WTN: 2005 Steininger Gru Vee.

WTN: Karl Steininger Grüner Veltliner Steven Holl Austria 2005. Beekman Wines, Glen Rock; $17.00. 13% alcohol. Imported by Prescott Wines, New York, NY. Prescott Wines.

Light yellow straw color; clear hue, lovely aroma of pears and apples with citrus notes that strengthened over time, mineral, pepper and tobacco notes; very good fruit and herb tastes; medium mouth feel; good acidity, which remained smooth in the glass for two hours; long complex finish with fruit and herbal notes. 4*.

Regards, Bob


Notes:

1. "Gru Vee" to winelovers, I am told.

2. My first glass closure. I know that historically glass stoppers were replaced by cork a couple of centuries ago -- reasons of economy are usually given for the change. Call me old fashioned, but I applaud the return of this elegant closure. Easy to remove, easy to replace to store the bottle in the fridge for the next day, quite beautiful, really.

3. I get cranky thinking about cork -- six corked bottles in the past three weeks. I'll use this closure for a long time. I often keep half a bottle in the fridge for the next day (when Janet isn't drinking wine). Putting a cork closure back in the bottle offers two unpleasant alternatives: shove it back in the way it came out, often almost impossible, or shove it in upside down -- but that always offends my sense of order. This glass closure is an elegant alternative that I'll treasure until my next bottle under glass.

4. This wine is named after the architect who designed the Loisium, a wine museum for the town of Langenlois.

5. This wine matched well well with rare tuna steaks, fresh sweet corn, and a melange of roasted vegetables.

6. Gru Vee is new to me; I liked Robin's recent note on the variety: "David Schildknecht wrote "roasted lentils" - an aroma that I have never found in a wine - and now I can't get the idea out of my head. I'm not sure I find it here, though; but there's fragrant white pepper for sure, green garden peas, and more than a hint of something peachy. The aromatics almost lead me to expect light sweetness, but it's bone-dry and crisply acidic, delicate and light-bodied, yet there's steel in there, and rocky Austrian minerality." I didn't find the lentils either, but I did find a great deal of other good stuffings.

Robin's tasting note.

Regards, Bob

I like Steininger, great QPR wines with lots of character. I've recently had the "Grand Gru", a not-so funny word play, but the wine makes up for it in deliciousness. They are best known for their Sekt, of which they make about a half dozen from as many varietals.



Prost!
-Bill

The aromatics almost lead me to expect light sweetness, but it's bone-dry and crisply acidic

Bob, that description is exactly the kind of wine that I love. I also argue for the exact same model to be applied more often to the overtly aromatic "one-note"-type viniferas, as may be said of the Muscat varieties and, perhaps less often, Gewurztraminer.

I haven't had this particular GV, though your note sure makes me want to seek it out.

Bill, thanks for the head's up. I see some of those designations are available in our area. My learning indicates this is a wine to drink during the first year, do you agree?

Paul, I though Robin captured my reaction exactly in the sentence of his that you quoted. I wrote my note first, then did a little bit of surfing and was delighted to see that Robin described this wine so much better than I did.

Good wine, no matter whose doing the writing, though. :-)

Regards, Bob

If you like Steininger, you gonna love Tegernseerhof. Even if, like me, you have to gather your wits first before pronouncing it. The Tegernseerhof Höhereck GV is a truly amazing wine, at once brisk and lush, and filled with the aromas and flavors of apricot, mango, peach, pear...hurts so good just to think of it...

My learning indicates this is a wine to drink during the first year, do you agree?

I think Steininger points to a fresher, younger style (christ, I sound like a beer commercial), but we were just talking about the appeal of long-lived GV and it's "Burg Blanc" similiarity. At that price why not lay it down?



Prost!
Bill

Thanks, Bill.

Joel Mitchel has now reviewed this wine and the glass closure. As you know, he's my favorite local New Jersey retailer. I thought you might enjoy his take.

Most people have gotten reasonably accustomed to screw caps, and some people actually prefer them Now along comes another type of glosure: the glass top stopper. You must see this to appreciate its elegance and beauty. It won't be appearing on cheap wines because it is significantly more expensive than corks or Stelven enclosures, but visually it is well worth the price. The wine? It's wonderful. Softer and with more fruit and body than the Saloman Grüner that sells so well, it is clean, very well balanced, and just a beautiful white wine.

Now that I've learned that Gru Vee can age, I've ordered a case to see how this wine develops over the next several years.

Regards, Bob

Joel Mitchel has now reviewed this wine and the glass closure. As you know, he's my favorite local New Jersey retailer. I thought you might enjoy his take.

... [The glass stopper] won't be appearing on cheap wines because it is significantly more expensive than corks or Stelven enclosures, but visually it is well worth the price. The wine? It's wonderful. Softer and with more fruit and body than the Saloman Grüner that sells so well, it is clean, very well balanced, and just a beautiful white wine.

From what I was told by Rupert Summerer — the glass stopper ("Vino-Lok", http://www.vino-lok.de/ site also in English) pioneer in Austria, bottling 100% of his production under glass since vintage 2004 — price for stopper plus bottle is 52 euro ¢. There are high quality cork stopppers at the same price and even up to 1 euro.

Willi Sattler from Sattlerhof (Styria) told us that using glass stoppers for his basic line would rise the price by EUR 0.20 ex cellars.

Btw, spelling is Salom_o_n.

Thanks for the info, Michael, and for correcting my mis-spelling.

I hope all is well with you.

Regards, Bob

Bob, it occurs to me that the inside diameter of 750ml bottles, and most 1.5L bottles are of equal inside diameters. is it possible to buy these glass stoppers so that one can throw away the cork, and the rubber stoppers? Do the glass stoppers fit well enough that I can lay an opened and reclosed Riesling bottle down in my fridge without fear of spillage? Somehow I am thinking that the answer here is a resounding no.

Never occurred to me to lie dowm with a 750 ml or a 1.5 liter bottle, Bob.

Sorry. Failure of imagination, I suppose.

Works fine, standing upright. Both sizes. But maybe that's just me. And in my refrigerator.

One of the true joys of being an early adapter -- I'll try both of your suggestions. They both sound like they have real promise.

Revert in due course.

When I was younger, of course, I would be back to you much sooner.

Gotta lay these old bones down much more carefully these days. :-)

Back in a day or two.

Regards, Bob

Bob, it occurs to me that the inside diameter of 750ml bottles, and most 1.5L bottles are of equal inside diameters. is it possible to buy these glass stoppers so that one can throw away the cork, and the rubber stoppers?

No, you need special bottles.

Do the glass stoppers fit well enough that I can lay an opened and reclosed Riesling bottle down in my fridge without fear of spillage?

Definitely yes.

Do the glass stoppers fit well enough that I can lay an opened and reclosed Riesling bottle down in my fridge without fear of spillage?

Definitely yes.

Just to elaborate a bit: the vino-lok closure appears to be one familiar to chemists for over a century. It looks like a fire-polished ground glass stopper, used to seal flasks since the 19th Century (at least). If precisely machined, they do seal very tightly, but if not one must use a sealant (usually silicone grease or a Teflon sleeve) to improve the seal. Since Michael Pronay says yes, I presume that vino-loks are precisly machined.

Mark Lipton

Sorry Mark, no.

What I was telling is the fact that I had opened and re-sealed glas stoppered bottles on their side in the fridge without leakage problem.

Ototh, the glass stoppers are not precision ground but there is a gasket made from PVDC (the same material that the sealiong foil in screwcaps are made of); the stopper "snaps" into the bottle. If you look at http://www.vino-lok.de there are pics (you can enlarge).

Sorry Mark, no.

What I was telling is the fact that I had opened and re-sealed glas stoppered bottles on their side in the fridge without leakage problem.

Ototh, the glass stoppers are not precision ground but there is a gasket made from PVDC (the same material that the sealiong foil in screwcaps are made of); the stopper "snaps" into the bottle. If you look at http://www.vino-lok.de there are pics (you can enlarge).

Got it. Yes, that's a variation on what I was referring to. Thanks for the clarification.

Mark Lipton