Still searching for a top wine shop, a reader recommended Len and Peter from Federal Wine and Spirits, on State Street just outside of Faneuil Hall in Boston. Liz and I decided to check it out last Wednesday during their weekly Wednesday tasting, where I was happy to hear that they were showcasing Austrian wines.

Upon entering, Federal Wine seems an unassuming place. The first floor is small, cramped, and carries the normal varieties of wine and spirits in a neighborhood liquor store. But down the narrow staircase toward the back of the store we decended into a sort of wine lovers paradise. The basement area is spread out between three large rooms and doubles as the shop's storage area and wine cellar, where we found a small group of vinophiles gathered around the open bottles of wine rested upon still-boxed magnums of a Spanish Cabernet (only 400 cases made). The place seemed the very definition of disorganized, begging the help of Peter Hemenway who was giving the tasting.

The tasting started with two typical Austrian white grape varieties from the Wachau region: the 2005 Domaine Wachau Grüner Veltliner Federspiel and the 2005 Knoll Riesling Federspiel. We then tasted three reds of strangely named varieties that are only found within Austria: The 2004 Zantho made from the St. Laurent variety, 2005 Anton Bauer Zweigelt, and the 2004 Heinrich Blaufrankisch from Burgenland. We capped the night off with a Burgenland dessert wine, the Kracher Beerenauslese Cuvee 2005.

Because Liz and I will be tasting a set of Riesling next week which will include the Knoll, as well as an ongoing feature on oddball grapes that will include the Blaufrankish, I'll hold off on tasting notes of the wines. What was really impressive was the knowledge imparted by the ever enthusiastic Peter. You can bet he'll see me at his future tastings.