Gerhard Pittnauer Fuchsenfeld Pinot Noir 2005 (sommelier's recommendation)

I've rarely been disappointed with sommeliers' recommendations at restaurants. Occasionally, I do dispense with asking the sommelier about the wine, as I feel that sommeliers are under pressure to sell wine, and depending on the restaurant, I would end up paying more than I would want. When I do consult the sommelier, it's because I feel that the food is pretty good and it would be a waste of money to pair the food with less good a wine than it deserves.

With that in mind, I asked the sommelier at Gidleigh Park to recommend a red wine to go with our meal. He was Eastern European, Czech, I believe, and he asked if we would like to try a Pinot Noir. I agreed, and he narrowed down the choice to a New Zealand Pinot and an Austrian Pinot. Intrigued by the idea of Austrian red wine, I chose it. The adjacent image (from weinwerk-burgenland.at) shows a wine from the same winery, but not the wine itself. The bottle looked a lot like this one though, and the label is exactly the same save for the name of the wine.

Gerhard Pittnauer Fuchsenfeld Pinot Noir 2005
Red wine
Austria (Neusiedlersee, Burgenland)
Pinot Noir

Nose: Clotted cream, grape spirit, strawberry, oak.
Mouthfeel: Syrupy and smooth
Tasting: Tannic, faint kiwi, oak, sweet cedar wood, astringent. After heavy aerating, the kiwi becomes strawberry and cherries, and the oak becomes much more prominent. Needs to be decanted about half an hour before drinking.

No, the sommelier did not decant it. Which was a shame, because on first impression the wine was a bit too oaky, and tasted almost corky. Corked wine usually doesn't taste of cork (it smells like my socks after a long workout), so I thought twice about sending it back. Thankfully it woke up.

Gerhard and Brigitte Pittnauer (adjacent image shows Gerhard, from wineanorak.com) run a winery in the Austrian region of Burgenland, on the Hungarian border, on the shores of the Neusiedlersee. Reds (made from St Laurent, Blaufrankisch and Pinot Noir), aren't their only product, as they make Austrian whites with the local Gruner Veltliner varietal, as well as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. They have 16 hectares under cultivation, with an annual production of 60,000 bottles.

The Pittnauers are members of a society called Pannobile, based in Neusiedlersee. Members each make a wine called Pannobile, using a lot of St Laurent and Blaufrankisch, with the exact recipe varying from member to member. Now that would be an interesting tasting...

Anyway, this wine was a reminder that not all sommeliers are created equal. This wine should really have been decanted prior to drinking - something that is difficult to sell in a restaurant, but in a place with 2 Michelin stars, I would happily have waited.