Julia Sevenich, Editor of the Ultimate Austrian Wine Guide, has written a really excellent article on St. Laurent. She quotes Austrian winegrower Hannes Reinisch:
“St. Laurent is one of the most fascinating and valuable red wine varieties because it is capable of uniting the power and spice that one would expect of the Rhone with the elegance and delicacy of Burgundy. These attributes in combination with the climatic and geological preconditions in Austria result in unique, elegant and inimitable wines that demonstrate all the virtues of the variety and terroir.”
The article also discusses the puzzle that so far DNA analysis has not been able to determine additional parentage beyond its Pinot Noir origins, but the grape does contain anthocyanin pigments not found in Pinot Noir, which is distinguished by its lack of acyllated pigments, a unique trait. It is possible that the acyllated pigments in St. Laurent are derived a throwback to an ancestor of PN whose synthesis is suppressed in modern Pinot Noir.
In our lab rats’ reports, there is disagreement about whether this wine’s color is light or dark. That’s because the wine has a very unusual appearance. It’s extremely rich in ruby color, but like that gem, has a sort of brilliant transparency. Likewise the mouthfeel is both dense and soft, so it can be described as both light and heavy-bodied at the same time.