A blue-blooded red

Matthew Jukes tips a bargain Austrian red with a royal heritage.

Matthew Jukes
By
published
in Features

2011 Esterhzy, Estoras, Burgenland, Austria (£9.95, From Vineyards Direct, 020-7549 7900, www.fromvineyardsdirect.com).

This week's red wine is distinctly blue-blooded and, on the basis of three wines tasted recently, I have a feeling that the Esterhzy estate is teetering on the edge of superstardom.

The Esterhzys, who employed Haydn for 30 years as court composer, have been making wine since the early 18th century. According to the history books, both Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Goethe were especially fond of their wines and Haydn enjoyed them so much that he asked for his salary to be partly paid in wine (he was always one of my favourite composers and now I know why).

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

The labels of the Estoras wines depict the Golden Fleece, the highest chivalric order of the Burgundian kings and Habsburg emperors. I was particularly taken with the 2011 Grner Veltliner (£11.85), with its pinpoint citrus and white-pepper nose and sleek, sultry palate.

My chosen red is a remarkable wine made from blaufrnkisch, cabernet and merlot. The crunch of acidity which underpins this violet and blueberry-scented wine is thrilling.

I have a feeling that, with the sub-tenner price, the wine is not going to hang around on the shelves for long, so get on the phone presto!

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (www.matthewjukes.com).

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

Latest