Store
Stift Klosterneuburg Escorial
Year
2009
2009
Varietal
St Laurent
St Laurent
Style
Smooth
Smooth
Origin
Austria
Austria
Pairing
Poultry
Poultry
$30.00 $25.50 per bottle
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Origin
Twenty minutes north of Vienna sits the majestic, 900-year-old monastery of Stift Klosterneuburg. Currently home to 50 Augustinian monks from around the world, it was founded as a collegiate church by the Margrave Leopold III in 1114 and has run continuously, except for a brief period during the Nazi regime. Today, it is an awe-inspiring cultural center, and it remains Austria’s oldest and largest winery. Klosterneuburg is also a pioneer in sustainability and climate protection, and one of Europe’s first carbon-neutral wineries.
Pairings
Ripe but dry, this medium-bodied wine is vaguely reminiscent of a very big Burgundy. From a food-pairing standpoint, it can do most of the things that a ripe, fully extracted Pinot Noir (or more elegant Syrah) can, but with added heft and a wild herbal quality. Because of its slightly leafy, green character, it is an excellent accompaniment to dishes that feature herbs or herbal marinades. Particularly fine pairing partners include thyme, rosemary, marjoram and sage, especially when they are incorporated with lighter meats such as veal, pork, feathered game and poultry.
Serve at cool room temperature (62°F).
Decant one hour before serving.
Winemaker
The better part of a millennium ago, canons first penned the business plan establishing winery operations as an ongoing means of financing the abbey. Now, more than nine centuries later, Stift Klosterneuburg still produces wines from its 260 acres of vineyard land scattered across southern Austria. In addition to estate holdings in Klosterneuburg, the monastery also owns vineyards in viticultural regions of Vienna, Gumpoldskirchen and Tattendorf, each contributing its own unique characteristics to the finished wines.
The Wine
Approaching Stift Klosterneuburg by car, visitors are welcomed by road signs that say “Wo sich Himmel und Erde Begegnen” or in English, “Where Heaven and Earth Meet.” Those words are also an apt description for the wines the monastery produces. Klosterneuburg’s 2007 Escorial, a blend of St. Laurent (65 percent), Cabernet Sauvignon (20 percent) and Merlot (15 percent), is true to its cool-climate heritage. Rising up from the glass, heavenly aromas and flavors of red currant, black cherry and raspberry are heightened by more earthly delights like green tea, underbrush, white pepper and dried sage. The wine is bright and fresh with well-focused intensity.
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