The Garden Salon at Karl Friedrich Aust's winery has never seen anything like it since it was built in 1856: cheerful chatter around the tables at the weekend, accompanied by four courses from Veit Endler's wine bar kitchen and - of course! - four matching wines from the winemaker. The Aust winery is listed in the relevant wine guides in the solid or upper midfield of the local winegrowers, although there are occasional outliers - upwards! Ulrich Sautter from falstaff was almost shocked when he tasted a 2007 Pinot Noir from Aust in the summer of 2021. He gave it 98 points (out of a possible 100), which is a bit sensational.
Of course, there were no such mature wines on the cooking star menu, but (with one exception) current vintages and, during my visit, a barrel sample as a nightcap "on the house". The evening is hosted by Karl Friedrich Aust - in his knowledgeable and calm manner, he does this in a very relaxed manner, which contrasts somewhat with the service, which is a little formal (it's not every day that you see a waiter in a suit with a pocket square, nor is the indirect form of address "Does the gentleman have any requests?"). On the other hand, the room with its festive patina, the festively laid tables with their glowing candles and the blazing fireplace perhaps also invites you to be a little different.
The menu is timed - because the host moderates - with a common start for all guests and, in addition to the announced start (6.30 pm), also has a defined end: around 9 pm. "So that those picking up the guests know when to come," explained KF Aust, because not having to drive is actually a must after an evening of wine enjoyment. We started with home-baked focaccia and a delicious spread with a hint of curry, which whetted the appetite for more unreasonable (the figure!!!) things.
The nominally first course (bread and spread are just a faint snack) read excitingly in advance and then came to the table as a picture of an appetizer: Heart of Wagyu beef | soy plum | nori | hazelnut | Jerusalem artichoke looked like it had been painted, surprised one or two guests by its tidiness, but turned out to be a successful combination of flavours (if you like Jerusalem artichoke). The centerpiece was in fact a piece of heart, something you don't get that often. The accompanying wine was a 2024 Aust-Zeit, a cuvée of Bacchus and Pinot Blanc. The Pinot Blanc should actually have been a sparkling base wine - but 2024 was the year with the frost, so there wasn't enough of everything: that's how the idea for this cuvée came about (and that's why there was no Aust sparkling wine for the peritif, but an 1836 from Wackerbarth instead).
Do you even need anything to drink with soup? Good question, but yes: you should try it - and if it all gets too thin, simply practice food combining: Wine - soup - wine. However, the 2023 Kerner dry went very well with trout foam with (trout) caviar and (lial) potato. "The best Kerner in Germany comes from Saxony!", Karl Friedrich Aust quoted a wine critic in his introduction, taking a little jibe at the Kerner's home state of Württemberg. But there they are indeed on the fruity-sweet side with Kerner, this was Saxon dry, so it had less than 3 grams of residual sugar per liter - which was quite good for the food!
It gets even more difficult than the question of wine with soup when there is a choice between two wines for a course. White or red? Matured or just a little older? Riesling or Pinot Noir? But above all - why actually: or? After all, there was fish (catfish to be precise) and meat (red sausage) in the course, so there should be something of each. So a 2016 Riesling from Radebeul Steinrücken and a 2021 Pinot Noir from Radebeul Goldener Wagen stood behind the plate to provide a wide range of accompaniments. The food stage belonged to a combination that had never been eaten before, which was artfully arranged on the plate to form a tower. From the bottom to the top, there was a barley and pumpkin risotto (for those who don't know and doubt: it tastes good!), catfish, smoked red sausage and Riesling mustard. After posing for the family album, the tower of course had to go, because only things that are next to each other can be cut without accident. In terms of taste, the catfish and red sausage combination proved to be a successful Saxon version of the finer surf-and-turf. And which wine did you choose to go with it? The Pinot Noir is great with it (white fish also goes well with red wine, everything else is outdated theory), but the Riesling to round off the course was perfect!
To finish, we had Traminer from the Radebeul wagon. In the 2024 vintage year, the vines on the terrace were 70 years old, so the juice in the barrel and from there into the bottles and from there into the glasses (and ultimately into the guest) is highly concentrated, and because the wine decided to fully ferment that year, the wine is dry and not really light-bodied at 14.7% alcohol. But: you can't taste it! And actually, this is not a wine to drink away, but rather something to enjoy quietly, true to the Aust motto "With a penchant for joie de vivre". Alone by the fireplace or as an accompaniment to dessert...
Menu
- House-baked bread with spread
- Wagyu beef heart | soy plum | nori | hazelnut | Jerusalem artichoke
- Frout foam | caviar | potato | olive oil
- Catfish | smoked red sausage | barley | pumpkin | Riesling-Mustard
- Blood orange parfait | Tonka bean | Chocolate
- Petit fours
- Cheese variation (optional, 15,50 €)
Wine accompaniment
- Aperitif
- 2024 Aust-Zeit from our Bacchus & Pinot Blanc grapes
- 2023 Kerner
- 2016 Riesling Radebeuler Steinrücken
- option of 2021 Pinot Noir Radebeuler Goldener Wagen
- 2024 Traminer Radebeuler Goldener Wagen
- a non-alcoholic beverage accompaniment is possible
Info
4-course menu incl. Petit Fours as well as water and espresso 89 €
incl. wine pairing with small wine presentation and aperitif 125 €
Weingut Aust
Weinbergstrasse 10
01445 Radebeul
Phone +49 351 / 8338750
weingut-aust.de
[Visited on February 13, 2026]
