SALON Österreich Wein 2014 Includes New Sparkling Wine Jury

The SALON Österreich Wein has been Austria's largest and most demanding wine competition since 1988. Right from the beginning, it has been instrumental in the development and profiling of the country's wine growing regions and wine styles. And this year was no different. A specially created jury of sparkling wine experts tasted 80 Austrian quality sparkling wines that were submitted to the competition. “Already a few years ago, the domestic wine sector had set the course for higher positioning of the domestic quality sparkling wines,” says Willi Klinger, managing director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board (AWMB).

On June 24th, all SALON winners and SALON nominees were awarded and honored during a gala dinner in the elegant Prunksaal of Palais Coburg in Vienna. The culinary side of the event - which is traditionally handled by a star chef with a special love for Austrian wine – featured Norbert Niederkofler, the South Tyrolean talent from the restaurant St.Hubertus in the Hotel Rosa Alpina (19 Gault Millau points and 2 Michelin stars).

Early in life, Norbert Niederkofler already knew: “I want to be a cook!” He also wanted to see the world. And it was just a matter of time for the South Tyrol (Südtirol) native to accomplish both – it did not take very long for him to enter the circle of the best international top chefs. After apprenticing in Germany, Switzerland, the USA and Austria, he then learned in Germany with Jörg Müller, Eckart Witzigmann and, back in Italy, with Nadia Santini. Since 1994, Norbert Niederkofler has been working in the Hotel & Spa Rosa Alpina, where he also opened the restaurant St. Hubertus in 1996. From the beginning, he developed a preference for using local quality ingredients for his cooking. In fact, his new project, “Cook the Mountain”, is a kind of research workshop with the theme “gastronomy in the mountains”. With this, he connects chefs, farmers, breeders, alpinists, naturalists, sociologists and entrepreneurs from all mountain regions of the world in order to ultimately bring mountain cooking and the mountain culture closer to the public. “My profession is my hobby and my life philosophy,” says the modest Norbert Niederkofler.

The reference book for all SALON Österreich wines – the SALON book – is available in all tobacco/news shops, at select retailers and at the Austrian Wine Institute (in German only). The wines can be tasted while they are on the annual SALON tour at many Casinos throughout Austria. The tour dates for 2014 are:

• 25 and 26 June: Casino Baden
• 01 September: Casino Kleinwalsertal
• 09 and 10 September: Casino Linz
• 16 and 17 September: Casino Innsbruck
• 23 and 24 September: Casino Graz
• 30 September and 1 October: Casino Bregenz

The SALON is open from 3 pm to 9 pm (entry until 8 pm); in Casino Kleinwalsertal from 4 pm to 10 pm (entry until 9 pm). Tickets at the Casino Austria cash desk cost € 30 each and include Casino gaming chips with a value of € 25, the SALON wine book and entry to the tasting of all SALON wines and sparkling wines.