By John M. Olney, October 22, 2007
1325 Imola West, #409, Napa, CA 94559
On September 27, 2007 I received an E-named from a gentleman who wondered if he could talk with me about my military service days Wow, that was almost 40 long years ago My thoughts went racing; who was this guy, how did he even find me and most importantly, why? I was obviously very curious about this newest twist in my life! I responded by E-mail that I would speak to him. Our next contact was by direct telephonic communications. He proceeded to quiz me about that past timeframe and then he asked if I would be interested in consulting his client. I obviously was so inclined. Shortly thereafter he asked if I would be willing to travel to Vienna, Austria on October 17, 2007.
Whao, wait a minute, wow; this is all happening so very fast! In about three weeks I would have to complete a lot. I did not have a passport so I’d have to rush that up and I had all my Wine Country Club project work to attend to also. After a few more exchanges it was agreed that I should participate and we got the ball rolling to get me airline and hotel reservations while I sought an accelerated passport
To protect the interests of the client I will not delve into the business details of this trip other than to say it provided me the opportunity to visit the wine country located just outside Vienna. The focus of this visit would be the LOISUM Wein and & SPA Resort complex ( http://www.loisium.at/navigation/powerslave,id,1,nodeid,1,_language,en.html ). This is an extremely modernistic complex constructed atop wine caves built over 500 years ago and nestled in the beautiful rolling hills area of a traditional grape vineyards one normally sees traveling anywhere there are a concentration of winegrowers. To see the map where the LOISUIM is located in the Langenlois Kamptal area about 50 miles outside Vienna. click here >>> http://www.winesfromaustria.com/php/galerie/vorschau.php?id=2070&lang=en
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The winegrower of this complex is the Steininger Family ( http://www.weingut-steininger.at/index.php?content=home&language=english ). Five wines are presented: Gruner Veltliner, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Burgunder, Muskateller, and Cabernet Sauvignon Rose’ and Zweigelt. An excellent Web site that will provide you much information about Austrian wines is found at this URL: >>>> http://www.winesfromaustria.com/wine/index.html.
I walked from the main building to the elevator entry that would take me down into the wine caves. You can see the control board behind the Receptionist in the left hand picture below. I picked up my English language telephone receiver which I would be using to dial in code numbers and then would listen to an explanation of the events/processes that occurred at each significant area of the underground winery operation.
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The diagram in the center of the control board shows you the extent of these underground caves. To the right is provided a photograph showing the cave walls and just a few of the significant number of aging/storage barrels located in these magnificent old tunnels.
The winegrowers occupying these caves and their vineyards over the centuries actually lived their lives underground. There is a typical family kitchen, bedrooms, meeting places, etc. as well as wine production rooms. During World War II, these caves were used by the locals to hide the Jews from the Nazi regime.
As many of you know, I love to read and write about our old 1860s winegrowing families and their estates in Napa, but I was struck by the fact that I was walking around vineyards, buildings and tunnels that go back to about 1000 AD making what I read and write about barely even child’s play.
Just one more comment about the tour. It starts off with a stop inside the elevator reception room with a truly awesome water fountain and pool centerpiece. Once everybody is gathered around the pond, the lights dim, classical music fades in and the water fountains start dancing. We were told to try to imagine ourselves as a grape about to be born and growing all the way to maturity, then being picked, crushed, fermented, bottled and finally consumed by a wine patron. Wow! I’ve never thought quite this way about the process before. The fountains were gorgeous to watch as they rose and fell and colored lights shown through bringing out a site for the eyes and pleasant music establishing a mood in the mind. But at the end, there was a very sudden stoppage of the fountains and Bacchus rose from the pond and spat a large volume of water (representing wine) to a hole (representing a mouth) high up the wall and the show came to end.! Well, Disneyland might want such a display. By the way, I really couldn’t get into making my into self a grape and thinking about this entire process. Interesting but just a gimmick!
Following the self-guided tour, one rises back to the surface inside the LOISUM which contains full food service, gigantic gift shop and massive tasting bar/room facilities as shown below:
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I tried the Sauvignon Blanc which is probably my favorite white. It were quite enjoyable and a wonderful way to finish off my visit to Vienna Wine Country.
