Nick Dobson Wines

Winemakers Information Page

Domaine Bernard Santé, La Chapelle de Guinchay

Bernard Santé Juliénas Picture

The Process

Vincent Lacondemine, Beaujeu

Domaine Des Arbins, Vaux-en-Beaujolais

Jean Bererd & Fils Domaine de La Madone, Le Perréon

Jean-Marc and Maryse Despres, Domaine de La Madone, Fleurie

La Madone - The Domaine

La Madone - The Wines

Alfred Gino Bertolla & Franck Bessone, Domaine du Granit, La Rochelle, Chénas

Alfred Gino Bertolla & his son-in-law Franck Bessone of Domaine du Granit make some of the very best Moulin-à-Vent you will ever taste. Gino Bertolla is currently working towards his retirement, and Franck is gradually in the process of taking over the running of both estates, although Gino Bertolla is still quite hands-on. Not only gifted winemakers, they are also fortunate enough to own some of the finest parcels of vines in the appellation - including many extremely old vines - some 100+ years old, which were producing wine before the outbreak of the First World War, when Britain still had a decent empire.

They are amazing ancient examples, producing tiny quantities of grapes with huge concentration of flavours and pigment. The vineyards are located on a windswept hillside with soils of decomposed pink granite, high above the famous eponymous windmill. This can indeed seem a bleak place in winter, when the bare gnarled vines under leaden skies give little hint as to what these extraordinary plants are capable of producing. The slightly cooler temperatures due to a higher elevation, the shallow and very rocky granitic soil, and the age of the vines all explain the austerity of the wines in their youth, with strong mineral character and great aging potential.

The wines are rich, dark, heady and perfumed - a very Burgundian style of Gamay, not really comparable with other Beaujolais Crus. The reason stems from the soil - Moulin-à-Vent has very unique decomposed pink granite topsoil over varying concentrations of manganese. Vines don't particularly like this, and drive their roots deep to work hard to produce fruit - and in doing so bring all those minerals to it. Soil types such as these give places like Hermitage, Côte-Rôtie, and Cornas their highly mineral quality, and Bertolla's Gamay seems to have many of the characteristics normally associated with Syrah grown in these tricky spots, whilst still maintaining the black cherry Burgundian qualities.

In the cellar Bertolla adopts a minimalist approach, working simply with natural yeasts, long maceration, slow fermentation, barrel-aging, and bottling without filtration. The resulting range of wines bears little resemblance to the fresh fruity specimens for which Gamay is famous. Somewhat grander in style altogether, these are how old-time great Gamay can taste. They can be a little austere when young (less so the Cuvée Tradition), ideally needing some bottle age; they age beautifully, like fine Burgundies. They are perhaps best classified as halfway between the style of a heavier Beaujolais Cru and a Burgundy. To drink one of these Moulins is to experience a fabulous expression of the soil, a man's dedication, and complexity you would never have thought possible from a Beaujolais.

Domaine du Granit was created in 1974, when Alfred and his wife, née Colette Mazoyer, succeeded her father, Lucien Mazoyer. Her grandfather Claude had acquired some vineyards in the hamlet of La Rochelle in 1918, 6 years before the creation of the Moulin-à-Vent appellation.

Domaine Champagnon, Les Brureaux, near Chénas

Champagnon - The Wines

Chateau Thivin, Claude Geoffray, Odenas

Domaine Fernand Gravallon, Vermont, near Villié-Morgon

Gravallon - The Domaine

Gravallon - The Wines

Domaine des Chazelles and Domaine Sainte Barbe

Chazelles - The Wines

Burgondia d'Or

Domaine Daniel Pollier, Fuissé

Maison Albert Sounit

Sounit Cellars

Sounit Cellars (Remuage)

Sounit from above

Dinstlgut Loiben

Dinstlgut Loiben The Dinstlgut Loiben is the smaller of two co-operatives in the Wachau, the larger one being Freie Weingärtner Wachau. The Dinstlgut is also the only co-operative we deal with in any of the regions that we represent, and we do so happily because we know that the quality of the product is excellent. The Dinstlgut has a range of wines, mainly Riesling and Grüner Veltliner, but with some other varieties also, many produced from optimal primary rock sites around Loiben, the best being Loibenberg, Schütt, and Pfaffenberg. Some late harvest wines, up to Trockenbeerenauslese are also produced in tiny quantities.

There is over 1000 years wine history here;  this area was first settled, and vines first grown as far back as 860AD. The Dinstlgut has a magnificent rock cellar - the Felsenkeller - which is 1000 years old. Today this is used as a shop and to host events such as art exhibitions. The historical roots of the Dinstlgut estates go back to the middle ages, when much of the property was owned by the Church, and this lasted until 1830, when Dr. Ferdinand Dinstl took over the property as a family estate, thereby giving it the name Dinstl. The Dinstl line died out a century later however, when childless Hedwig Dinstl died, and the property was taken over by a number of local growers and thus became a co-operative.

Today, the Dinstlgut vinifies grapes from some 230 hectares of vineyards belonging to local growers. The range includes a number of wines from top single vineyard sites, including Loibenberg and Schütt, which are Wachau sites, and Pfaffenberg, which is just over the border in the neighbouring wine district of Kremstal. The Pfaffenberg contribution to the range is notable, however it gives the Dinstlgut marketing disadvantage; as only producers making 100% Wachau wines are entitled to use the Wachau classifications of Steinfeder, Federspiel, and Smaragd, thus preventing The Dinstlgut using this classification even for its best single-vineyard Wachau wines. This is compensated for by the Dinstlgut wines offering extremely good value for money.

Elisabeth Altenriederer (pictured left), a trained oenologist who previously looked after sales and marketing, has recently taken over at the helm of the Dinstlgut, and has overseen a number of recent improvements. The whole Dinstlgut team today comprises some 20 staff, and about 300 growers in the region have their grapes vinified here.

Dinstlgut wines have won numerous accolades, including those given by:- The Beverage Testing Institute, Chicago Japan Wine Challange 2003 Gault Millau Guide "Best Of Sweet"/International Wine Challenge 2001    Wine Spectator April 2000 Falstaff Guide 2002/2003 SALON Austrian wine 2000/2001

Weingut Alzinger

Weingut Leo Alzinger, Unterloiben Gentle-natured Leo Alzinger, based in Unterloiben, is without doubt one of the true Wachau superstars. This fine estate makes superlative single vineyard wines from premium mountain sites including Loibenberg, Steinertal, and Liebenberg, with soil types including sandy loam and eroded primary rock. The estate totals about 8 hectares, and production is very small at just 5000 cases per year. Grape varieties are 55% Grüner Veltliner, 40% Riesling, and a tiny 5% parcel of Chardonnay. There are in fact two Leo Alzingers - Father and son - with Leo Junior having joined his Father in 2000, following his viticultural training at Klosterneuberg, and time spent in New Zealand (Marlborough) and in the Pfalz, Germany, notably with Hans-Günter Schwarz of the famed Müller-Catoir estate. Leo Alzinger's wines are simply awesome; they are right up there with the very best the Wachau has to offer, and deserve every bit of attention they can get. The superstar status is well deserved, yet this remains a small family business, embodying individuality and an unceasing quest for quality. We are extremely pleased to have been given the chance to offer Herr Alzinger's wines to the UK market.

Alzinger wines are authoritative and intense, of great purity, and are built for the long haul. The various vineyard sites display somewhat differing characteristics, with the primary rock sites showing pronounced minerality, and the alluvial sites more fruit. Yet they are all stunning. In every recent vintage, Alzinger wines are amongst the best in Austria. Wines from the flagship Loibenberg and Steinertal sites are much in demand; these are extremely scarce, and availability can be problematic.

Despite having tried (and loved) Alzinger wines on occasions in the past, my first serious encounter with the Alzingers themselves was on a bitterly cold day in January 2004, when I visited them as part of my research for the Austrian range. After I made the transition from the freezing streets of Unterloiben to the welcoming warmth of chez Alzinger, Leo Junior conducted a tasting of a dozen or so barrel samples of the 2003 vintage wines (everything else was long gone!) which to a wine were spectacular, despite being so young. For me, the highlight of the tasting was the Loibner Grüner Veltliner Reserve, a stunning wine already very forward and open despite its youth. Alzinger wines of whatever age, and whatever grape variety, are delicious, although can sometimes seem timid in their very early youth. However as they age, they evolve splendidly into wines of immense personality and character. But try finding a mature bottle on sale! One of the problems with the combination of reputation and smallness is that everything - and I do mean everything - sells out so soon, meaning only the newest wines can be bought (and only in tiny quantities, and only then if you are quick). More recently however, the winemaking style has been fine-tuned to make the wines a bit more approachable when young.

Alzinger wines receive numerous accolades; recent ones include:- À la Carte Trophy Gourmet for the best Austrian Weingut 2003 Vinaria Trophy 1999, 2001 and 2003 Wine and Spirits Magazine January 2004 - in a recent tasting in New York, positions 1 and 2 in the top 5 Austrian White Wines were taken by Alzinger wines. (1st - Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2002 Loibner Mühlpoint, 95 points - 2nd - Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Federspiel 2002 Loibner Mühlpoint Grüner Veltliner, 93 points) Gault Millau Gourmetfuehrer 2004 - Weingut Alzinger awarded 3 grapes/clusters (17/20 points), and considered to be amongst the 15 best Wine enterprises in Austria. Stephen Tanzers International Wine Cellar - Top awards for Grüner Veltliner Steinertal 2002, Riesling Smaragd Hollerin 2002, Riesling Smaragd Loibenberg 2002

Weingut Schweighofer

The Schweighofers run a small Domaine (about 4 hectares) in the village of Unterloiben. This is very much a family business, more akin to most of our Beaujolais suppliers than are our other Austrian suppliers. In addition to the winemaking side of the business, there is also a Heurige and comfortable rooms are available to let to tourists. Michael speaks quite good English, and this would be an excellent place to stay on a visit to the region. We have been coming here for many years, and have been unfailingly impressed  with their wines, which offer fantastic value for money.

The Schweighofers run an excellent Heurige, normally open for 5 two-week periods a year. Heurige is the Austrian word for both new vintage wine, and also a traditional form of tavern where it can be drunk. Usually, heurige open only for a few weeks each year, taking their turn with others according to the heurigenkalender - a directory of Heurige and their schedules, usually these are published on a regional basis. In Vienna, the Wachau, and Burgenland, a splendid way to enjoy a summer evening is to spend it drinking the local wines in a Heurige. Traditionally, Heurige signify their being open by hanging pine boughs over the door, and have outdoor seating with tables in an enclosed courtyard, under a grape arbor. Wine is served in glass mugs, and food is often also serve, usually a cold buffet based on ham, cheese, and salds, although sometimes also offering hot roast meats such as chicken and pork. Heurige are popular with tourists and locals alike, and sometimes attract coach parties.

The range of wines offered by the Schweighofers includes classic Austrian whites including Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, and Neuberger, grown on some prime sites around the village. In particular the Schweighofers have holdings on the Loibenberg, and other vineyards including Ried Höhereck and Ried Frauenweingarten. Grape varieties used include Riesling, Grüner Veltliner, and Neuberger.

Weinbau Heidi Schroeck

Heidi Schröck, Freistadt Rust, Burgenland Undoubtedly one of the most prominent female winemakers on today's Austrian wine scene, Heidi Schröck runs the family winery at Rust, on the banks of the Neusiedlersee near the Hungarian border. Here from 8 hectares of vineyards in top sites she crafts a wide range of lovely wines, principally from indigenous Austrian red varieties such as Zweigelt, St. Laurent, and Blaufränkisch, but also including historic white varieties such as Furmint (the Hungarian Tokay grape) and Muscat-Lunel (aka Gelber Muskateller), which hark back to the days of the Austro-Hungarian emprire, plus a few international varieties. In addition to her range of reds and whites, Heidi also is noted for her range of Ruster Ausbruchs. Heidi's rise to fame has included en route a stint as Austrian Wine Queen, time working in Germany and South Africa, and most recently the award of Vintner of the Year by Falstaff magazine, one of Austria's leading wine publications. She teaches at the Austrian Wine Academy headquarters in her home town of Rust, and is a member of "Le Donne del Vino" and the "Cercle Ruster Ausbruch".

Ausbruch is an old term referring to dessert wines with must-weights between Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. These are made possible due to the micro-climate around the Neusiedlersee, with autumn mists enabling Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot, to attack the grapes reliably every year. The Ruster Ausbruch made the town of Rust famous in rhe early middle ages, when it was part of Hungary. Ausbruch disappeared for a while, with the vintage of 1894 being the last in which it was made following decimation of the vineyards by Phylloxera, and the drying-up of the Neusiedlersee between 1865 and 1871, and the ensuing effect on the climate. Prior to this, Furmint was the main grape used for Ausbruch, but when Ausbruch was resurrected in the early years on the 20th century, following replanting of the vineyards, Furmint gave way to the more productive Welschriesling.

Ausbruchs are today made from a variety of grape types. Heidi makes a number of different Ausbruchs, one from a single grape (Furmint) ranging up to another using 5 varieties and several in-between. The variety used may in fact be less important than the terroir, the timing and manner of harvesting, and the subsequent winemaking style. Whereas once, Ausbruchs would have been barrel-aged for up to 10 years, developing a Tokay-like rancio style, this is less common nowadays, and there isn't a great deal of difference anymore between the vinification of Ausbruch from that of BA or TBA., although styles vary considerablky between makers.

y-like, “rancio” character. These days tastes have evolved away from that kind of thing, though I’m told vintners who make Ausbruch are a wild and crazy bunch, and no two of them make their wines precisely the same way. Ausbruch can somehow taste more ancient than BA or TBA, certainly Eiswein. I don’t mean that it tastes like old wine, but rather that it is redolent of antiquity. It is not a wine of polish or sheen; it is a wine of leathery, animal depth. It is a rural wine. The silence of the centuries seems to sit upon it. For a long time there was no Ausbruch—phylloxera effectively wiped if off the face of the wine-world. Now it is revived.

Dinstlgut wines have won numerous accolades, including those given by:- The Beverage Testing Institute, Chicago Japan Wine Challange 2003 Gault Millau Guide "Best Of Sweet"/International Wine Challenge 2001    Wine Spectator April 2000 Falstaff Guide 2002/2003 SALON Austrian wine 2000/2001

Weingut Lagler

Weingut Karl Lagler, Spitz-an-der-Donau The Lagler family has lived on the estate at 10 Rote Torgasse (Red Gate Lane) in the upper part of the town of Spitz, above the Church, for 10 generations - since 1789. For most of this time they have grown grapes and sold them to others for vinification, but at the end of the 1970s they decided to stop selling their grapes to the Freie Weingärtner Wachau Co-operative and instead make their own wine. This was indeed a turning point; today, Karl Lagler produces first class fruit-driven wines from some of the best sites in Spitz, including Steinborz, Tausendeimerberg, and Burgberg. The best Ried is arguably Steinborz, in which Riesling and Grüner Veltliner are grown. Some wines are made from other grape varieties, including Austrian varieties such as Neuberger and Gelber Muskateller, and international varieties including Sauvignon Blanc, of which the Laglers make a truly amazing example. Many of the vines are old, and the low yields and high concentration of flavours, together with natural farming techniques and  quality driven approach to winemaking produce exceptional wines. The estate is currently 9 hectares, about two-thirds of which are terraced sites.

The Laglers also run a Buschenschank in Spitz, where the wines can be sampled by the glass along with meals. They also run the handsome "Weinberghof" hotel, ideally set in the vineyards above Spitz, an ideal base for visitors to the area.

Weingut Jamek

Weingut Josef Jamek,  Joching No account of the Austrian wine industry would be complete without an understanding of the pivotal role that Josef Jamek has played in its development. It was in the 1950s that Jamek was one of a small number of pioneers who launched ranges of dry, non-chaptalised wines with lower alcohol than was typical. Set against a backdrop of sweeter wines, this was revolutionary, but laid the foundation for the way in which winemaking in the Wachau would develop in the following decades. Jamek also inspired the founding of the "Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus" association to regulate and protect the wines of the region.

Josef Jamek is now retired, and has passed the running of the estate to his youngest daughter Jutta and her husband Hans Altmann, whose first vintage was that of 1995.  The estate today covers some 25 hectares, and includes such top sites as Ried Achleiten, Ried Klaus, Ried Pichl and Ried Freiheit, which constitute probably the best collection of privately owned sites anywhere in Austria. Soil types are eroded primary rock, gravel, loess, and gneiss. Annual production is just 8300 cases - which if you do the sums gives an average yield of just under 30 hl/hectare. The principal grape varieties grown here are Riesling (50%), and Grüner Veltliner (30%), but others also grown include Weissburgunder, Chardonnay, Zweigelt, and Pinot Noir.

In addition to the Weingut, the estate also runs a lovely restaurant next to the Danube in Joching, in which regional specialities can be sampled, along with the estate wines by the glass. The restaurant is indeed a very special place - a timeless haven of peace, serenity, and sophisticated elegance, with impeccable service and fine food. Few such places remain in our modern hectic world, and I urge anyone visiting the region to dine there. The restaurant is a pivotal part of the business, and to a great extent its public face. The wines go so well with the food that one has the impression they were made to be drunk there.

The Ried Klaus is the jewel in the crown of the portfolio of Jamek vineyards. Extending on steep slopes overlooking the Danube, it has over 100 stone terraces. If ever there was an Austrian Grand Cru, this is it. Ried Klaus wines have now been bottled for over 40 years. These are wines of great complexity - amazingly profound creations which reflect the terroir perfectly, and which almost transcend the grape variety - although the Riesling expresses it perfectly.