Austria’s Traisental
Wine regions are threaded along the Danube, one after another, like a string of Chanel pearls. Wagram, Kamptal, Kremstal, Wachau. And Traisental — the only…
Volume 11, Back in Time
May 2022
Dear readers,
Without quite intending it, we find ourselves with a particularly food-focused collection in this volume. And we’re delighted. Because if there is one thing that’s too long been missing from the conversation about German-speaking wines, it’s the foods that go with them.
New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov made this point when we spoke with him for TRINK Talks. We’re not sure raw-pork hedgehogs were what he had in mind, but that’s what Paula dishes up in her witty study of a German party classic. A counterintuitive wine and cheese musing from German culinary historian Ursula Heinzelmann might be more like it. And most definitely on target is Bart de Vries’ profile of an Amsterdam restaurant that spotlights German wines as the ideal foil for contemporary European cuisine. It all goes to Heinzelmann’s point that “Germans do not live exclusively on Oktoberfest fare.”
Beyond these stories, we offer a critical look at a German wine tradition we consider ripe for rethinking. There’s a serious dive into the deepening soul of Blaufränkisch. A microstudy of Austria’s Traisental. A vertical view into Alto-Adige’s Vorberg. And an introduction to one of the hottest topics in German wine in Germany: historic grape varieties.
There’s also a brand-new addition to our LEARN section — arguing that Franken is Germany’s most underrated region — brought to you with the generous support of P.J. Valckenberg, amplifiers of German wines.
But before you dig in, we want to thank the ever-growing number of Patreons and partners who are making our conversation-changing content possible! We’re tremendously grateful and immensely proud.
Finally, the next few weeks are packed with exciting umlaut wine events. We’d love to connect with you in Eltville am Rhein, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, Styria, Vienna — or anywhere in between. Drop us a line at [email protected] if you’ll be there to
let us know!
Eure
Valerie Kathawala, New York City
Paula Redes Sidore, Bad Honnef
