Gruner veltliner sometimes gets a bad rap, especially in comparison with its better-known cousin, riesling, even though it is arguably Austria’s most famous grape variety. Although it comprises about a third of all Austrian vineyards, the steep landscape on which the best is grown means higher cost, so finding an everyday, affordable and excellent bottle is not as easy as you might think.
Mass-produced gruner can be too simple and dilute, with tart acidity washing away its tangy green fruit and its gingery, white peppery spiciness, which are usually what make it distinct from a punchy, dry riesling alternative. Global warming, too, has tarnished the glossiness of many a gruner, and we have found lots of lukewarm renditions with high alcohol (especially in 2017, with some reaching the dangerous 15 percent level). In such iterations can be found a waxy, fatty ripeness instead of the zingy acidity and spicy assertiveness that come from fresh, green fruit.
But while some Austrian wine producers – notably of riesling – deliberately pick late in an attempt to lock in the positive effects of botrytis (especially in rainy years like 2020), a dry gruner doesn’t necessarily need the extra ripeness, preferring a fresher, sunnier outlook with the possibility for greater drinkability – becoming almost Californian in style.
And when gruner is made well, it is almost like watching an ugly duckling turn into a swan, with the wines taking on the best characteristics of riesling and chardonnay but with a sharpened intensity and a focus of limey citrus and stone fruit, effusive spices and alluring flintiness.
With the quality and care of winemaking that goes into producing gruner now on par with riesling, vintners like Rudi Pichler in the Wachau and Weingut Nigl in Krems Valley, among others, are producing more terroir-specific bottles, often at a lesser cost because of the strong winemaking operations behind them.
The breathtaking, Unesco-designated terraced vineyards in the Wachau make some of the world’s best white wine. And gruner knocks the door open for you to understand this region with more wallet-friendly options ranging from Steinfeder (meaning a maximum alcohol content of 11.5 percent); Federspiel (11.5 percent to 12.5 percent) and the high-quality and age-worthy Smaragd (minimum 12.5 percent). All wines that use these classifications must be bone dry with no perceivable wood.
The Wachau often sucks all the air out of the discussion of high-quality white wine coming from Niederosterreich (Lower Austria), but there are tons of other amazing wine-producing areas in Lower Austria – Kremstal, Wagram and Kamptal, to name a few. Look for notes of warm citrus and white tea spice from the gruners made here.
Below are eight excellent introductions to gruner veltliner, from all of Austria’s gruner regions and all at incredible prices. While we wait for the wine world to shed all its misconceptions about gruner so it can be rightly appreciated for everything it has to offer, we can also drink it in abundance and at a relatively reasonable cost now. Enjoy.
– Nathan Slone, Associate Editor
Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Wachau Hefeabzug 2019 – JS94
KLWines.com $25.99
Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Kamptal Terrassen 2019– JS93
KLWines.com: $19.99
Schuster Grüner Veltliner Burgenland Gemischter Satz Aus Den Dörfern 2019 – JS93
KLWines.com: $19.99
Alzinger Grüner Veltliner Wachau Durnstein Federspiel 2020 – JS92
KLWines.com: $29.99
Hiedler Grüner Veltliner Kamptal Langenlois 2019 – JS92
Wine.com: $18.99
Jurtschitsch Grüner Veltliner Kamptal Ried Loiserberg EL 2019 – JS92
Sokolin.com: $29.99
Rudi Pichler Grüner Veltliner Wachau Federspiel 2019 – JS92
KLWines.com: $24.99
Nigl Grüner Veltliner Niederösterreich Freiheit 2020 – JS91
KLWines.com: $17.99
