I keep a lot of Grüner at home and it is a great food wine or quaffer, depending on the style.
As you know, Grüner Veltliner is an indigenous white grape from Austria accounting for over one-third of the vines in Austria. Grüner is capable of giving a variety of flavors: spicy, grassy, herby or oily. Typical descriptors are white pepper, white rhubarb, melon and citrus. There is definitely a freshness and purity about Grüner, from the diminished use or lack of oak, and you can often find a slight amount of un-dissolved CO2 which adds a slight lift and zip to the wines.
The grape is perfectly suited to Austria’s cool climate and shows excellent minerality from typically granite soils. The wines have very good acidity to balance a range of alcohol levels according to the level of ripeness.
There is a vast amount of ordinary Grüner Veltliner grown in the Weinviertel, a district within Niederösterreich, Austria's single largest winegrowing area. These are typically the most basic Grüners, or quaffers. The best wines for Grüner are being made in the three smaller, adjoining districts along the Danube: the Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal.
Wachau produces the most powerful and rich examples, while the more restrained and elegant styles come from the Kremstal and Kamptal, as the soil is more sandy loam. Additionally, the terms Federspiel (meaning “falconry”) and Smaragd (meaning “emerald”) are found on the labels of Grüner Veltliners from the Wachau region only. Federspiel wines are made from grapes harvested at a minimum of 20 degrees Brix (a measurement of ripeness) and are medium bodied, with between 11.5 percent and 12.5 percent alcohol content. Smaragd wines, higher in quality, are richer and fuller-bodied than Federspiels because the fruit is picked at riper sugar levels, a minimum of 21.4 degrees Brix. The alcohol levels of Smaragds must be 12.5 percent or higher.
I recommend trying Rudi Pichler’s 2004 Gruner Veltliner Terrassen Smaragd ($31), which earned 92 points from the Intenational Wine Cellar, as well as 90 points from the Wine Advocate. You can also review our entire stock of Grüner Veltliner for more options.
