Exploring Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s Favorite Grape

Grüner Veltliner (pronounced grooh-ner VELT-leehn-er) is a white grape best known in Austria and to a lesser extent throughout Eastern Europe. I’ve only tasted the wine a few times and haven’t been particularly enamored by it. But I’m always open to falling in love with this wine.

Count Karolyi
Grüner Veltliner

An Overview of Grüner Veltliner

According to foodandwine.com, “Grüner Veltliner, from Austria, has recently become a darling of top American sommeliers after decades of obscurity in the U.S. It likely owes its success to its fantastic pairing abilities. A refreshing, medium-bodied, peppery white wine with stone fruit flavors, Grüner Veltliner goes with everything from green salads to cold poached salmon to roasted chicken. The best Grüners can be quite expensive and have enormous aging potential.”

Where Is the Grape Grown?

Grüner Veltliner is the #1 wine grape in Austria. According to Wine Folly, “there are about 50,000 acres of Grüner Veltliner worldwide. Over 75% of Grüner Veltliner wines come from Austria.”

Winemag.com says that outside of Austria and Eastern Europe, Grüner Veltliner is grown on a small scale in:

• The U.S. in California, Oregon, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington
• Canada in British Columbia
• Australia in the Adelaide Hills
• New Zealand in the Gisborne, Marlborough and Central Otago regions

Characteristics

I love Winemag.com’s description of Grüner Veltliner: “The Grüner Veltliner grape is versatile and can produce a wide array of wines, from light and quaffable to rich and concentrated. The best dry Grüner Veltliners are perfumed, bone dry and full bodied, with high acidity and distinctive notes of spice and white pepper.” They go on to say that top Austrian producers make Grüner Veltliner wines in a rich, full-bodied style. Wine Folly says you are also likely to pick up these flavors: lime, lemon, nectarine, radish, tarragon, ginger honey and Brazil nut.

Food Pairing

As I mentioned earlier, this wine is known to be very food friendly and is especially good with spicy and rich foods. Wine Folly says that “while Grüner wines pair with classic Austrian dishes like sautéed kidneys, its newfound glory is with Asian spices. It’s also one of the few still wines that hold up against challenging vegetable fare such as artichoke and grilled asparagus.”

Wines to Look Out For

VinePair has an article highlighting the 14 best Grüner Veltliners, and the prices are very good. Here are their top three.

• Count Karolyi 2021, $12 – “It has a waxy, aloe nose with some lemon and a dose of pear. It’s soft and rich with a slight musky note.”
• Landhaus Mayer 2022, $15 – “This bottle has notes of honeyed pear and lemon with slight peppery hints on the nose. The waxy palate offers bright fruit and a tinge of creaminess.”
• Helenental Kellerei ‘GVLTAT’ 2022, $15 – “This delicious Grüner has lemon zest vibes with pops of pear and some white pepper on the nose.”

I would love to hear about your Grüner Veltliner tasting experiences.

Prost!

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save