Wine seminar and tasting
Austrian Wines
Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 20 h
with Sascha Rimkus

As a result of the nasty glycol scandal 20 years ago a revolution took place in Austria… quality-wise. A new culture of wine making has been established. Today, not only the great white wines, but also the fruity red ones are much sought after.

Born at the North Sea coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Sascha Rimkus hasn't really grown up with wine. On shore you drink pils and rye and give turists the runaround. Wine is for girls, at best. His first contact with wine he had at his Grannie's, who would accompany her hearty food with bocksbeutel wine which had been aged not so much on purpose but by chance. His Sturm und Drang years he spent with Lambrusco bought at gas stations, or with Rosenthaler Kadarka at kiosks. Which lead him to the conclusion that in the end wine is something that does not just hail from south of Hamburg, but should also stay there. Then, after crossing the Hamburg border to the south, being constantly invited to dinner parties because of his genial disposition, his knowledge broadened more and more, culminating in a trip to the wine growing region of Alsace - a trip that lead - so he says - to his awakening. He then went on studying numerous wine menus, spent years working in bars and restaurants, until finally, together with Andreas Klöckner he invented what's now called Goldhahn und Sampson, being as pleased as punch about its wine department expanding on a daily basis.