Gruner Veltliner Blind Tasting

Gruner Veltliner – the hip wine? Pinot Noir is hip, that’s for sure, every since the Miles character in the film Sideways showered it with his quirky and neurotic love. But Gruner Veltliner, hip? An Austrian grape producing mineral, stony, white peppery wine…hip? Amy Louise Pommier, manager of the wonderful Prospect Wine Shop in Brooklyn, says emphatically “yes!”

Actually, she says that Gruner Veltliner was THE hip white wine a year ago, and that every with-it New York sommelier listed a few bottles and wines by the glass. Now, Txakoli, the summery, briny Basque juice is the new hip white wine, Amy says. Who knew that wines, sommeliers, and wine drinkers, are so fickle? Why should they be any different from anyone else, I guess.

Maybe it means that although we so much crave to be cutting edge, we are behind the times and decidedly un-hip, but we chose Gruner Veltliner as the theme for our recent tasting crew evening. Our regular crew, minus a flu-bitten Deetrane, was joined by a new and hopefully regular tasting pal, Tyrie, of Florida fame. We also enjoyed the company of two special guests, Amy Louise Pommier, and her friend, wine educator Mimi Thompson. Amy and Mimi have VAST wine experience and knowledge, and they both have special interest in Gruner Veltliner. Amy visited and tasted at many of the wineries last year, and Mimi has an Austrian parent, and has spent time there as well. They chose and brought many of the wines, and they prepped our Gruner-ignorant crew about the general characteristics of the grape before we got started.

More than a third of Austria’s grapevines are Gruner Veltliner. Much of Austria’s prime wine real estate is steep rocky-granite soil. Gruner Veltliner and Riesling, Austria’s other white grape, do very well in Austria’s mineral rich soils, producing powerful and rich wines that are not heavy, and often of great purity. Typical flavors include citrus and white stone fruits, and ground white pepper. The wines are almost always intensely mineral. They can age for decades, and supposedly (I have never tasted an aged GV) develop complex floral and fruit flavors to go along with the mineral notes. An interesting side note here - many Gruners are screw cap sealed.

Gruner is not “trophy” wine – this is wine for drinking and enjoying. Generally low in alcohol with zippy acidity, Gruner Veltliner makes great food wine. Pair with seafood of course, but also with chicken, with all sorts of vegetable dishes, and with speck or other cured meats. I think that Gruner’s crystalline incisiveness make it a good match for heavy Austrian style foods such as sausages and sauerkraut, or mushroom dumplings. But I like piercing white wines with heavy food…maybe it’s just me.

And maybe best of all, you can spend $15 and enjoy a great (or really good, at least) bottle of Gruner. If you spend $35 it means A) you frequent one heck of a wine shop that carries top of the line GV, or; B) you have already tasted through the $15 bottles, you like ‘em, and now it’s time for the big stuff, or; C) how do I know why you do the things you do? I don’t understand myself, why would I have you figured out?

If you’re curious to try but don’t know where to start (like me), and if the notes below somehow are not enough for you (whatever pal – we’re trying our best over here) you can look for Terry Theise’s name on the back of the bottle. As with small grower Champagne, Theise has selected a great portfolio of Gruner Veltliners to import to the US.

To remind you of our little blind tasting system, first place votes are worth 5 points, second place votes are worth 3 points, and third place votes are worth 1 point. So, what happens when you put seven people in a Brooklyn apartment full of 2005 Gruner Veltliner? To me it’s telling that every wine received at least 2 votes – the overall quality was quite good. That said, only Amy and Mimi really understood these wines before tasting, and the rest of us (or me, at least) had a tough time “loving” them. They are not obvious wines, full of fruit. I would put it this way: I recognize the quality of the wines, and there were two that I really liked, but I am not yet haunted by the glory of Gruner Veltliner, I don’t yet crave the wine. Give me time though…

2005 Hiedler Gruner Veltliner Maximum, $40 (prices at Prospect Wine Shop. You might find them a little lower elsewhere, but these are fair prices). 19 points (3 first place votes, 1 second place, 1 third place). This wine sort of ran away with the tasting. I had it in first place, so did Amy, and so did Pristine. Kind of a shame though, because it is not typical of Gruner Veltliner – it is "Maximum" reality TV style Gruner. My notes: Oak? Honey? White pepper and minerals, effervescent, some citrus and honey on the palate. Nice acidity. I think I liked it so much because it reminded me of other wines that I love from the Loire Valley. Amy also said that she “felt like a slut” for picking this first. She would have preferred to pick a more typical wine, and she would not pick this wine to cellar, just to drink now. Hard to argue though, it’s tasty wine. Tanzer gave this wine a 90, for whatever that’s worth.

2005 Hirsch Gruner Veltliner Lamm, $33. 10 Points (3 second place votes (including mine), 1 third place). Tasting it later in the evening with some brown bread and speck, I would have voted for this as my favorite wine if I could do it over. And I might grab a few of these for the old cellar. My notes: Complex, slightly honeyed nose of spicy white grapes and rocks. Green apple, citrus, mineral palate, great acidity, lingering finish. Tanzer gave this wine a 93, if that sort of thing excites you.

2005 Nigl Gruner Veltliner Kremser Freiheit, $17. 10 points (2 first place votes – Mimi and Tyrie really fell for this wine). This is Nigl’s entry level Gruner. It’s a great wine and a tremendous value, definitely a $15 beauty (note: I have seen this wine selling for $15). I have tasted this wine in each of the last three vintages, and it’s always good. My notes: Smells of wet stones and empty fish tank. Palate of citrus, sweet white stone fruit, and loads of minerals. Very tasty.

2005 Schloss Gobelsburg Gruner Veltliner Renner, $28. 8 points (1 first place vote, 1 second). Amy would have put this first if she could do it all over, she said. My notes: Mineral nose, some herbal notes, a touch of honey. White fruit, citrus and rocks on the palate, some pepper.

2005 Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner Ried Loiser Berg, $22. 6 points (1 second place vote, 3 third places, including mine). My notes: Grassy nose, cat pee. Some citrus and minerals too. Dominant minerals on the palate, with green apple and some pepper on the finish. Good acidity, complex.

2005 Nigl Gruner Veltliner Alte Reben, $30. 6 points (1 first place vote, 1 third place). Alte reben means old vines, and this wine was, to me, not as approachable now as the other Nigl wine. And by the way, the top Nigl GV is called Privat, and it’s beautiful stuff, although it costs about $38 a bottle. Adam really liked this wine, noting that it was completely different from the other wines in the tasting. He always seems to like interesting wines, so maybe I have to give this one another shot tonight. Mimi also voted for it, saying that it was not her favorite for current drinking, but that she recognized it as excellent wine. I didn’t like it. My notes: unusual nose of tropical fruit – banana? Nuts? Wood? Fat on the palate, unfocused, some white fruit. Not enough acidity to direct this wine. Amy said that it probably needs time to settle down, that it will show much better with some more time.

2005 Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner Kamptaller Terrasen, $19. 4 points (1 second place vote, 1 third). My notes: Nose of white grapes, honey, cat pee, tarragon? Rocks, melon, and pepper on the palate. Some effervescence to this wine. Very tasty, not as complex as some of the others.