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Feelin’ Gru-Vee

Before we begin, a bit of clarification. Yes, I know that Grüner Veltliner is an Austrian wine and that Heidi Klum is German, not Austrian. Please save your hate mail. If you can come up with an Austrian super model who better personifies all the traits of a Grüner Veltliner and is as or more famous than Heidi, let me know and I’ll admit my mistake and make the change forthwith. But if not, stop your yapping and enjoy the picture of the pretty lady. Yes, I could have chosen Arnold Schwarzenegger or Kurt Waldheim or the Vienna Boys Choir for something more authentically Austrian. Is that what you want? Would that have made you happy? Besides, both countries share a border and German is their national language. Isn’t that enough?
Now, back to more important things. Like Heidi Klum. Or...Grüner Veltliner. Like Heidi, Grüner Veltliner is pale, blonde, and pale blonde. Like Heidi, Grüner has a natural sweetness to it but also some spiciness and a sharper, more biting citric side. And like Heidi, Grüner smells wonderful (or so I imagine – about Heidi, not the wine. It really does smell wonderful). But unlike Heidi, Grüner Veltliner is not German (it’s sometimes confused for Rieslings or Gewürztraminers, and often comes in the same tall, conic-shaped bottles). It’s Austrian. Austria’s national grape, in fact. And the vast majority of Austrian Grüner Veltliner is grown along the steep banks of the Danube river in the northeast of the country, where the rocky, unforgiving soil imparts a natural stony minerality to the wine. Which we imagine you’d probably see from Heidi if you ever wound up on her bad side. (Just kidding, Heidi. We love you. Don’t get mad at us.)

This minerality sometimes leads wine drinkers to think that Grüner Veltliner is a slim wine of little substance or complexity, not as deep and robust as its white Germanic cousins (unlike Heidi, except for the slim part). But this is false. Grüner can seem thin in the glass, but when drunk it is a remarkably sophisticated and well-rounded wine (just like...okay you get it.) and nicely balanced too. Not too sweet, not too acidic, not too heavy, not too light. It’s perfect. Just like...fine, fine. I’ll stop. Jeez.

Grüner Veltliner is a terrific everyday white wine and ideal for hot spring or summer days and especially long, lazy Sunday brunches (the “champagne brunch” is, like, sooooo 1985). So why hasn’t Grüner Veltliner achieved the same notoriety as its Teutonic brethren? Why have they thrived while it has descended into the ranks of the Forgotten Grapes? Well, part of the problem lies in the fact that very little Grüner Veltliner actually makes it out of Austria. Most Grüner Veltliner either remains in country, where it is drunk and enjoyed by Austrians (it is their national grape, after all), or it gets sent to their neighbor to the north, Germany (apparently they know a good wine when they taste it). That only leaves a small percentage of Grüner to make its way to the rest of the world.

Another (arguably crackpot) theory for Grüner’s surprising lack of notoriety? How about its name. Let’s face it, Grüner Veltliner isn’t exactly the prettiest name in the world for a wine, as it sounds awfully hard and guttural, especially when you compare it to something more pleasing and melodic like Riesling. See, doesn’t that sound like a nice wine? Riesling. Now compare that to Grüner Veltliner. Big difference, eh? It’s sort of like how Heidi Klum doesn’t sound harsh or guttural either. Say it with me: Heidi Klum. You think she’d even be a fifth of the super model/celebrity she is today if her name was Gerte Hübschgemütlich? Or Ingeborg Schweinsteiger? Or Claudia Schiffer? Alright, scratch that last one. But you get the point.
Anyway, don’t let the umlaut and the hard G’s scare you off. Get out there and find yourself a bottle (or better yet, pick one up from our Friends of the Friends of the Forgotten Grapes) and try a glass of GRÜNER VELTLINER, the Heidi Klum of wine, today.
Oh, and one last thing. I know I used it in the title (strictly for the pun), but please don’t refer to Grüner Veltliner as “Gru-Vee.” It’s a stupid nickname that we in no
 way condone for such a wonderful wine. It cheapens it. Seriously. So do yourself a
 favor, skip the silly nickname and just call it by its rich, robust given German
name: Grüner Veltliner. You’ll feel better knowing you did. Thank you.   

What It Looks Like, What It Smells Like, and What  It Tastes Like

Grüner Veltliner looks like:

Grüner Veltliner smells like:

Grüner Veltliner tastes like:

One of the scents that Grüner Veltliner is well-known for is, of all things, white pepper. White pepper, as you may well know, is spicier and, well, more peppery than its black, red, and green cousins but not exactly the first scent that comes to mind when you think about Austria or Austrian cooking, let alone a white wine. But take a big whiff of a Grüner Veltliner and lo and behold, you should get a spicy, peppery white pepper nose, one of the wine’s tell-tale signs.
On top of that, you’ll also get a lot of other more traditional white wine scents in the glass. Citrus and tropical fruits? Definitely. Grass and herbs ala a Sauvignon Blanc? Check. Light honey? It’s in there. Fresh cat litter? Uh-huh...wait, did he just say “fresh cat litter”? I’m afraid I did. Grüner Veltliner can have a strong minerally scent that in some cases can smell like fresh cat litter. That’s FRESH cat litter, people. Don’t be disgusting. But this is a good thing. Trust me. It is.
A lot of the same aromas you got on the nose you’re also going to get when you taste a Grüner Veltliner. The first flavor most likely to hit your tongue will be a mellow sweet taste – more like soft honey than pure sugar – but that should immediately segue into some sharp citrus (primarily lemon) or tropical fruit (like pineapple) flavors. The minerality will be there to keep things crisp (but don’t worry, it won’t be like drinking a glass of fresh cat litter. I promise. I can’t even imagine what drinking a glass of fresh cat litter would taste like.) You may even get a grassy or green vegetable taste toward the end, similar to what you’d get with a Sauvignon Blanc. But this is Grüner Veltliner. Lots of bright, sharp citrus, a little bit of sweet, and a clean, crisp finish. That’s what you should expect because that’s what you’re going to get. All hail Austrian ingenuity!
• Grüner Veltliner (pronounced like it sounds: GROO-ner VELT-lie-ner) is the national grape of Austria, and for good reason. Gruner Veltliner is the most widely grown grape in the country, accounting for a whopping 36% of all grapes grown. To put that in perspective, of the 3.24 million total wine grape tons crushed in California in 2007, the most widely grown grape in the state – Chardonnay – accounted for only 589,260 grape tons, or around 18% of the overall total. Whoa, dat’s a lot of Grüner!
• Austria has nearly 4000 years of wine making history and was, in fact, the world’s third-largest producer of wine in the years after World War I (though truthfully, most of that wine was trucked north to Germany and blended with German varietals). Despite this history and the industrialization of their wine industry during the middle of the 20th century (or perhaps because of it), Austrian wine making was decimated and nearly wiped off the map due to a scandal in 1985. A very, very bad scandal indeed.
At that time, Austria was primarily known for producing thick sweet dessert wines, particularly favored by Germans. However, after a run of years in the early 1980s that left Austrian wines lighter, thinner, drier, and more acidic (you know, good), a few enterprising wine brokers (not the actual vintners, it should be noted) decided to take matters into their own hands. Rather than add sugar to the wine they were trying to sell, which wouldn’t thicken it and could easily be detected, these corrupt middlemen instead bolstered the wines with diethylene glycol, a chemical compound found in automotive hydraulic fluid and brake fluid and often confused with ethylene glycol, the active ingredient in antifreeze. Normally the addition of minute, non-toxic amounts of diethylene glycol (in traces so small it was actually less dangerous to consume than the alcohol in the wines) to thicken and sweeten the wines would be undetectable...unless, of course, you were the idiot wine broker who tried to declare the cost of the diethylene glycol you mixed into the wines as a tax write-off. Then, all hell would break loose.

Suffice to say, it did. Austria’s wine industry lit up like a tinderbox as cries of “antifreeze” spread across Europe and Austrian wines were banned in several countries. Oddly, though, the scandal ended up saving the Austrian wine community after nearly killing it, as it led to the creation of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board in 1986 and stricter regulations for all wines produced and exported (which is why the cap or foil of every Austrian Grüner Veltliner has the colors of the Austrian flag on it). The scandal also led winemakers in Austria to shift their focus from the sweet dessert wines to drier red and white wines, including Blaufränkisch and, hey whaddaya know, Grüner Veltliner.  
•  Austria isn’t the only country producing Grüner Veltliner, though it certainly is the most prolific. Grüner is the second most widely-grown grape in the neighboring Czech Republic, accounting for 11% of their total grape production, and Hungary – yet
another Austrian neighbor – also produces small amounts of the grape. Clearly
the last remaining bastion of the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Fun Facts to Impress/Bore People At Parties

Go On. Try It. You’ll Like It.

2006 Familie Bauer Naturnaher Weinbau Juche Grüner Veltliner

Yeah, that’s a mouthful, but in any language it means goodness. A slightly musty, citrusy nose with lots of minerality (the dreaded fresh cat litter smell), this wine starts off a little sweet but then becomes bone-dry with grass, citrus, stony minerals, and a grassy, grassy finish. Did we mention the grass? According to the notes, the wine maker is going for a “back to nature” style with this wine, and certainly hits the nail on the head with all the plants and rocks we taste. By the way, “Juche” is pronounced JYOO-ka and means “fresh and youthful.” Go figure. Our good Friends at Liquorama have this in stock right now, so grab a bottle and take a fresh and youthful nature hike without leaving your chair at home.

2006 Wolfgang Concerto Grüner Veltliner

Stonier and more peppery than the Familie Bauer, this Grüner has a bit more body and is more finessed, judging by some time it must have spent in oak (which will smooth out a wine’s flaws). You’ll get more citrus with this wine and a cleaner finish. Overall, it leans more toward a Sauvignon Blanc (if you’re into that kind of thing) in style but is still distinctly a Grüner Veltliner. Our good Friends at Napacabs.com have this wine available for you to try, so purchase a bottle, hop into the kitchen, whip up some of Brein’s suggestions, and try it out now!

2007 Domäne Wachau Terrassen Smaragd Grüner Veltliner

Yeah, we don’t know how to pronounce that word either. To be honest, we went in looking for the wine you’ll see through the link (the Steinfeder Terrassen) but got the wine listed above (the Terrassen Smaragd) instead. Same vintage, same producer, and we’re not sure exactly what the difference between the two wines is. Our German isn’t very good anymore. But this wine had your standard Grüner nose – that cat litter again, some light lemon creme, warm sugar, a hint of something floral. It was blonder than the other Grüners we tasted and more complex, the citrus flavors almost rolling into a sharp melon. You could tell this wine was younger than the others despite its color, as the acid was more pointed. It was still a terrific drink though, and

definitely worth giving a try. Pick some up at The Wine Club (but make

sure they’ve got the right one in stock first) and give it a whirl yourself.

Just don’t ask us to spell it for you.

From Brein’s Brain to Your Plate

 

 

“Bacon, artichoke, and lemon. If there were three flavors that perfectly sum up Grüner Veltliner, those are the three. Any of those or some combination of them together are going to go really well with the wine. And I know what you’re saying. ‘But Brein, don’t artichokes have that chemical in them that makes wines taste funny?’ Yes, they do, but for some reason, I’ve found that Grüner Veltliners actually power through this and will taste okay with artichokes. Go ahead and try it. You’ll be glad you did. The world needs a dependable wine that will go with an artichoke. And Grüner is it.”

“Alright, if we’re talking about bacon with a Grüner Veltliner, here’s a dish I think will go really, really well. Make yourself a BLT sandwich. You know, bacon, lettuce, tomato. Lots of mayo. White toast. Just classic. But instead of beefsteak or Roma tomatoes, use green tomatoes instead. They’re going to be less acidic than red tomatoes, and their mellowness will pair really nicely with the bacon, the mayo and with the Grüner without overpowering the wine.”
“Grüner Veltliner is an interesting wine because it’s not light enough to drink with white fish like halibut – the sweetness will overshadow the delicateness of the fish – but it’s not big enough to pair with heavier cooked fish, like ahi and swordfish or salmon. To be honest, the best fish pairing with a Grüner is salmon, but smoked salmon. The citrus in the wine tempers the saltiness and the smoke of the smoked salmon nicely, and
the sweetness will cut like a knife through the richness. Lox on a bagel,
that’s a good combination with Grüner right there. In fact, if you’re
having a lox bagel for breakfast, Grüner Veltliner will actually make
a really delicious breakfast wine with that.”

Chef Brein Clements is the chef/owner of Restaurant Omakase in Riverside, CA, which is quickly becoming SoCal’s answer to El Bulli. Minus the molecular gastronomy. He began his cooking career at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley and moved on to become Chef de Cuisine at the famed Balboa Bay Club before opening his own restaurant. Plus he’s only 27. My man knows his wine and he knows his food. Each week he’ll provide ingredient and dish recommendations that match up well with the week’s forgotten grape. You should heed what he says. No, seriously, heed it.

 

Think you know a better person, place, or thing to represent Grüner Veltliner? A better food pairing? Your own fun fact ? Disagree with Brein or our look/smell/taste test? Know of another bottle of Grüner Veltliner that we should absolutely try? Bring all your gripes, opinions, praise, suggestions and ideas to our Comments section and see what others had to say about Grüner Veltliner too!

 

Comments >>>

It’s not easy being green. Especially if you’re supposed to be a white wine. But it’s true – many Grüner Veltliners exhibit an almost pale green color in the bottle and in the glass. Some of this depends on age and some of it depends on production (namely how long the freshly crushed juice is allowed to sit on the stems and skins, the parts of the grape that impart color to the wine). Paler green and nearly clear wines means younger and less sitting for the juice. A slightly richer pale straw color means more aging and more sitting time. But odds are your Grüner is going to be pale and you’re not going to find one any more yellow than that.