What to eat with a Saint-Laurent wine?

Austrian cuisine, aka “Viennese” cuisine, is like a delicious melting pot reflecting the diverse cultural influences that have flavored the Austro-Hungarian Empire over the centuries.

This hearty and flavorful cuisine is rooted in Nordic heritage and is as distinctive as its wines, thanks to the local terroir.

The Austrian kitchen features a vast array of ingredients like Schwammerl (wild mushrooms), white asparagus, artichokes, and root vegetables, as well as game, offal, alpine cheeses, trout, salmon, and white fish from some of the world’s purest lakes.

You’ll find pork (including charcuterie), veal, lamb, and poultry cooked to perfection, whether roasted, braised, boiled, or fried, depending on the recipe. To add a sweet kick to the savory dishes, Austrian chefs spice things up with paprika, cumin, caraway, cinnamon, and nutmeg, a tantalizing reminder of the country’s rich multicultural heritage.

What does Saint-Laurent taste like?

St. Laurent wines are renowned intense flavours, smooth textures and gentle tannins.

The wine has an intense and complex aroma, featuring a blend of roses, violets, cherries, raspberries, cardamom, tar, sweet cigar tobacco, graphite, and bramble.

On the palate, it reveals a balanced and harmonious taste, with flavors of Morello cherry, raspberries, anise, leather, and clay. The wine culminates with rich dark fruit notes and a well-structured, yet smooth finish.

St. Laurent grapes can sometimes impart a peppery character, but the finest examples of this grape variety achieve remarkable complexity with age.

This grape is predominantly cultivated in the Thermenregion and Northern Burgenland.

What to eat with a Saint-Laurent wine?

St. Laurent is not only a delicious wine but also a versatile one that pairs well with a wide variety of both haute cuisine and casual takeout dishes.

For example, it complements the classic flavors of a Margherita pizza or a juicy burger, as well as spicier dishes like chili Verde or Korean-style ribs.

For more exotic flavors, St. Laurent goes well with Peking duck, Vietnamese shaking beef, or baba ghanoush.

For heartier dishes, consider serving it with a steak au poivre, roasted leg of lamb, or lamb shish kebabs.

Other great pairing options include Swedish meatballs, herb-roasted chicken, chicken makhana, salmon with currants, and Catalan bean sausage stew.

And if you’re in the mood for some traditional German fare, try serving it with a Rheinischer Sauerbraten, a blackened pork with apple sauce, or some barbecued beef ribs with caramelized onions. With such a diverse range of options, it’s no wonder that St. Laurent is a favorite among wine enthusiasts and foodies alike.

The difficult task of wine and food pairing

It is important to remember that everyone has a unique sensitivity to flavors and aromas.

For instance, a particular level of bitterness may be more intense for one person compared to another due to varying sensitivity thresholds.

This is not simply a matter of personal preference since some individuals prefer stronger reactions while others do not. Therefore, what may be considered a “perfect” pairing for one person might be unremarkable or even unpleasant for another. It is crucial to consider both personal preferences and sensitivities when selecting food and wine pairings.

Food components can affect the taste of wine, with sweetness and umami tending to make wines more astringent, bitter, and less sweet and fruity, while saltiness and acidity make them more supple, less bitter, and more sweet and fruity.

To illustrate, cooking a raw button mushroom for 30 seconds enhances its umami taste significantly. Generally, food has a greater influence on the taste of wine than the other way around, and this influence is more likely to be negative.

My recommendations for the best Saint-Laurent wines

In the Carnuntum region, Philippe Grassl is renowned for producing top-notch red wines, with the St. Laurent Alte Reben being the best example, thanks to its 1961 vines and excellent 2015 vintage.

Georg Stiegelmar, a Strohwein pioneer in the Neusiedlersee region, has undergone several transformations in his winery since 1995. Although his white wines are not remarkable, the St. Laurent Reserve is consistently delightful, and his renowned “St. Georg” wine, a combination of St. Laurent and Pinot Noir, provides a balanced structure, ample acidity, and a spicy finish.

In Mittelburgenland, Gesellmann’s “Hochäcker” wine, with cherry, blueberry, and marzipan aromas, is delicious and dependable. Gesellmann’s Opus Eximium, a blend of Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt, and St. Laurent aged for 18 months in old barriques, is also worth trying.

Finally, according to Falstaff, Pittnauer and Umathum in Burgenland and Johanneshof Reinisch in the Thermenregion are among the wineries that produce excellent St. Laurent wines.

Saint-Laurent wines can be found in various regions across the world, and some of the best examples are produced in Germany, Slovakia, California (USA), and the Czech Republic.

In Germany, wineries such as Anselmann Edesheimer Ordensgut Trocken, Kuntz Sankt Laurent Trocken, Winzergenossenschaft Herxheim Herxheimer Honigsack Trocken, and Thomas Hensel Aufwind Trocken in Pfalz offer top-notch Saint-Laurent wines.

In Slovakia, Masaryk, LVD Limbach in the Small Carpathian wine region, and Skovajsa in South Slovak produce noteworthy Saint-Laurent wines.

In California, Scribe St. Laurent, Carneros, Cruse Wine Co. Sparkling Petillant Naturel, Carneros, and Forlorn Hope ‘Ost-Intrigen’ Ricci Vineyard Carneros are worth trying.

Finally, in the Czech Republic, Saint-Laurent wines from Z Czech in Moravia and Habanske Sklepy Svatovavrinecke are highly regarded.

Conclusion: What to eat with a Saint-Laurent wine?

St. Laurent is a versatile wine that pairs well with a variety of dishes, from classic flavors like pizza and burgers to spicier dishes like chili Verde and Korean-style ribs.

It also goes well with exotic flavors like Peking duck and Vietnamese shaking beef, heartier dishes like steak and lamb shish kebabs, and traditional German fare like Rheinischer Sauerbraten and barbecued beef ribs with caramelized onions.

With such a wide range of pairing options, it’s easy to see why St. Laurent is popular among wine enthusiasts and foodies.

Want to taste it? Head to an exclusive wine tasting in the old cellar in the heart of Vienna!