Pronounced "Grooner Felt- Leener" this wine varietal sounds more like a European villain from an action movie than a wine. But a wine it is and a bloody nice one too! Grüner is Austria's most grown grape with a third of all wines grown being Grüner Veltliner.
The wines are light, refreshing and tangy, dry with high acidity & perfect as an alternative to either Sauvignon Blanc or even Riesling. This is such an accessible wine which you are definitely going to see more and more of it coming into the NZ market (at least I hope so!). If all that wasn't enough to convince you, it's also an amazing food wine which pretty much goes with all white meats, seafood, shellfish and cheeses & even spicy dishes. I know this is an overused term but it really is a great all rounder.
You can't talk Grüner and not mention Seifried's in Nelson as Austria is vineyard owner Hermann Seifried's homeland. This is definitely a great example of Grüner in that it is very true to varietal. The 2016 has aromas & flavours of citrus, apple, pear and white pepper. It's refreshing & delicious, vegan & frankly a steal at $17. It's bone dry with less than 2 grams of residual sugar
Marlborough stalwarts Saint Clair Family Estate's 2015 Grüner Veltliner has lovely fresh flavours of pear and apple and feels typical of a zesty floral Marlborough white wine. Dry with only 2.5 grams of residual sugar this Grüner is widely available for $22
Bannockbrae in Central Otago's 2016 Grüner Veltliner is called “Marlene’s Grüner” is again a very typical Grüner but with the classic Central Otago aroma characteristics of stone fruit. Dry (2.45grams) with high acidity this wine was named after an Austrian high school exchange student whom the the winemakers family hosted 16 years ago. Through Marlene's parents, they learnt all about this amazing wine & were one of the first NZ wineries to get the Grüner clone when it first came to NZ in 2008.
So if you like a Sauv & want to try something new, give a Grüner a go!
Click the link below to hear my chat with Trudi Nelson on RadioLIVE about this little known wine & why you should try it out