The wine in my glass tonight is showing beautifully, with only a hint of it’s 9 years on earth with a little orange hue on the edges. The nose is bewildering to start with, there’s this exuberance of red fruits, white pepper, herbs and tar, cola and with a hint of darker fruit if I look for it. Over time, it evolves and for a long time I can’t quite pick it.

On the palate, it is not shy and it is not acid forward but there’s a pleasant tartness to it unlike anything I’ve had in quite some time. Don’t get me wrong, the acid line is strong and clean but it is supporting the glorious fruit, not dominating. It takes some time to unravel that it reminds me of the freshness and thirst quenching ability of a humble pomegranate. With that beautiful ruby red fruits, hint of grip from the pips and vibrant juiciness. It is a stunning wine and it keeps evolving, if only I had another bottle or two…

2012 Weingut Brigitte & Gerhard Pittnauer Rosenberg St. Laurent from Burgenland, Austria. Quite a mouthful of a name, or you can simply say Pittnauer Rosenberg St Laurent.

Producer: Weingut Brigitte & Gerhard Pittnauer (see profile here)

Vineyard: Rosenberg

Region: Burgenland, Austria

Grape: St Laurent – relative of Pinot Noir (see more info here)

What’s the occasion you may ask? Just a casual webinar with some Masters of Wine, discussing the finer points of Austrian wine (you can view the webinar here). The progress they have made from scandals of the 1980s to today’s plethora of boutique, even cult, producers such as Gut Oggau, Pittnauer, Bründlmayer, F.X. Pichler, Tschida and Koppitsch, in no particular order. There’s so much more to Austria these days than Gruner Veltliner and Riesling, the reds from Pinot Noir, Zweigelt, St Laurent, Blaufrankisch, et al to just name a few. Give yourself an excuse, educate your palate and try some Austrian reds, and while you’re at it do the whites too.