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Austria: Odd Bottles

Once more growing in reputation, Austria is making waves with Gruner Veltliner and Riesling as well as sweet wines and even some reds. Click to locate stockists.

Loimer Riesling 2002: Mid-gold with a green tinge. Beautifully crisp floral nose, with little touches of honey and oatmeal richness. Lovely weight on the palate, full and creamy, but vibrant and fresh. Mineral notes, citrus peel and acacia. This is deliciously balanced stuff. Very good. 16.5/20 (September 2004)

Weingut Stadt Krems Gruner Veltliner 2003: Gruner Veltliner is Austria's secret weapon, a grape variety which can hold its own on the world stage. This example has a very pale colour, and a clean, captivating, vibrant nose of pear fruit, with a tropical and stone edge, and elements of sweet, floral, Honeysuckle notes too. Although initially rather subtle, the palate shows medium body and is very flavoursome and grippy. Behind the pear and stone fruit there is a good acidity and plenty of spice and pepper character, a hallmark of this variety. This would make lovely drinking for the coming months. 15.5/20 (March 2004)

Lenz Moser 'Grande Année' Beerenauslese 1999: Some gentle honeyed botrytis on the nose, playing second fiddle to rich pineapple fruit, crème caramel and lemon meringue. A rich, oily, flabby texture on the palate with an unbalanced, soft acidity. Good tropical fruit flavours, with more citrussy blood orange nuances on the finish, leading into a superb length. Leaving it open for a few days it developed some Madeira-like notes of oxidation, which actually gave it more bite and structure. 14/20 (May 2001)

Lenz Moser 'Grande Année' Beerenauslese 1998: A pale yellow colour belies the fact that this is a rich and unctuous wine. The nose carries fresh honey and nut aromas, with just a hint of raisin in the background. The palate has an unctuous feel, with a very attractive weight on the palate. Lots of honeyed fruit, with a borderline low acidity, and a very clean finish. Nice length. Good, despite the slightly insufficient acidity. 15/20 (November 2000)

Willi Opitz Goldackerl Beerenauslese 2000: Rich golden hue. Some tropical fruits and good botrytis on the nose. Sweet, a touch unctuous on the palate, with acidity sufficient but on the low side. No great complexity at present, but very enjoyable. Tasted at 60 Hope Street, Liverpool. 15.5/20 (June 2003)