Wine Region: Burgenland

(2005) This pale gold Sekt has plenty of tiny bubbles rising in a steady stream across the glass. On the nose it is very musky and deep, with toasty, honeyed notes and a deep caramel character. There is good, peachy fruit and a hint of exotic flowers. On the palate the mousse is quite short-lived, but this is brimming with toasty flavours of biscuit and honeyed, ripe but crisp pear and apple. There's a great thrust of lemony acidity that really sharpens the finish in a very plush, hedonistic style of sparkling wine. I have to say I liked this a lot: very distinctive.

(2005) >From Terraced vineyards on a granite soil, this GruV has a very pale yellow colour and a nose that is quite intensely mineral, with a steely white fruit quality. It is very reserved, but composed. On the palate this is bone-dry, though there is an immediately creamy texture. The palate is has cool, crisp pear and citrus flavours that are all very tight and grippy, with a powerful thrust of mineral, almost salty acidity. Long and very sharply focused, this wine is structured and beautifully pure, but really does need food to overcome a rather severe character.

(2005) Another from Burgenland, this is a big-scaled Pinot Gris at 14.5% ABV, aged in all new French oak barriques. A very pale gold colour, it has a wonderfully honeyed, nutty nose with little notes of Jack Daniels and toast. There's a big core of white fruit, that is almost minty in its intensity. On the palate it is powerfully oaky, with a sweep of toasty, buttery character shot-through with zesty lime and ripe, sweet pear and apple fruit. This has terrific drama and concentration, with loads going on in the glass, and a big, buttery finish that is given a real edge by mineral acidity.

(2005) A blend of Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris, this TbA has a light- to medium-gold colour and a lovely, delicate nose of gently honeyed, buttery, almost mint humbug aromas with very elegant notes of leaf tea and gentle peach fruit. On the palate it is thick-textured and very luscious, and that melting honey character coats the tongue. This is very sweet and very opulent, with a lemony fruit quality that is swaddled in the sweet, barley sugar and slightly nutty, honeyed qualities. Lovely balance though, with just enough acidity to withstand the onslaught, in a very long and very impressive wine.

(2005) With a striking 15.5% alcohol, this Burgenland wine is Botrytised, and though the varieties are not listed, I see the winery has Pinot Gris and Riesling as its main plantings. It has a gold colour with a hint of amber. It has a powerful Botrytis nose, with a great depth of honey and caramel, and notes of quince and fig. There's an Oxford marmalade quality too. On the palate this is thick-textured and sweetly oily, with a little herbal edge to bold, rich, toasty and buttery fruit that has plenty of figgy richness. The acidity here is quite mineral, and along with a powerful edge of alcohol, adds a very firm backbone to the wine. Not nearly so sophisticated as the wine from Heidi Schröck, but very good value for this complexity.

(2005) The contemporary, minimalist packaging of these wines from Weingut Fischer sets the scene for the modern wines within. The Gradenthal is a blend of 85% Zweigelt, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Merlot, is a wine that has won national and international awards. The colour is a dark, vivid crimson, and the nose has a beautifully delineated core of ripe blackcurrant fruit, infused with a cedary background of spicy oak. There are little exotic hints of sandalwood and cinnamon. The palate is medium-bodied, with a cool, classy edge to the sweet blackcurrant fruit. There's a brightness about this, and though that spicy and cedary oak makes its presence felt on the mid-palate, the core of fruit is solid and pushes through into the dry finish, where smooth tannins and acids keep the wine poised.

(2005) Very deep, vibrant crimson with a little ruby warmth. The nose is very smooth, classy and cedary, filled with sweet scents of cassis and black cherry, and a pencil-shavings refinement. On the palate this is immediately drying through dusty, fine, but very noticeable tannic structure. The fruit is concentrated and deep-set, with black plum and blackcurrant, and lots of bittersweet plum skin and dark chocolate. The acidity adds a nicely sour cherry grip, as the finish fills with more of that toasty and cedary oak character. Very fine indeed, this is "internationally styled" but is a terrific Bordeaux look-alike with a slick of New World extra ripeness.

(2000) Deep gold colour, and a nose that is slightly sherried, with mineral and white fruits and again a herbal nuance. On the palate it is very intense and ripe (13% alcohol) with plenty of citrus fruit and acidity, full body and good length.

(1999) Opitz is regarded as one of the World's great dessert wine makers, but although delicious, this wasn't the most convincing of his wines. The colour is a medium-deep, burnished gold. The nose has a beguiling bouquet of honey, marmalade orange, apricot and cloves. On the palate it is quite full, dense and luscious with more sweet, honeyed tangerine and orange fruit. The finish shows good length and purity of fruit, but there's a streak of slightly bitter, pithy acidity that dominates.

(1999) Lovely golden yellow colour and a beautifully nutty botrytis nose. Rich peachy fruit on the palate, medium body, but great length and staying balanced and poised.