The wine-pairing dinner in Barachois Restaurant with Domaine Ott’s wine was the most successful of the week, when all four dishes were perfectly balanced with the wines served. Perhaps it was helped a little by the enchanting setting of this floating restaurant 0n the lagoon at Le Prince Maurice. The chef was on fire that evening


Moreover, if you like wine and golf, there is a special week at Le Prince Maurice that combines the two.


Domaine Ott (Austria)


Every morning the sommeliers assembled to listen to the visiting producers explain their estate and approach to winemaking. I sat in on these briefings, being particularly interested in the producers who were new to me, including Bernhard Ott who, in 2006, was a founding member of the biodynamic association Respekt. Domaine Ott’s vineyards of Grüner Veltliner spread across the border from Wagram into Kamptal ,where the Otts settled in 1888, drawn to the broad terraces of deep loess soil. I particularly liked Bernhard’s single-vineyard (ried) wines.


From a very old vineyard in the low-elevation Ried Stein, with loess over rock, the 2021 is fragrant with white peach; the body is fullish, glossy, and spicy, but balanced by an attractive bitterness. Ott crushes and then macerates thick-skinned Grüner-Veltliner for several hours—as many as 24 in a cold year when the pH is low—before pressing it in a basket press and fermenting the unsettled juice—which, he says, has “more influence of the terroir”—in 5,600-liter Stockinger foudres. Here it remains for two years, racked just once. Ried Rosenberg was my favorite among Bernhard’s wines.


From vines planted in 1956 on pure loess soil, this parcel has been owned by the family since 1889 and was first produced by Bernhard in 1989. It’s a dense wine with muscular minerality, a powerful finish, and the potential to age at least ten, and probably 20, years. The single vineyards are quite aggressive in youth and demand at least five years to mellow before opening them. The wine-pairing dinner in Barachois Restaurant with Domaine Ott’s wine was the most successful of the week, when all four dishes were perfectly balanced with the wines served. Perhaps it was helped a little by the enchanting setting of this floating restaurant 0n the lagoon at Le Prince Maurice. The chef was on fire that evening. The relatively simple,


piquant Wagram Am Berg Grüner Veltliner was accompanied by a dish of seared scallop and cauliflower mousse with bergamot. Bergamot is strong in Earl Grey tea, but this was delicate and perfect with the lime, floral aromas of Am Berg. The best food and wine combo of the week went to a dish of black cod with a white miso sauce partnered by 2021 Wagram Ried Spiegel Feuersbrunn Grüner Veltliner. The meaty fish and creamy, savory sauce harmonized with the punchy density and freshness of the Spiegel, which comes from two quite different


Above: Bernhard Ott with one of his wonderfully versatile wines, Am Berg. Left: Barachois, the floating restaurant on the lagoon at Le Prince Maurice.


parcels; the higher section on red gravel is cold and windy, providing acidity, while the south-facing parcel on loess contributes depth and richness.


These wines from loess soil seem to have an almost shiny


minerality on the finish. Bernhard also has a little Riesling, planted on red-gravel soils. With 60g/l of residual sugar, the 2008 Wagram Rheinriesling was perfectly balanced with the dessert—a yuzu inspired Vallrhona cream, crisp biscuit, and yoghurt sorbet. Delicious.


Chef Labastide The deserts at Le Prince Maurice were to die for. To find out why, I rooted out Chef Labastide, head of pastry, from his kitchen, where 14 cooks are devoted to the sweet stuff, working in shifts from 4am to 11.30pm. Stéphane Labastide started his career in a small family bakery outside Paris before working for Ladurée for four years, spending one year devoted entirely to honing his skills in macaron making. This was followed by ten years as a head pastry chef for Alain Ducasse working across his restaurants, from the Dorchester to Monte Carlo, before a chance meeting in Paris with a chef from Constance Hotels. Firmly ensconced at Le Prince Maurice for nine years now, Chef Labastide has brought pleasure to numerous guests with his finely wrought desserts inspired by classic French pastries and adapted with local ingredients; a St Honoré, for example, with coconut and tropical fruit. Does he have a signature dessert? “Not really. When I create a dessert, it is constantly evolving in flavor and texture.” Notwithstanding this reply, his croustillant chocolate-noisette is never off the menu. “I have a passion for


THE WORLD OF FINE WINE | ISSUE 87 | 2025 | 167


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220