Austrian indigenous grape: Zierfandler

The Thermenregion stretches southwest from Vienna and includes the spa towns of Bad Vöslau and Baden.

Its most famous wine village is Gumpoldskirchen, which used to produce rich and long-lived wines, often with considerable sweetness, but the style has fallen out of fashion, though such wines can still be found.

Its main local white varieties are Zierfandler and Rotgipfler, both names something of a mouthful for English- and non-English speaking wine enthusiasts.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for five Zierfandler wines worth seeking out

Nonetheless, they are both of considerable interest and deserve to be better known – a separate article on Rotgipfler will follow.

Although indigenous to the region, the varieties could hardly be more different. Zierfandler is late-ripening and has high acidity, giving it a Riesling-like structure and considerable longevity.

Rotgipfler, in contrast, ripens earlier, and its flavour profile is packed with hints of tropical fruit, while its plump texture is totally unlike the rapier-like Zierfandler.

Both varieties have their partisans, and I’m an enthusiast for the racy Zierfandler over the fatter, more opulent Rotgipfler.

However, there is no need to choose, as the Gumpoldskirchen tradition was to blend the two, the acidity of the former cutting the plumpness of the latter. Naturally, to confuse consumers even more, Zierfandler, when blended, is usually known as Spätrot, giving a wine called Spätrot-Rotgipfler.

It’s still produced – there are good examples from Reinisch and Stift Klosterneuburg – but the trend for some time has been to make monovarietal wines. Despite the frequent sweetness of much Rotgifler, Zierfandler is no slouch in the sweetness stakes, and in certain years can produce TBAs of searing purity and freshness.

Zierfandler is not that easy to grow. Picked too early, and the acidity can be aggressive; overcropped, and it can be neutral. It also benefits from bottle age. Reticent in its youth, Zierfandler can be tense and rigid before opening up after a few years to show great complexity.

It’s not just the nomenclature that prevents these wines from being better known. The surface planted with both is small, so production and distribution are limited. Also, the Thermenregion is well stocked with Heurigen (wine taverns) so much of the wines are consumed by thirsty locals or Viennese on a day trip. Fortunately, the wines that find their way into bottle tend to be of superior quality.

Zierfandler is likely to remain a niche wine, and Spätrot-Rotgipfler even more so. Distribution outside Austria, even outside the region, remains limited, although the wines do have an ardent, if limited, following. That does not mean they are not worth seeking out. Zierfandler will appeal to those with relatively classic tastes when it comes to flavour and structure in white wines (although Heinrich Hartl does produce an intriguing ‘orange’ wine from the grape); Rotgipfler and the blends offer an exoticism reminiscent of a very ripe Pinot Gris from Alsace. It’s tempting to cling to the tried and tested – and in Austria that usually means Grüner Veltliner – but it can be more rewarding to stray in the direction of local specialities.

See tasting notes and scores for five Zierfandler wines worth seeking out

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