The Latest / History

It may seem ironic but we think of the Wagram as the most quintessentially Austrian wine region. Ironic, since it’s the newest DAC (“Districtus Austriae Controllatus,” Austria’s equivalent of the old French DOC) and far from Austria’s most famous region.

But it’s hard to think of a region that is more uniquely Austrian. 

What is the greatest Wine City in the world? Vienna gets my vote. That’s probably not what you’d expect. Vienna’s certainly not the best city in the world for finding the broadest selection of the world’s wines (that has to be New York)

We set out to write this Flatiron Guide to German Wines to explain not just why the wine geeks go so nutty for all things Deutsch, and not just why German wines are among the best wines for the super-casual wine drinker.

As evidenced by wine presses found in the town of Trier in the Mosel. The skills of viticulture and vinification were most likely introduced by the Romans. Grape varieties were probably a combination of introduced cuttings and domesticated wild vines that were suitable for winemaking

We’re going to take you through the story of why Barolo is so special, and how and why it is that the world finally figured that out.

Then we’re going to treat it just like Burgundy by touring all of Barolo’s villages, highlighting what is special about each of them.

We’ll talk about all the important Crus and producers, and of courses there will be plenty of specific buying recommendations along the way. 

Mee Godard, Anne Sophie Dubois, Camille Lapierre: many of the top names in Beaujolais today are women. That wasn’t true even twenty years ago in Beaujolais, and it isn’t true today in many regions. 

20 years ago, “natural wine” was the freaky stuff drunk after-hours in Williamsburg and the East Village. Today, collectors around the world chase bottles of natural wine as passionately as DRC – and pay top dollar for some of them.

Where did natural wine come from, and how did it spread so far and so fast? 
In a word: Beaujolais! 

Austria is not just a tiny place with time honored traditions and amazing terroir. It is a model for the future of wine. Their remarkable renaissance, taking them from bulk wine blenders to quality wine wunderkinds, was just the beginning. For a glimpse of the future of wine, look no further than Austria!

Few things are as exciting as realizing you are experiencing an undiscovered phenomenon. Like your cousin who was playing Nirvana tapes before they hit the radio, or the line cook flipping burgers next to Danny Meyer. You vibrate with the energy of the thing, you can’t wait for it to infect everyone else. You start passing out cassette tapes and inviting your friends out to dinner.

Today, that’s me and Burgenland.

Beaujolais has been one of our favorites since we opened Flatiron. There’s probably no region that we, the Flatiron staff, drink more regularly.  This blog shares all the reasons we love Beaujolais wine and why you should too!

With such diversity it can be hard to summarize the region’s wine style. But to us, the heart of the matter is that Lower Austria gives us authentic wines. And best of all, they do this at incredibly fair prices.

The Wachau Valley is the epicenter of Austria’s greatest wines. In fact, to many wine consumers, the wines of the Wachau are the wines of Austria. 

While that sentiment sells Austria short, ignoring many diverse and excellent wine regions, it’s not baseless. The Wachau’s vineyards, defined 1,000 years ago by local monks, are still recognized today for producing some of the world’s greatest white wines.