I was in the Wachau Valley today - Austria's wine country. I have to
say it was one of the best days of the trip.

California has better wine (duh) but apparently Austrians take their
dry, sweet, white wines very seriously. I felt like a drank a million
reislings today, but I got to ride a bike and make some friends so it
was all worth it.

Austrian wine is really cheap because about 20 years ago some farmer
faked "ice wine" (a really really expensive wine made from freezing
grapes on the vine and crushing them when they are almost raisins) by
adding anti-freeze to regular wine. So, even though today's wine
growers take their business very seriously, the reputation of the area
isn't that great.

It's nice because that means the wine growers are working VERY hard to change that opinion, and are making some decent quality wines. Unfortunately, I'm just not that into whites. Still, it was an absolutely beautiful day!