Exploring Grüner
Confession: I’m not a Grüner person.
Or, I wasn’t until recently. Initially, I wanted to blame it on my love of Gewürztraminer. In the past when given the choice, I’d always jump straight to flavor town and skip a taste of what my friend, Adrian, so lovingly calls Gewürz-lite.
I recently realized the massive disservice I was doing to myself (someone trying to learn about wine) buy ignoring an entire varietal just because I didn’t love a few specific bottles. So, I decided to have some fun and explore Grüner across the world (drink more wine? Ugh. Fine. 😏).
This weekend I tried the Hosmer Estate Winery 2018 Grüner Veltliner (Finger Lakes, Cayuga Lake AVA) side-by-side with the Bründlmayer Terrassen Kamptal 2019 Grüner Veltliner (Austria) with my husband. To be clear, this wasn’t a competition and there is no winner. There are too many differences between each wine like region, growing season, age of vines, winemaker, etc. for this to be a battle. The focus was exploration, and gaining a better understanding of two regions on different sides of the world, often described within the same breath.
That ray of sun, tho!
Hosmer Estate Winery 2018 Grüner Veltliner (sold out), Finger Lakes
Bright and alive with fruit and citrus. Chalkiness with a nice mouthfeel, and then somehow toasty & nutty as it warms. It’s tasty and fun and exactly what I want to drink as the world wakes up from it’s seasonal fog to these perfectly in-bloom spring weather days meant to be spent outside ignoring your allergies and doing the things that make you happy. For me, that was looking at pictures of vineyards and speaking nerdy with my soulmate in life and wine, Edna. (Just kidding, I obviously meant Andy 😂).
Purchased from the winery and no longer available (oop!), but this varietal is always a star in Hosmer’s portfolio, especially with winemaker Julia at the helm.
Bründlmayer Terrassen Kamptal 2019 Grüner Veltliner, Austria
Ripe and juicy fruit jumps from the glass. Salinity and citrus also come up to say hey. And, something unexpected that makes me want to search for it again in my next sip: kiwi–just a whisper as it warms. Super clean and refreshing and feels like a vibe. I want to get a case delivered to Martha’s Vineyard for summer fêtes with fresh shucked oysters on the back deck before warm lobster rolls (toasted buns and butter, not mayo) & fried clams with Frank’s. You in?
Purchased from Kelly Selects. Do yourself a favor and buy the beautifully curated 6-pack – a portion of the sales are donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to fight for racial justice. Seems like money well spent to me.