Rotgipfler and Scamorza (Obscure white grapes, Part 1)

Still life with Rotgipfler, Chorizo and Scamorza

Mrs. Claret arrived back at the house yesterday evening clutching an intriguing looking black bag. Had she indulged herself in a new dress or pair of shoes I asked? Absolutely not, it was actually a present for me - and a consumable one at that! She had happened across a stall at the South Bank  cheese and wine festival selling an interesting selection of Austrian wines and decided that a Rotgipfler would be suitably obscure and interesting.

Merry Widows Wine is a small operation specialising entirely in wines from two producers, Heinrich Hartl from Thermenregion and Bernd Heiling from Burgenland. Their USP is to make most of the wines available in three sizes - 250ml, 500ml and 750ml (the tagline is "for me, for us, for everyone"). I like this idea - there are often times when opening a full bottle of something is over indulgent (or downright wasteful).

Rotgipfler turns out to be a grape indigenous to the Thermenregion in Austria, and is…