Austrian sweet wines

Austria is a land of natural sweet wines.   Their sweet wines are found on almost every good wine list, are appreciated by wine experts and highly acclaimed by journalists. Several worldwide famous wineries are coming from this country. What are so special on their wines? Region, like usually. Neusiedl Lake (Neusiedler see) makes a special conditions for nearby vineyards, hot temperature during the daytime and wet air influencing grapes during the night. Because of these conditions, it's easy to get a noble rot on the grapes. This fundus dry out the water out of grapes and make the rest liquid more concentrated than usual.

The best Austria's specialists on natural sweet wines:

Kracher - http://www.kracher.com/
Kracher's family is strongly rooted in Illmitz, at Austria´s Lake Neusiedl. Alois Kracher Sr. made great sweet wines from noble rotten grapes long before everyone else began to discover them.

Hans Tschida - http://www.angerhof-tschida.at/
This winery is a family-based, resident in Illmitz and producing the best sweet wines in Austria. Hans Tschida obtained an award  Sweet Wine Maker of the Year 2010,  Len Evans Trophy „for consistent performance over the past five years“ and Alois Kracher Trophy for Champion Sweet Wine. 

Steindorfer - http://www.weingut-steindorfer.at/
Another family-based winery. This one is situated in Apetlon. Their sweet wines belong to the best. Almost every sweet wine was awared on international competition.

Willi Opitz - http://www.willi-opitz.at/
The Willi Opitz Winery only started in 1995 but in these few years of their history it was able to receive a lot of success with their wines all over the world. You can find their wines at the Vodafone McLaren Formula One Team too.

Scheiblhofer - http://scheiblhofer.at/
The Weingut Scheiblhofer is situated in Andau. Andau has the most hours of sun and highest temperatures in the country and is know as the hotspot of Austria. Over 40 ha makes them one of the biggest wineries in Burgenland.

Tokaj - tokaji - tokay

These three synonymous are representing a remote region of Hungary and Slovak Republic (both situated in Central Europe) where the world's first botrytis wine is coming from. These topaz colored sweet wines are dating back to 16th century. Tokaj wines are made from late-ripened grapes affected by a certain type of fungus (noble rot - Botrytis cinerea) that concentrates the grape sugars which, in turn, flavors the wine into a honey-like sweetness. These great wines was favored by Beethoven, Goethe and even France's king Louis XIV.

Tokaji wines are like no others, in aromas, tastes as well as production. They are topaz gold in colour, almost like a light single-malt, and their high sugar content is well-balanced by amazing high acidity. The flavours are of dried fruit, apples, golden sultanas or apricots, with notes of exotic fruit that can range from grapefruit to mellow orange-peel, and there are often flowery aromas as well.

A special type of Tokaj wine is Essencia. It is the concentrated sweet juice that runs from a small vat of fully Botryised grapes, without pressing. It is only marginally alcoholic (from 0.5% to 6.0% alcohol) with fermentation by ambient yeasts. Then liquid seeps slowly dripping in demi-johns. Essencia is composed of around 700g/l of sugar - sometimes up to 900g/l. That means 90% of the liquid is sugar, the remaining 10% being the most intense raisined flavour imaginable.

Sherry

Sherry is a famous wine (sweet or dry) - complex and esoteric, made as fortified. Usable as an apéritif to table wine but also as an after-dinner sipper. Sherry has an origin in Spain, where it is produced in "Sherry Triangle" which means three towns Puerto de Santa María, Jerez and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Almost all Sherries are made from the Palomino Fino grape.

There are two kinds of Sherry - Fino which is dry and light and contains over 15% alcohol, and Oloroso - dry but rich in body and over 18% alcohol. Other types of Sherry are -  Manzanilla (similar to Fino),  Amontillado (something between Fino and Oloroso),  Palo Cortado (rare kind of Sherry),  Sweet Sherry,  Cream Sherry (sweet one),  Pedro Ximénez (very sweet).

History of Sherry:
Southwest Spain in region Andalucia we can find the town named Jerez. In 711, The Arabs invaded in Spain and renamed the town to "Sherish" which changed in time to "Jerez". That's where this delicious wine got it's name - Sherry or Jerez. This kind of fortified wine started it's history in 1400, to help Sherry stabilize on the ocean voyages, a bit of Brandy was added to the wine.

Some great Sherry wineries:

Gutierrez-Colosia - http://www.gutierrezcolosia.com/vinos_ingles.html
Founded in 1838, Gutierrez-Colosia is located in the mouth of the river Guadalete. The dry and the hurrid winds make the optimum conditions for their wines to age. The quality of the Gutiérrez Colosía wines is guaranteed by careful ageing through a process known as "criaderas y soleras", following the region's tradition.

Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana - http://www.lagitana.es/html/index1.htm
La Gitana is one of the oldest Sherry producers. The winery was initiated in 1792. Till know, the winery continue to use traditional methods for their wines.

 
Tio Pepe - http://www.bodegastiopepe.com/
Over 165 years of experience and dedication attest to the quality of their Sherry wines.   In 1835, Manuel María González Angel reached Jerez prepared to forge his way in the prosperous and thriving sherry business.