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Wine of the Week

Austrian-Portuguese marriage

Back in England for the Real Wine fair. This time I started in Brighton, and I visited the Ten Green Bottles wine bar and restaurant, that recently celebrated 10 years of existence. They started as a supplier of artisan wines to bigger establishments, some famous restaurants like the Fat Duck, but they had a dream to set up a cosy Italian style enoteca. Now this ambitious wine bar can be found in downtown Brighton just off North Rd.

ten green bottles brighton

It was here that I tasted this Carnuntum blaufränkisch, an Austrian-Portuguese collaboration. The people behind the wine is the formerly married couple Dorli Muhr and Dirk van der Niepoort, the latter well-known for port wine and for various table wine projects, in Portugal and elsewhere. They have great help from South African Craig Hawkins (formerly with Eben Sadie, now with his own project in the Swartland), who stays at the winery three months every year. In fact, only two days later I met -well, not only Sam from the Ten Green Bottles- but Craig himself at the Real Wine fair, presenting and pouring his own wines.

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Craig Hawkins, consultant in oenology

Carnuntum is a small wine region east of Vienna, rich in limestone, planted by the Romans, but neglected and forgotten untill quite recently. It’s here we find the Muhr family property. Dorli and Dirk also make an old vine blaufränkisch, but the Carnuntum is sourced from younger plants. The grapes are partly foot-trodden, with some stems, the grapes are not treated with any sulphur, and no cultured yeasts are used. The maceration is very light, no pumping over – and the wine is kept in big barrels for two years before bottling.

carnuntum

Carnuntum 2011 (Muhr-van der Niepoort)

Dark red. Quite flowery with red berries (like mature cherries), some woodland notes too, mushroom. Velvety tannins, grapey and juicy with a nice acidic touch. Refined, sophisticated.

Price: Medium

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