Showing posts with label grüner veltliner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grüner veltliner. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

My first Grüner

I've heard about this grape but never had it before. Grüner veltliner is a grape found largely in Austria and to some extent in the Czech Republic. The 2004 Oriel comes from the foot of the Falkenstein cliffs. There the soil is a mixture of weatherd limestone and clay. The grapes were picked between October 23-28, 2004. This wine was fermented slow under controlled temperature. I have to say I'm quite impressed. It has a really wonderful pear nose with some interesting hints of spice. On the palate it is silky and smooth with a nice crisp but balanced acidity. It has pear with green apple flavors and a slight stone quality. I guess that would be called minerality. Normally about $20, I picked this up on sale for half off. Not too shabby.