Austrian labels emerge on trendy menus

While Italy, France and Germany dominate the production of wine in Europe, other countries offer some fine values.

Perhaps the fastest rising of these smaller counties in the past few years has been Austria.

In the past, Austria has been known for its late-harvest white wines, but the past 10 years have produced dry whites that have been getting critical acclaim.

Austria's signature grape is gruner veltliner, a wine that can be rich in taste and satisfying with food. Most of the world's gruner veltliner is grown in Austria, and it is an everyday table wine there.

The grape is now popular by the glass in many of America's larger cities.

Gruner veltliner wine is made in a range of styles, but typically is medium to full-bodied with an acidity that leads to a crispness. It is a good companion to food, from traditional white wine matches such as fish and chicken and even pork.

The wine tends to have a multitude of flavors, ranging from spice to pleasant vegetables to honey, apricots and apples.

I asked the wine-tasting group to compare five gruner veltliner wines in a wide range of prices. Here is what we found:

- 2002 Lois Gruner Veltliner at $12.99. This wine tasted of green apples and was nicely crisp. It had lots of acidity -- teeth cleaning acidity -- and it was crisp all the way down the throat. It finished third.

- 2002 Allram Gruner Veltliner at $11.99. This wine had a more golden color. It had an aroma of sour fruit and minerals. It was hot in the mouth from the alcohol content, but it was clean and crisp, a good food wine. The Allram finished second.

- 2001 Prager Hinter Der Burg Gruner Veltliner at $22.99. This wine had the darkest color of the five. The aroma reminded us of dried apricots, olives, mushrooms, green peas and beans. The wine was spicy with pepper in the palate. This wine had a nice, mouth-watering quality about it. It ranked first in our tasting.

- 2000 Pfaffl Gruner Veltliner at $20.99. The bottle brought to our tasting was bad. One of my group members sent in these tasting notes: "In noting the differences between gruner veltliner and Riesling, (wine writer) Hugh Johnson said that to "compare it with Riesling is like comparing a wild flower with a finely bred garden variety in which scent, color, size, and form have been studied and improved for many years." This wine offers an herbal note and would make an ideal companion to herb-accented pork or poultry dishes."

- 2003 Kaiser Hymne Gruner Veltliner at $9.99. This wine offered honeysuckle and violet aromas. The honey taste continued in the mouth, along with sweet fruit. This was a more simple wine than the others we tasted. You might follow these recommendations for an Austrian wine or try a wine-by-the-glass if you see it offered at a restaurant. It is trendy in many parts of the country.

Surfing the wine shelves:

- 2003 Frog's Leap Sauvignon Blanc at $16.50. The aroma had a nice combination of grass, herbal and floral scents. The acids were big and the finish crisp.

- 2001 Familia Zuccardi Q Tempranillo at $19.99. This traditionally Spanish wine made in Argentina had a complex aroma with lots of jammy black fruits, tobacco, coffee and oak. The spiciness came out on the palate. The wine gave a slight impression of sweetness from the ripe fruit taste.

- 2000 Napa Ridge Winery Cabernet Sauvignon at $12. This is great buy at this price. The wine showed ripe, dark fruit and good structure that one would expect in a wine costing much more. This would be a good party food red wine.

Questions can be sent to Frank Sutherland, editor, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 or e-mailed to editor