Innsbruck, for all its charms, is not a hub for haut cuisine and it is not located in a wine region. So what can I recommend to a Master of Wine from overseas who will be in Innsbruck for a few days before continuing on to explore the wines of Alto Adige?
A hearty continental breakfast is part of Tyrolean hospitality, so he will likely leave his hotel or pension well-fed. The morning could be spent discovering Innsbruck’s gorgeous old town – it’s lovely arcades, the Golden Roof and a pedestrian zone with numerous cafés and boutiques. He should certainly take a look at the Hofkirche with its impressive cenotaph and bronze statues. Lunch is recommendable at the Viennese-style Café Central which has very good and typical Austrian cuisine and Austrian wines by the glass at reasonable prices in a pleasant atmosphere.
Innsbruck has not only some impressive old architecture, but the star architect Zaha Hadid has also left her mark with the Bergisel ski jump, which is just a 20 minute walk from the old town, and the hybrid funicular Hungerbergbahn. From the café at the top of the Bergisel ski jump he can enjoy a 360° view of the Inn Valley, the city, and the surrounding Alps. For a real Alpine feeling he should take the stunning Hungerbergbahn up to the panorama cable car and take that to the very top of the Hafelekar mountain for a truly breathtaking view that spans from Germany to Italy. In my opinion, the best dining in Innsbruck is currently at Restaurant Sitzwohl, where my acquaintance can enjoy a good wine list and Austrian cusine with Mediterranean touch. Sitzwohl is open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 AM – 2 AM.
The next morning he could take a picturesque 50 minute train ride to Kufstein to visit the Riedel Glas headquarters. I think he would enjoy the tour of the production facility and observing them producing the Sommelier series of glasses. The multi-media Sinfonie show is kind of funky, but I have a love/hate relationship with the also a separate place to purchase 2nd and 3rd quality items and sometime you will come upon a very lucky find there.
Located right next to the Riedel shop is the Wein & Co shop, a wine merchant with perhaps the largest selection of Austrian wines as well as other selected wines from around the world – another place I spend a lot of money. Kufstein itself is a lovely city – it reminds me of a miniature Salzburg with its fortress castle overlooking the Inn river. The old town is quite a little jewel and has several interesting shops and boutiques.
Once back in Innsbruck in the afternoon, he should crown his visit to the Tyrol with Schloss Ambras. There are always interesting exhibitions and events going on there and it is a fabulous place to discover the history, culture, and art of the region.
Other impressive places to visit not far from Innsbruck are Salzburg and Kitzbühel. Both Kitzbühel and Innsbruck have several superb restaurants and despite there being other attractions as well, you could spend days just discovering the creations of highly decorated chefs! But those are two more future blog entries…
Meanwhile this is the view from the top of the mountain on a recent hike near home:
Moderator:
Christophe Macra MW is a native of Reims and an expert in web-based collaborative communications. With a background in business consultancy, he became a Master of Wine in 2008 and now runs Esensio, a consulting firm with a wine trade focus, and Tasteo, which specialises in wine education.
Panel
Rowan Gormley is the founder of Naked Wines, a group of 20,000 wine lovers which has created a £5m fund to sponsor independent winemakers. He previously founded Virgin Wines and Virgin Money.
Eric LeVine spent nearly 13 years with Microsoft before founding cellartracker.com in 2003. It is now the leading online cellar management application with more than 100,000 collectors tracking nearly 20m bottles of wine. With 1.5m reviews online, it is one of the largest wine databases in the world.
Mike Linton is an award-winning marketing professional with almost 30 years of experience. He was Chief Marketing officer at Best Buy and at eBay. Today he consults, writes for Forbes.com, is a Director of Peet’s Coffee & Tea, and serves on the advisory board of venture capital companies.
Jancis Robinson MW became the first non-trade Master of Wine in 1984 and commands an unparalleled international reputation as a wine writer, TV presenter and judge. She is editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine, co-author of the World Atlas of Wine and writes daily for jancisrobinson.com.
MW Symposium – 25 June 2010 – Session 2 – Wine on the Web from Masters of Wine on Vimeo.
It’s about 650 km from Wörgl to Koblenz. A long, pleasant train trip through some of Germany’s most picturesque landscapes with one or two train changes. With a first class ticket in hand, I was expecting a pleasant journey and despite two train changes, I was certain I would be able to get a fair bit of work done. As I arrived at the station of my departure, it was announced that my train was expected in the station about an hour and a half late.
A quick check on the electronic time table indicated that another train headed towards Munich was just rolling into the station, two hours later than its scheduled time. This was “the” Italian train, a notoriously seedy beast that is dependably filthy and overfilled. A third train to Munich, despite being German also late, was expected in 20 minutes, but that would no longer get me to Munich in time for my connecting train to Stuttgart. I opted for the Italian train.
Unfortunately the Italian was train was exactly as expected. The aroma of stale cigarette smoke, from past decades when incinerating was still allowed on trains, steamed out of the balding plush seats. It was hot, crowded, and I was lucky to have one of the last seats available. I tried not to touch anything with my skin.
The Italian train gave up in Rosenheim and all passengers were requested to exit the train and board the German one overtaking us. The German train was also quite full and hot, but thankfully it was only a short ride to Munich. I was even in time for my connecting train to Stuttgart, which had remained waiting for us. “This will certainly be a more comfortable train”, I thought, “I’ll be able to finish the final polish my article.”
The Deutsch Bahn is evidently thinking of creative ways to attract customers and now offers free saunas in first class cabins on selected trains. To prevent the sauna steam from escaping the train, all the windows have been hermitically sealed and cannot be opened without a sledgehammer. An irate passenger filed an official complaint about the 45°C saying he was sure it would be illegal to transport animals in these conditions. Unlike an animal that would flee such conditions in lieu of cooler more pleasant environs, we stupid humans remained.
The train conductor made an announcement and apologized that there was no bistro or restaurant on board, but in the first wagon of first class there was a cabin where you could purchase beverages and snacks. This cabin was just three down from mine in the same wagon. There I found the train stewards with several ice chests hording cold, consumable items. I purchase a bottle of water, a bottle of beer and a sandwich.
I drank the water while waiting for the solid frozen beer to melt. And I nibbled on the bizarre half frozen cheese salad sandwich, which was a mixture of a mild relatively flavourless cheese with mayonnaise and chopped mandarin on processed wheat bread. Through constant, but gentle agitation of the beer bottle I was able to create a slushy consistency, a Beck’s beer slurpy if you will. This was to be my most delicious treat of the day and it kept me occupied until Stuttgart.
The train was late to Stuttgart and my connecting train to Koblenz did not wait. I had enough time to buy a bottle of cold mineral water and the next sauna on wheels was in only 20 minutes. I arrived in late in Coblenz in a hot, sticky and wilted state. The rooms at culinary school hotel where I would be lecturing the coming week are modest. Just a step above a dorm room, there is no air conditioning, no mini-bar, no safe, but each room does have a private shower, WC and a 12 inch screen TV. It was on this TV that I would watch the last minutes of the final game of the FIFA World Cup Spain vs. Netherlands. My room was the last available and it was in the top floor under the roof with two mini windows and a skylight. The room was hot and sticky, but I was given the last fan in the house. I turned on the fan t the sound of vuvzelas. Unfortunately the fan had a short and threw out the electrical circuit on the entire floor. I was able to eventually get some electricity, but unfortunately not a fan. I missed the end of the football game, but I did get to listen to an hour of adrenalin-crazed Germans racing about the city honking their car horns in the post game frenzy before falling asleep.
Reminiscing a bit and seeing parallels of my MW studies to the gymnastic trainings of my youth…
St. Laurent is the indigenous Austrian red wine grape for intellectuals. A small group of specialist Austrian winemakers have formed a “think tank” to share knowledge and experience with this rare variety and explore ways to better communicate the identity of this unique regional star.
St. Laurent thrives in the limestone gravel of Tattendorf
The fragrance of Bing cherry, bergamot, and juniper exudes from the deep, nearly opaque ruby red wine in my glass. Bewitching, appetizing, but certainly not the glass of Pinot Noir that I had requested. The sommelier had his hand over the label as he quickly poured and scurried off before I could make any reclamation. I was able to nab that elusive sommelier and get him to show me the bottle. He was rather ashamed and explained, “St. Laurent is almost the same as Pinot Noir.” Is it really? And must one be ashamed that St. Laurent isn’t Pinot Noir? I would have liked to have seen more pride in this variety at this award-winning Viennese restaurant at the Prater. Out of solidarity to St. Laurent, I did not exchange it for the Pinot Noir. It was delicious.
St. Laurent is a very rare grape variety that while cultivated in every wine-growing are of Austria, is nowhere the predominant grape. Vintner Gerhard Pittnauer from Gols on the east side of Lake Neusiedl says, “There are a few specialist producers scattered throughout the country that are passionately dedicated to the variety and have a long track record of producing high qualities. This high quality and the variation in styles appear to be a question not only of terroir, but of the vintner’s desire to express this. I think that the most important requirements for a good St. Laurent are talent, idealism, and passion.” The number of passionate and talented red wine vintners in Austria is growing and the vineyard area of St. Laurent has doubled since 1999.
A fussy diva
Hannes Reinisch and his two brothers cultivate quite a respectable share of the total vineyard area of St. Laurent in the Thermenregion at their Johanneshof estate. He explains, “St. Laurent is very demanding. It is very sensitive during flowering and susceptible to millerandage. It ripens early and is susceptible to sunburn and botrytis. In addition to this the correct soil and the age of the vines play a significant role if you aspire to make a truly great wine.” A few of the vintners report that the variety is also prone to faults caused by volatile acids and brettanomyces. But just as a fussy diva can become the darling of a leading film director, so it is that a few talented vintners have endured the trials and tribulations on their way to discovering the passion and joy of exquisite St. Laurent. Hannes Reinisch says, “St. Laurent is one of the most fascinating and valuable red wine varieties because it is capable of uniting the power and spice that one would expect of Rhône with the elegance and delicacy of Burgundy. These attributes in combination with the climatic and geological preconditions in Austria result in unique, elegant and inimitable wines that demonstrate all the virtues of the variety and terroir.”And just like a diva, St. Laurent has a rather obscure history that is woven with myths and rumours. Its name has been changed several times, possibly to give it a little more international flair. A relationship to Pinot Noir has always been suspected due to great morphological similarities. Despite this resemblance we have known for quite some time that St. Laurent possesses certain anthocyanins (responsible for colour in red wine) that are not present in the Pinot family.
The famous ampelographs Viala and Vermorel called this variety “Pinot St. Laurent” in their comprehensive work “Traité Général de Viticulture” (1901) and named Alsace as its likely origin. They report how the variety was exported from there to Germany where it was further spread. St. Laurent continues to be found predominantly in German-speaking Europe with just under 700 ha in Germany and 800 ha in Austria.Despite the modern possibilities of genetic sequencing, the ancestry of St. Laurent remains unclear. Dr. Ferdinand Regner from the College of Viticulture and Pomology Klosterneuburg explains, “An origin stemming from a Pinot crossing appears logical and explains the similarities to Pinot Noir. Despite that we find no traces of the other parent. There are genetic attributes that we have not yet found in another grape variety. If the second parent still exists, it would be easy to identify because it has left very clear traces in St. Laurent.”
A passionate history
The Klosterneuburg Monastery plays a significant historic role in the cultivation of St. Laurent. “St. Laurenz-Traube” was planted in the experimental vineyards of the monastery when it founded the world’s first viticultural school in 1863. August Wilhelm Freiherr von Babo initiated the cultivation and propagation of this variety. The most vigorous clones were then planted in the monastery’s Jungherrn vineyard in Kahlenbergerdorf in Vienna in 1893. Continued clone selection and research is practiced today by the vintner Pepi Umathum in his Frauenkirchen vineyards near Lake Neusiedl in cooperation with the research team at Klosterneuburg. Umathum places great value on genetic diversification and the ability of vines to adapt to their environment. He says, “Sankt Laurent is the desire for something new, something different in wine, a desire that leads us back to the familiar flavours of history.”
Unique terroir
Experience and observation of the variety led to prolific planting of the variety in the meagre limestone gravel of Tattendorf in 1956. The initial 5 ha of St. Laurent grew to 40 making the “Stiftsbreite” vineyard the largest contingent vineyard area planted to the variety. “The reasons for the growing vineyard area of St. Laurent in the Thermenregion are well-founded,” says vintner Georg Schneider and continues, “The dry, alluvial limestone soils of our region are perfect for the variety. The exchange of warm Pannonian climate influence from the east with the cool wind from the Viennese forest to the north provide optimal aeration after precipitation. Decisive for the unique Tattendorf character is the long ripening period in autumn when great diurnal temperature variations are experienced. St. Laurent is a variety that does not stand out with muscle and power, but with finesse, elegance, and balance.”
Stift Klosterneuburg is not only the source of many St. Laurent vines planted throughout the country, the monastery has also once again become a role model for high-quality St. Laurent wines. Dr. Wolfgang Hamm, managing director the Stift Klosterneuburg declares, “I love St. Laurent because it demands our ultimate sensitivity and is capable of rewarding us with transcendental harmony.” He grounds the extraordinary quality of the St. Laurent Grosse Reserve in the rigorous selection of fruit and restriction to production in only the best red wine vintages. He expounds further, “only free run juice from fruit sourced from old vine is used for this wine. It spends four weeks on the skins, is fermented in open vats and manual punch-down of the cap is practiced. The Grosse Reserve matures for 24 months in mostly new small oak barrels.” This wine has thus far only been produced in 2000, 2003, and 2006. The excellent 2009 vintage could likely bring the next.
Timeless classic or avant-garde?
Geog Stiegelmar of the Juris estate in Gols set the standards for high-quality St. Laurent more than two decades ago when only few Austrian vintners were producing red wines of international repute. He was the first to practice malolactic fermentation in small oak barrels with the variety. The Juris St. Laurent from 1983 is elegant proof of the greatness and longevity of St. Laurent. The vintner also created the outstanding St. Georg, a blend of St. Laurent with Pinot Noir. This continues to be one of the few Austrian blends made predominantly from St. Laurent. Georg’s son Axel and his wife Herta took over the family estate in 1995 and have further developed the cultivation of St. Laurent. “This extremely difficult and fussy variety demands absolute dedication in the vineyard. To achieve truly fine, ripe tannins, we cut away half of each bunch shortly after flowering. The Goldberg vineyard in Gols has a northeast aspect and cool, dry gravel and sand soils which yield small berried St. Laurent grapes with thick skins.”
While Juris has long been established as a classic producer of St. Laurent, Brigitte and Gerhard Pittnauer, also in Gols, are considered to lead the avant-garde. Their passion for St. Laurent takes up 35% of their estate vineyard area. They have established a terroir study of this variety and produce three single vineyard examples. The Mediterranean fragrances of the Rosenberg make it reminiscent of the northern Rhône. The Altenberg has a cooler, more Pinot-like character with silky texture and wild forest berry aroma as well as a long mineral spine. The top St. Laurent is sourced from old vines that were planted in 1965. To further enhance the uniqueness of their wines, the Pittnauers practice certified organic viticulture and spontaneous fermentation. They prefer larger and less new oak, even for their top wines.
Sensuality and depth
One also finds several dedicated vintners on the west side of Lake Neusiedl in the hills of Rust and on the slopes of the Leitha Mountains. Calcareous soils and slopes that are exposed to the warmth of the sun and cool evening breezes are the preferred locations for the fussy St. Laurent vines. Hannes Schuster vinifies his wines in multiple mini charges to allow each plot its own ideal development. “I am convinced if you allow St. Laurent to do so, it possesses the ability to transport soil and origin,” says Schuster who is certainly is not a man to blow his own horn. He doesn’t need to. His St. Laurent speaks loud and clearly for the extraordinary potential of the Zagersdorf terroir and his ability to make truly classy wines. This wine was recently awarded the best rating possible by wein.pur magazine. His St. Laurent wines are uncompromisingly mineral and express discreet sensuality and depth of character.
Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch have always played a much more prolific role in Austrian red wine cultivation. Perhaps that is why St. Laurent has been spared the trends and fashions that those varieties have gone through over the last two decades. It has always been quite an authentic regional representative. There have always been excellent examples father north in Lower Austria in areas that are more famed for their Grüner Veltliner. One such example is Schloss Gobelsburg who has recently been awarded as Falstaff champion for the variety. Winemaker Michael Moosbrugger likes to describe St. Laurent to the uninitiated as “the Austrian answer to Syrah – spicy and pepper in aroma, but paired with the elegance and finesse of its mother vine Pinot Noir.”
Due to its high demands in the vineyard and its fussiness in the cellar, the production of truly great St. Laurent is never an accident, but a question of ambition and patience. Another highly recommendable producer in Lower Austria’s Carnuntum region, Philipp Grassl says, “Making St. Laurent is always thrilling. Decisive is to harvest the fragile, assumedly early-ripening grape very late. Only then does St. Laurent achieve depth and stature with balanced freshness.” The St. Laurent Think Tank will meet the evening before VieVinum 2010 to discuss the secrets of this variety and share ways of how to make it even better. They aim to discuss the future of St. Laurent and open doors for a greater number of outstanding St. Laurent expressing unique Austrian terroir in the wine world.
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Columbia Gorge, Photo (c) Sara McAllister
Gourmets in the USA call it “Grüner” and it is sipped in the chic, top restaurants from New York to San Francisco. Grüner Veltliner is now finding its way into American vineyards as well.
“Unique. Versatile. A culinary genius. The last of the great European grape varieties!” Ten years after its successful breakthrough in the USA, Grüner Veltliner remains the darling of the wine scene. The popularity of Austria’s leading wine variety in the land of boundless possibilities continues.
The export of Grüner Veltliner in the USA began at an ideal time. The market was saturated with faceless wines at the end of the 1990s. One spoke of the ABC syndrome – Anything But Chardonnay. And one also cried, “Anything but oak!” At this time Austrian vintners were in the process of discovering the potential of the variety to express a unique terroir. The glycol scandal of the 80s had catalysed giant leap in wine quality. Low yields and improved vinification methods brought a broad spectrum of Grüner Veltliner styles in a quality that had never before been experienced. It was only a question of time until thirsty American head hunters discovered the talented natural beauty.
Permanent Place in the Hall of Fame
Terry Theise of Michael Skurnik Wines said, “Grüner Veltliner is not just chic at the moment, it deserves a permanent place in the Hall of Fame of important grape varieties and a leading role among the wines to pair with food.” Its place of honour became guaranteed through praise from wine critics like Robert Parker and Stephen Tanzer as well as diverse wine magazines like Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast.
The USA is one of the few growing wine markets in the world. Continued per capita consumption growth is predicted that would put the USA ahead of France, Italy and Spain. New vineyards are being planted in nearly every State. Because nearly no historic, cultural, or legal restrictions exist, the choice of grape variety is colourfully diverse. The number of Grüner Veltliner vines thriving in American soil is growing.
Pioneers on the East Coast
Many Europeans think that the only American wine comes from California. Only insiders know that there are great wines from Washington and Oregon as well. One might be tempted to claim that only European wine geeks know about the wonderful wines of the East Coast.
While many regions have established an identity with a particular variety – take Finger Lakes and Riesling, for example – other areas are still searching for a vine with which they can position their region. The vintner couple Ed Boyce and Sarah O’Herron from Black Ankle Winery in Maryland planted one thousand Grüner Veltliner vines in 2002. Sarah had fallen in love with the variety as she tasted a wine from the Martin Nigl Estate from the Krems Valley. They purchased their vines from a nursery in Massachusetts that has had Grüner Veltliner in its inventory since the 1970s. His Grüner Veltliner is lean, straight-forward and somewhat sauvignonesque with aromas of pear and fresh garden herbs. Ed is enthusiastic about the demand for the variety, but is not so thrilled about its performance in the extremely wet climate. Black rot makes his efforts with organic viticulture frustrating.
Herbert Zillinger, flying vineyard consultant from the Weinviertel in Austria
A vintner association on the central East Coast sees Grüner Veltliner as a promising possibility for the region. John Weygandt of Stargazers Vineyards and president of the Pennsylvania Quality Assurance Group invited the Weinviertel vintner Herbert Zillinger to their vintner conference. Zillinger spoke about the vinification of the variety and inspected several Grüner Veltliner vineyards. “For the most part, the yields on the East Coast are exceedingly high and they are harvesting much too early. The wines are also vinified far too reductively for my tastes. Despite this, the climatic and geological conditions, particularly in Pennsylvania, are similar to those in Austria. Tremendous potential certainly exists.”
Galen Glen Vineyards in Pennsylvania is situated at a fairly high elevation of 320m. Grüner Veltliner feels at home here in a slate slope. The decision to plant Grüner Veltliner was actually not even based on the affinity to terroir. Winemaker Sarah Troxell admits, “I read in Food & Wine magazine about how well Grüner Veltliner pairs with my favourite vegetable, white asparagus. After my husband Galen and I drank a wine from the Hirsch Estate, Grüner became our favourite variety.” The vines bring Galen and Sarah very healthy, aromatic fruit. After Herbert Zillinger’s motivating visit, further quality improvements are being made and another 2.5 hectares of Grüner Veltliner is planned.
Washington
Bob Betz MW of Betz Family Winery produces predominant red wine of premium quality from fruit that he obtains from the Columbia Valley on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. But right beside his front door in Woodinville near Seattle are 150 Grüner Veltliner vines. “I adore Grüner. It is a combination of crystal clear structure and intensity; its balance can simply not be exceeded. I will harvest my first GV in autumn 2009 and produce a few bottles just for myself and my friends. I will never be able to achieve the quality of Pichler, Alzinger or Bründlmayer here, but it would be possible in the Columbia Gorge.”
The Columbia River cuts a deep gorge in the volcanic Cascade Mountains on the east end of the Columbia Gorge AVA. Cool ocean winds rush through this river canyon. The vegetation on the west end is green and lush, but as one travels east, it grows dramatically warmer and drier. There are currently only around 120 ha of vines in this AVA, but the quality of the fruit is extaordinary. The vineyards are breathtakingly beautiful on both the Washington and on the Oregon side of the river. “2009 will be my third harvest with Grüner Veltliner from the Underwood Mountain Vineyard,” says Rich Cushman from Viento Winery in Hood River. “I press whole bunches and let the wine mature long on the fine lees. Grüner thrives wonderfully here and my clients just as enthusiastic as I am.” The vineyard is situated 400m above the river with a majestic view of the snow and glacier covered Mount Hood. The climate is harsher than in the Wachau and the slopes are dominated by basalt rather than primary rock. Perhaps this is the explanation for the unique exotic fruit and mineral components of the Viento Grüner Veltliner and from the neighbouring Syncline Winery.
Prayer Rock cellar door welcomes visitors for wine tasting
“We were the first to plant and produce Grüner Veltliner in Oregon,” says Stephen Reustle. Reustle and his wife Gloria moved from Pennsylvania to Umpqua Valley in south Oregon to establish Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards in 2001. After consultation with the experts Greg Jones and Dr. Richard Smart, they planted 14 hectares of vines where grapes had never before been planted. The vine material was sourced from University of California Davis and 1.5 ha of Grüner Veltliner was planted in a loam slope of 35° inclination. All of the vineyards have biblical names and were planted with the help of Reustle’s friends and church community. Umpqua Valley is situated east of the Cascades and protected from the wet influence of the Pacific making it a hot and dry area. But Prayer Rock is situated at 800m and a forest on the ridge of the mountain above the vineyard provides cool evening lee winds. Drip irrigation relieves stress. The result is a very typical Grüner Veltliner with refreshing acid, green apple fruit and a hint of pepper.
The Willamette Valley is situated on the other side of the Cascade Mountains and is world famed for its Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris. There we discovered three wineries producing Grüner Veltliner in three different AVAs. The Raptor Ridge Winery planted their GV in a strip of loess in the Chehalem Mountains AVA and had their first harvest in 2009. Winemaker Scott Schull planted his vines with 5 meters between the rows and 1.5 m between the vines – he will hardly achieve the concentration of his role model Emmerich Knoll at this density.
Harry Peterson-Nedry of Chehalem wines, Photo (c) Marvin Collins
Harry Pederson-Nedry of Chehalem Wines is more experienced; he was the first to plant 22 ha of vines in what is today the Ribbon Ridge AVA in 1980. A unique soil composition of Basalt, marine limestone and loess called Willakenzie soil initially inspired him to plant Burgundian varieties. His newest baby is Grüner Veltliner which he planted over a consecutive three year period. Due to the fertile soil and the abundant rain of the region, he chose low-vigour roots for his vines and planted at 1m x 1.5m density. The first yield was small and only 40 cases were produced in 2008. These were immediately sold out and unfortunately, we could not taste it.
Daedalus Cellars was also convinced that the cool climate of the Willamette Valley would suit Grüner Veltliner. Pam Waldon and her husband Aaron Hess encountered the variety during their travels and work in Europe. The young couple was able to convince their growers in the Eola Hills near Salem to regraft ¾ of a hectare of Müller Thurgau to Grüner Veltliner. The first harvest was in 2007 and the wine was literally ripped out of their hands – people loved it. The young winemakers do not yet own their own vineyards. They would like to have not only the region’s dominant varieties Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris, but also more Grüner Veltliner.
California
Rudi Strasser’s father was Austrian and his mother was from Hungary. It was this Austro-Hungarian heritage that inspired the Cabernet vintner to plant a couple Grüner Veltliner vines in 2003. The first harvest was experimental. Rudi underestimated Grüner Veltliner’s need for protein stabilisation with the second harvest and had to recall the few bottles that were initially sold. Despite this, the Californian’s curiosity had been stirred and the pre-oders for his Grüner Veltliner far exceeded his production capacity. For this reason Rudi von Strasser decided to donate a quantity of this wine to the Napa Valley Charity Auction and sell the rest exclusively in local restaurants. In the meantime the vineyard area has been expanded to 1 hectare. Still, Rudi views himself as a Cabernet Sauvignon specialist, “And besides, the soil and warm climate here in the Diamond Mountain AVA is predestined for red wines. Grüner will remain a little niche specialty.”
Richard Alfaro is new to the wine branch and quickly made a name for himself with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah. His success is based on the unique terroir of the Santa Cruz Mountain AVA south of San Francisco. Richard and his wife Mary Kay purchased a 30 ha apple orchard and converted this to wine. Alfaro experience a “groovy epiphany” on a visit to Nikolaihof. As a result, the newest plantings are Grüner Veltliner. “I know that it will be easy to sell, but I swear my reasons are not only commercial. The life of a vineyard is long and you have to plan for the next generation. Grüner is not just a passing fashion. It is quite simply one of the very best grape varieties and accompanying wines to food.” As the eyes wander over the raw, mountainous terrain and one feels the cool breeze, one knows intuitively that Grüner Veltliner will feel at home here.
International Classic
There is still yet little track record for Grüner Veltliner production in the USA. As so often in young wine regions, vines are not initially always planted in their ideal soil and climate. There are presently only two main Grüner Veltliner clones available in the USA. The vine nurseries are supplied by the University of California Davis. In a couple of successful vineyards, for example the one at Galen Glen in Pennsylvania and in the Eola Hills near Salem, Oregon, it is not the Davis clones, but more likely “suitcase” clones of unclear origins that are cultivated. Experience still needs to be collected in the various vineyards and adjustment made. Experiments with vinification are also being made and methods perfected. Much of what Austrian vintners know and have practiced with the variety for generations still appears to be mysterious magic to colleagues in the USA. Austrian vintners should feel flattered by this admiration. Austrian Grüner Veltliner is seen as a role model on an international scale and can now be considered a true classic wine.
