St. Laurent is famous in the fashion sector and niche esoteric in the
wine world. The designs from Yves St. Laurent shouldn't be dissected
in a wine blog. St. Laurent the red grape grown in Austria, primarily
in the Neusiedlersee region, deserves attention and a bit of
explanation...

While I love Austrian Gruner Veltliner and Riesling, and
savvy sommeliers are constantly singing their praises for good reason,
St. Laurent is the underdog varietal deserving equal attention.

Logistics first: Austrians pronounce St. Laurent the grape as sanckt
law-REHNT. Notice the hard sanckt pronunciation which differs
from how you?d expect to pronounce Saint in French.

The St. Laurent grape yields wines with the weight of Pinot Noir
touched with a smoky, animally characteristic sort of like what you'd
find in Mourvedre from a good producer in Bandol. Domaine Tempier
comes to mind. Yet don't make comparisons to Pinotage, South Africa's
hybrid of Pinot Noir and Carignan, as St. Laurent is more refined, and
lighter in body with bright acidity and detailed minerality. It's a
good pairing for venison, pheasant or wild duck cooked with
traditional piney seasonings like juniper berry or rosemary.

Pepe Umathum (pronounced oom-uh-toom) is the pioneering and most
sought after producer of St. Laurent. His Von Stein bottling
intrigued me in 1997 when I started working in the cellars at Windows
on the World restaurant, where Kevin Zraly, the founding Wine Director
placed it on his legendary list. It's a wine I often hand sold to
guests, particularly during the fall and winter, and it was one of
those wine suggestions that often lead to guests asking me for the
label to take home, or to write down the name of the wine so that they
could buy it at their local shop. I had to always explain that they
weren't likely to find it in a wine shop and that they'd just have to
please make another trip to the 107th floor of the World Trade Center
to enjoy the Umathum St. Laurent.

Fast forward to November 2001 to Austria where I was visiting the
Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, Neusiedlersee and Styria.

The Austrian Wine Marketing Bureau arranged for me to attend a dinner
at restaurant Mythos, with a focus on multiple vintages of St. Laurent
going back to 1979 from the best producers, paired with local dishes.
The dinner was apparently a first for the region as most local and
regional press were invited and palpably excited about the first ever
aspect of the event. I was one of only two non-Austrians to attend so
I felt invigorated by being a welcome outsider brought into the St.
Laurent in-the-know. Yes, that sounds like a lofty lead in, but I
want to illustrate that it's the only wine dinner I've ever attended
in over a decade that was clearly the first of its kind, esoteric at
its best, highly educational, and invigorating, all at the same time.

Here are some of my notes on the St. Laurent wines we tasted:

1979 Lunzer, Auslese: While the auslese designation is one usually
associated with sweet white wines, this is a late harvest dry red
wine. Yet don't assume that a late harvest dry wine is high in
alcohol as this isn't. Showing a lot of tertiary characteristics like
dried cherry, tobacco and leather with velvety tannins. After a few
minutes in the glass alluring aromas of sweet spices, blood orange
peel and sweet red fruit emerge. Long finish.

1986 Juris: Tasted from double magnum. Boysenberry and wild
raspberry jam with some cinnamon. Darker in color compared to the
others, yet somehow it maintains a delicate mouth feel and a sense of
sweetness. Good medium high acidity. Ages more like a Pinot Noir
compared to the others, meaning it's more elegant and less rustic
without hints of animal notes. A great vintage like 1992. Facts from
the winemaker: post 1986-1987 the winemaker says the style is more
extracted and has more wood aging.

1992 Juris: Definitely a more extracted style compared to all others
tasted this evening. Shows on the nose boysenberry just like the
1986, blackberry and bright red cherry. Balanced despite its
extraction.

1992 Braunstein: Difficult to judge since it didn't seem to show
trademark St-Laurent qualities. Reminded me of a dry vintage Port
wine with a somewhat heavy character. Unusual amounts of sediment
compared to the others.

1992 Pittnauer: Smells of sweet red wild berries with that sense of
sweetness showing on the palate, though technically dry. Medium
acidity and a whiff of braised wild boar. Gamey in a positive way.
Facts from the winemaker: only 4 bottles of 1992 exist in his cellar
and this wine was made on the birth year of his son.

1992 Umathum Von Stein: The absolute star of the dinner, from a
great vintage. Delicate on the first take then exposes itself layer
after layer with each smell and taste. Pure St. Laurent in its
character of wild, untamed forest and game scents well integrated with
ripe dark cherry, bing cherry and savory baking spices. Facts from
the winemaker: Aged in 2,000 liter Austrian oak casks. The wood
used to make the casks is harvested at midnight when the tree contains
the most water.

1995 Krauscher: Very close in style to the Pittnauer. Beautiful
sweetness but also that touch of animal funk. The funk is a bit
strong and out of balance, and didn?t dissipate with aeration.

1996 Pittnauer: Seemingly younger than five years with its bright,
primary cherry and bright red/black berry fruit. Has depth and
elegance. Though the winemaker said that 1996 was a difficult
vintage, this wine is complex and well made. As a sidenote: 1995 was
also not a great vintage for St. Laurent around the Neusiedlersee.

1998 Juris: Bright raspberry fruit with hints of sweet wood. Young
right now with great aging potential. Good extraction yet not
overworked. Exhibits a sort of wild, animally scent and flavor.

1998 Umathum: Good balance of aromatic components with great depth.
Bright red cherry, mineral notes and a hint of thyme. A compelling
wine. Needs age.

1999 Braunstein: A bit reserved on the nose. A silky feminine
texture balanced against refreshing acidity. Would benefit from
aeration and then a slight chill.