Europe and the wine cultures that permeate it are forever a discovery and fun.

And thanks for the kind words about my post. Discovering, traveling and writing about wine is one of those things I really enjoy. Will continue forever I'm sure.

Stay in touch.

I was once on a multi-week consulting gig in a small city (Besancon) in Eastern France (score!). After a particularly longish lunch with many bottles of very satisfying red consumed in the company of workmates in a crowded local restaurant, I asked, “Why don't we hear about the wines grown in this region?” The reply, “look around you Ron, we drink it ALL right here.”

If you want to point me to a few of the late harvest noble wines with a link, I'll check them out. I've already stopped by my local wine shop to talk.

BTW–surfed over to your blog. Well done! My business is working with ecommerce companies finding the intersection of commerce and community so you might enjoy some of the technology posts I write @ http://arnoldwaldstein.com.

great blog – really enjoyed it!! The only wines I am missing here are Austria's gold drops – the exquisite late harvest noble wines. We did not get to taste a whole lot of them – but I really enjoyed their elegance and concentration of flavours. Looking forward to reading the next part of the story!

I hold you somewhat responsible, or at least a contributor, to my passion for wine. I thank you for that!

This trip was an eye opener for me. But honestly, the more I travel and taste new wines, the more I realize what i don't know. I really do love wine and the culture and community that surrounds it.

I know that you are a list maker and it you'd like, do share your favorite Austrian wines. Probably on the companion post on 'Notes and recommendations (Part 2)” is the place to put it if you are so inspired.

Great to hear from you.

The last few bottles I had in my stash were seemingly over the hill, but this bottle was good. Perhaps I should have held off until now. Started off dry, with a bit of saline, but as it opened up, a honeyed note appeared with some fruit and heft emerging as it warmed up. It was nice.

Loved your blog…thanks for sharing.

Austria by wine immersion worked for me;) I'm a believer in the story and passion behind the bottle and I found that just about everywhere I turned in Austria. Combine a passion for taste and a crisp and mineral Gruner and you've got me.

Thnx for the comment.

Honestly Austria was an eye opener for me. Loved Vienna, especially the art museums (Leopold and Albertina) and wine bar culture.

Yes, I did approached the EWBC in Austria with a real Central and Southern Europe bias for red wines and mostly organic. I came away a convert;)

The Austrian passion for their wine and the depth of the wine culture were palpable. The crisp fruit of the Gruner and the nich wonderful reds got me going. I hope that came out in the post.

I'm talking to my local shop today about increasing their imports of organic from Austria today.

Italy next year…for certain. Virginia…I'm considering.

Thanks again for fostering this community. I felt part of it.

Don't forget the superb dessert wines from around the Neusidlersee.

And Styria is definitely worth a look for bracing, zingy whites.

Read my review of Austrian wines here:

http://cambridgewineblogger.blogspot.com/2009/07/dont-mention-glycol-why-austria.html