When I first entered the wine business in 1996, I knew nothing of Austrian wines. I was a sponge at the time - having obsessed over MFK Fisher's writings about France, but my interest was focused on the countries I knew through their cuisine and in which I had travelled. I spent the summer of 1993 living and working in France, and felt the gravitational pull of Burgundy, the Loire and the Rhone Valley. This was motivated by an affinity for the cuisine as well as the culture, and the paltry knowledge I had for wine of these regions.
I discovered what little I know of Italy through learning something about the wines. I think that a familiarity with Italian wines is a languid and indulgent pursuit, but an expertise and authority takes a lifetime and a certain forgiveness that I may not actually yet have acquired. Because so much wine is produced in Italy, one encounters such varied qualities that the mental equivalent mining sieve sometimes comes to mind as the necessary tool. But analysis aside, a knowledge and familiarity of a wide range of grape varietals, regional differences and wine laws is certainly called for when one explores the world of Italian wine.
I was introduced to Spain in 2002. Spanish wine to me encompasses all that is great and inspiring about regional and traditional wine culture and also a dose of the corrupt and venal pursuit of easy money and facile flavors. I still enjoy most Spanish wines when I taste them and approach with great interest some of the newly recovered traditions and varietals.
South America offers the interested a picture of abundance - of land, of resources, of potential, of endeavor and will. Not all wines have yet taken advantage of that and perhaps it could be said that a little stress might help the winemakers develop singular and unique traditions for their regions. It is clear however that in Chile and Argentina the potential for making great wines for the common table is still developing.
So all of this is a roundabout and incomplete story that I intend only to frame the "why" in why I have focused my professional life on the wines of Austria. I first travelled with Seth Allen to Austria in the late winter of 2003. Perhaps it was kismit - a turning point in my life in many ways. I was newly pregnant and considering the potential of life and assessing my place in the world as more than just an individual. The trip was intimidating and fascinating at the same time. The wines were intellectually challenging yet the people were warm and genuine. There is a reserve in the culture that resonates with me, and yet also an openness to the outside and visitors that has always made Austria a destination for those seeking art, music, philosophy, etc.
Through good fortune and determination, I have spent the years since that trip travelling back to Austria to taste and talk with the vintners there, and to bring colleagues and guests on trips through their villages and vineyards. I have presented the wines of Austria to American buyers and consumers and I have been gratified and driven on by their genuine appreciation for the wines. It has been the professional privilege of my career to date.
I ask myself constantly why I find the wines so interesting and satisfying. Perhaps it may be that the lack of a clear and succinct answer is in itself the answer. That these group of wines and vintners defy simple explanation or packaging is what drives me back again and again to taste the same vineyards with a new set of eyes each time, adding another layer to my comprehension.
So it is in this format that I hope to document that continuing discussion and exploration. Stories, tastings and musings to follow....
I am forever a velt ... leaner.
Erin
