- white
- 0 in stock
- Organic
- Low Sulfur
This is a truly great interpretation of Grüner Veltliner, which could challenge anything you thought you knew about this grape. Grüner is the most famous autochthonous grape from Austria, and is certainly the one most associated with the country on the international market. It is planted on more than 14,000ha, which is 31% of the total acreage. Depending on where it is planted and when it is harvested, it shows significant differences in style. Wines range from light and vivacious, to the very, very ripe ones more common in the Wachau-Kremstal-Kamptal trifecta of wine regions, where Grüner is king.
The vines for this Joiseph bottling are coming from a single site, but because it is voluntarily declassified from the Leithaberg DAC (the DAC system in Austria is not a very inclusive club, but that’s a whole other story), you can now understand why the label has a little hangman game printed on the back label. This Grüner comes from poorer soils of limestone up in the Leitha Hills, on one of their coolest sites. This explains the tension on the palate, that keeps reeling us in for more. It was made with a bit of pre-soaking of the grapes for 48 hours, prior to pressing (to extract more juice and have better results when pressing) and then aged in old wood. I recommend a decanting of this wine, as it has so much more to offer with oxygen and time. We drank it over a few days and it kept on giving with the ripe fruit, the nuttiness, the controlled oxidative aromas, all tuned up by the grip of acidity and dare I say it…mineral character. This wine would easily age 5 to 10 years if you have the patience. If you come with a pre-defined image of what Grüner should taste like, it might leave you in a shock. But come in with an open heart, and you’ll leave with a blown mind. Root vegetables, creamy dips or sauces, hard cheeses, roasted nuts: all potential friends with Altenberg. Some roasted birds too, or even aged pork, with great umami flavors. -Emily Campeau