TWO AUSTRIAN WINES

I am just back from a trip to Vienna and therefore full of the joys of Austrian wines. Austria makes some great white wines and increasingly good red wines. As a small country with small producers, it will never produce really cheap wines, but the overall standard is remarkably high. These are two of my all-time favourite Austrian producers.

   Bründlmayer Kamptaler Riesling Terrassen 2013

   €19.95

  Willi Bründlmayer is one of Austria’s greatest winemakers. He produces a string of wines, some very good others brilliant, but always interesting. The Kamptaler Riesling is a wonderful racy wine with lively      refreshing citrus and green fruits and a long dry mineral finish. A perfect aperitif or with all manner of fish, chicken and pork dishes.

Stockists: Greenacres, Wexford www.greenacres.ie

  Moric Blafränksich, Burgenland 2012

€23.99

This is one of my all-time favourite wines, one that I beg people to try before dismissing Austrian red wines. Made from the local Blaufränkisch grape by one the greatest producers in Austria, this is a deliciously    light piquant elegant wine with clean dark cherry and blueberry fruits. Try it with roast pork or chicken.

Stockists: On The Grapevine, Dalkey (www.onthegrapevine.ie); No. 1 Pery Square, Limerick; Market 57, Westport, Mayo; Cabot & Co. Westport, Mayo (www.cabotandco.com); Morton, Galway; McCambridges, Galway.