Mac Forbes: Off-Piste Austria

“Excellent winery able to produce wine of high to very high quality, knocking on the door of a five-star rating.” James Halliday, 2011 Australian Wine Companion.
 
As Mac's Blaufränkisch vines in Wesburn, Upper Yarra, and his Grüner in Strathbogie grow tantalisingly closer to bearing fruit, we welcome the latest cache of his Austrian-reared examples. Both wines come from the fantastic European vintage of 2010. Both the extroverted Grüner and the super juicy Blau, a genuine contender for the one-bottle-is-never-enough award, are, as you would expect from this vintage and this producer, first-rate examples of their variety and region. Both wines are sprightly, textured and long, and offer exciting off-piste drinking.
Mac sources his fruit from the Carnuntum zone stretching from Vienna in the west to the border of the Slovak Republic in the east. The vineyards are primarily spread out over three prime hilltops and lie south of the climate-moderating Danube River. More specifically, Mac sources his fruit from one of the oldest sites, the Spitzberg, a beautiful, sloping... read more