No, not a reference to Freddy Kruger! Our weekend was spent in splendid spring sunshine (in February!) in Vienna.
Friday evening was kicked off in style; 1996 Dom Ruinart followed by 3 2005 Puligny ‘Folatières’ before the main event of 20 2005 grand crus from Gevrey-Chambertin – a mouth-watering selection of Chambertin, Bèze and other grand crus. Actually 25 bottles were consumed by the modest group, together with accomplished cooking and excellent service – I must admit one down-side; I felt rather ‘slow’ on Saturday morning…
I’ll make a full report in the Spring burgundy report, but opened at 4pm then decanted just before serving (they were all blind) between 8pm and 12pm – all were open, and all but one showed well. Second-guessing the producer caused more than a few surprises!
Saturday was filled to bursting with the Spanish Riding School, lunch in the giant glasshouses of the Burggarten, a tour of the opera house, Viennese coffee and cakes in the ‘Café Mozart’ and then the Karlskirche. I needed a short sleep (no surprise) before Wiener-Schnitzel in a back-street restaurant followed by a glass of wine in the deep cellars of a Weinkeller.
Sunday took in the Riesenrad (ferris wheel), a walk through the gardens and lunch at Palace Schönbrunn and then finally St.Stephen’s church before a fast train to the airport. Vienna has a lot to offer for about a 3-4 day break, and is very competitively priced versus other European capitols – unless all you want is a Jimmy Choo bag…