only look here.
“Wer die Vergangenheit nicht ehrt”, said Friedensreich Hundertwasser, der “verliert die Zukunft. Wer seine Wurzeln vernichtet, kann nicht wachsen.”
It seems you have no problem there, at the Wenzel Winery — “Family run since 1647”. And so, history and tradition “run very deep,” and result in some of the most exquisite noble sweet wines in the world.
Yes, our Tradition, not just an empty word, at Wenzel, and at the Halters, who traveled south, along the Danube, to help settle new land. And it was in 1758, when the first Halter in these old parts of Austria was born, in Kernei. In 1944, those who survived, became refugees, many of them ending up (1951) in L.A., under the “displaced persons” act, some in Australia.
Yes, Life goes on, in spite of great difficulties, and like the Wenzels, we keep on learning, every new day.
Thanks for sharing some of your exciting story,
Karlheinz A. Halter
Last night I cooked some great, thick, high loin and low shoulder lamb chops and some 1″ T-bone steaks. I marinated the meat in Coffee grounds, garlic, onion, salt and pepper. The coffee grounds were O.K. but I think once on that trip is enough. My son joined us with his kids while his wife took band practice. My wife made a terrific salad using our deck tomatoes, herbs etc. I had soy ice cream ready for dessert.
What really went well with the meal was a bottle of Wenzel Bandkraften 2001 Blaufrankisch red wine. Nice selection and my son brought it over.
I normally just pass on wine at the table or almost anywhere else; I grew up in the late 1930’s and all of the 1940’s in Montana where wine drinkers usually had theirs in a paper sacked bottle sitting on the curb. Sometimes they napped in the gutter where passing cars would splash water and even slush depending on the season over their prostate forms. The smell of muscatel and vomit still does not let me even think of taking drink from any of the muscat varieties. I remember the shiny faces of the fallen, clutching their $.25 bottles of wine.
Given all of my mischegoss the Wenzel is a great wine and was a terrific addition to our table; I would clearly use it again.