LA Times article on Grüner Veltliner

The LA Times has done a springtime profile on Austria's signature white wine, a favourite of many of us here:

[url=http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wine4apr04,1,4571481.story?coll=la-headlines-food]Grüner Veltliner: In step with spring
Austria's minerally white wine complements the season's freshest menus[/url]

I have to add a few comments, or afterthoughts, based on the excerpt below:

When, in his teens, Wolfgang Puck left Austria to hone his cooking skills in France, he didn't believe his homeland was capable of producing great wine. (That early stint, in Burgundy, may have reinforced this impression.) While he was establishing himself abroad, the wine industry in Austria did what it could to uphold his initial opinion, with high yields (leading to wines with less concentration), a focus on cheap bulk production and a general lack of inspiration.

Then on a visit home in the early '90s — there were no Austrian wines in any of his restaurant wine lists at the time — Puck drove through the Wachau, one of the country's premier wine regions, and visited the home of winemaker F.X. Pichler. "He brought out five wines," says Puck, "without telling me what they were or who they were from, and I tasted them. When he told me they were all Grüner Veltliners from the Wachau, I said, 'You must be joking. These cannot be Austrian wines.' I could not believe how beautiful they were."

I've always said that quality is the operative word anywhere you go, and no matter what the grape variety is. See, I never even knew that there was a time when Austria was mainly known for bulk wine.

I think that this upsurge in interest and recognition is something that continental North American wineries, with their own rare and obscure grape varieties, should think about and do their best to emulate. It's happening already in Ontario and the Finger Lakes to give but two examples, but there are so many more areas of potential viticulture that should have - and deserve to have - their parallel "Austria & GV" moments.

Most of the info in the article is correct, except for a few details.

First: "The lesser wines are typically mixed with seltzer and ice to make spritze, consumed on summer afternoons in street-side Vienna cafes." That's pretty much nonsense, but nice to read.

Second: the article forgets to mention that by law any Austrian wine label has to mention the degree of sweetness, so it's easy to pick the dry ones: "dry", trocken (up to 0.9% rs), "half-dry", halbtrocken (0.9—1.2%), "half sweet", lieblich (1.2—4.5%), and "sweet", süß (over 4.5% of rs).

Third: the article doesn't mention the fact that by law any Austrian wine label has to mention the alcohol content (with a much lesser tolerance of ±0.5% compared to ±1.5% in the US), so it's perfectly easy to take a choice of style: light (up to 12%), medium (12—13%), full-bodied (13% up).

Anyhow, enjoy GV!

Michael, many thanks for the corrections. I value your input and that of all our Austrian participants.

Yes - I love Austrian wines, period. Every time I go to our fine wine boutique, Vintages, I always check to see what Austrian goodies are being featured. The Trocken ones are invariably my favourites as far as whites go.

Paul,

thank you for your nice words.

Let me clarify my statement: First: "The lesser wines are typically mixed with seltzer and ice to make spritze, consumed on summer afternoons in street-side Vienna cafes." That's pretty much nonsense, but nice to read.

It's not that "Gespritzter" doesn't exist — it does, of course, and is quite popular (but without ice, of course) —, but the fact that lesser GVs would end up this way. The wine that typically ends as Gespritzter is not "lesser GV", but "Heurigen", young wine from the youngest vintage without varietal designation (and usually a blend of grape varieties). And even for this type of wine, the majority is drunk as it is, not blended with sparkling water.

If the LA times has finally caught on, does that mean that GV is no longer cool?

It's not that "Gespritzter" doesn't exist — it does, of course, and is quite popular (but without ice, of course) —, but the fact that lesser GVs would end up this way. The wine that typically ends as Gespritzter is not "lesser GV", but "Heurigen", young wine from the youngest vintage without varietal designation (and usually a blend of grape varieties). And even for this type of wine, the majority is drunk as it is, not blended with sparkling water.

As any visitor to a Heuriger can easily attest. I also suspected that comment about GV in Gespritzers, but I couldn't honestly tell you what is in them. They are quite refreshing in summertime, though.

BTW, although they were not named in the article, Emily Weissman of winemonger tells me that they were interviewed at length to provide information for the article. Most likely they were misunderstood when talking about Gespritzers.

Mark Lipton

If the LA times has finally caught on, does that mean that GV is no longer cool?

I am afraid that GV leaves me cold and feeling inadequate. GV is much too subtle for my taste buds and I'd have difficulty in distinguishing GV from Pinot Gris and Pinot Bianco in a blind tasting.

Warren, in this case it's quite clear: You haven't had the real thing. A Hirtzberger Honivogl, an FX Pichler Kellerberg, a Bründlmayer Lamm, a Schloss Gobelsburg Renner, a Hirsch Heiligenstein — just try to taste one of these. I'm definitely sure that you won't take them for pinot blanc or gris!

[David M. Bueker]

Oh my gosh, the 2005 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Renner is a fantastic wine, and at about $25/bottle a great value in dry white wine.

The other big difference Warren, is that the top Grüner Veltliners reward long aging. I've had bottles from 1973 that were deliciously evolved.

[Robin Garr]

I am afraid that GV leaves me cold and feeling inadequate. GV is much too subtle for my taste buds and I'd have difficulty in distinguishing GV from Pinot Gris and Pinot Bianco in a blind tasting.

Piling on here, Warren, I know you can take it ... you really owe it to yourself to taste more GV. To me, it's the transparency and the minerals ... I think of GV much more in stylistic kinship with Loire whites - specifically Muscadet - or Riesling without the aromatics - than Pinot Gris or Blanc.

[David M. Bueker]

I am afraid that GV leaves me cold and feeling inadequate. GV is much too subtle for my taste buds and I'd have difficulty in distinguishing GV from Pinot Gris and Pinot Bianco in a blind tasting.

Piling on here, Warren, I know you can take it ... you really owe it to yourself to taste more GV. To me, it's the transparency and the minerals ... I think of GV much more in stylistic kinship with Loire whites - specifically Muscadet - or Riesling without the aromatics - than Pinot Gris or Blanc.

Of course the stylistic resemblance to Muscadet really only works for the less expensive/steinfeder wines. The richer GVs can have much more in common with White Burgundy (less the oak and oxidation) or richer Alsatian Rieslings (less the sugar) than the more austere Loire whites.

[Robin Garr]

The richer GVs can have much more in common with White Burgundy (less the oak and oxidation) or richer Alsatian Rieslings (less the sugar) than the more austere Loire whites.

Point well-taken, although I don't find the comparison as apt. An excellent Wachau Smaragd GV, to me, is really sui generis, and analogies just don't work as well (imo) as the comparison of lighter-style GVs and Muscadet.

I still say it's the rocks, though. Rocks rock, and it's hard to find them in the white Pinot varieties other than maybe a few outlying PGs from Collio or Alsace.

I agree that quality GV is a wine of substance. Unfortunately, I think that the higher up one goes in quality, the harder it is to find the wines (true across most genres, I would think - supply vs. demand). Here in Ontario, we get the lowest of the low, but also some very pleasant examples now and then. A trip to Austria itself, though, is probably the best way to sample as many of the great ones as possible.

[David M. Bueker]

The richer GVs can have much more in common with White Burgundy (less the oak and oxidation) or richer Alsatian Rieslings (less the sugar) than the more austere Loire whites.

Point well-taken, although I don't find the comparison as apt. An excellent Wachau Smaragd GV, to me, is really sui generis, and analogies just don't work as well (imo) as the comparison of lighter-style GVs and Muscadet.

I still say it's the rocks, though. Rocks rock, and it's hard to find them in the white Pinot varieties other than maybe a few outlying PGs from Collio or Alsace.

I agree that the Wachau wines are in their own league (in style and price!). I tend to buy a lot from Brundlmayer and Schloss Gobelsburg, and find that richer style maybe does not resemble White Burgundy, but it certainly can replace it! Perhaps that's a more appropriate thing to say, sice Grüner Veltliner really is a distinctive grape variety.

[Robin Garr]

that richer style maybe does not resemble White Burgundy, but it certainly can replace it! Perhaps that's a more appropriate thing to say, sice Grüner Veltliner really is a distinctive grape variety.

Funny thing, I just said almost exactly the same thing the other day about Lugana from Lombardy (Lake Garda), an even more under-rated white of potential greatness, imo.