Nikolaihof Hefeabzug Gruner Veltliner 2010
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Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This 2011 vintage is especially detailed and snappy and you seem to taste every pebble and each lee. Light but long, like spring water or a high-mountain white wine, with great aging potential.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This powerful, plush-tasting Grüner boasts concentrated flavors of apple tart, baked peach, ruby grapefruit and gooseberry. Unctuous in the midpalate, with a lingering finish of smoke and spice notes. Very expressive. Drink now through 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Despite early-harvest, the Nikolaihof 2010 Gruner Veltliner Hefeabzug weighs-in at, for this bottling, relatively robust over-12% alcohol, which is all the more surprising considering that this wine has seldom exhibited a more delightful sense of levity. There is almost a sweet sense to the crisp green bean, apple, and pear succulently displayed on a lushly-textured, lees-enriched palate. A refreshing thread of lemon juice and a sense of crushed stone suffusion speak to the brightness and mineral density characteristic for this vintage at its best, while a bittersweet, Pinot Blanc-like suggestion of corn shoots adds to the stimulation of a long finish.
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Fun to say and delightfully easy to drink, Grüner Veltliner calls Austria its homeland. While some easily quaffable Grüners come in a one-liter—a convenient size—many high caliber single vineyard bottlings can benefit from cellar aging. Somm Secret—About 75% of the world’s Grüner Veltliner comes from Austria but the variety is gaining ground in other countries, namely Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United States.
Appreciated for superior wines made from indigenous varieties, Austria should be on the radar of any curious wine drinker. A rather cool and dry wine growing region, this country produces wine that is quintessentially European in style: food-friendly with racy acidity, moderate alcohol and fresh fruit flavors.
Austria’s viticultural history is rich and vast, dating back to Celtic tribes with first written record of winemaking starting with the Romans. But the 20th century brought Austria a series of winemaking obstacles, namely the plunder of both world wars, as well as its own self-imposed quality breach. In the mid 1980s, after a handful of shameless vintners were found to have added diethylene glycol (a toxic substance) to their sweet wines to imitate the unctuous qualities imparted by botrytis, Austria’s credibility as a wine-producing country was compromised. While no one was harmed, the incident forced the country to rebound and recover stronger than ever. By the 1990s, Austria was back on the playing field with exports and today is prized globally for its quality standards and dedication to purity and excellence.
Grüner Veltliner, known for its racy acidity and herbal, peppery aromatics, is Austria's most important white variety, comprising nearly a third of Austrian plantings. Riesling in Austria is high in quality but not quantity, planted on less than 5% of the country’s vineyard land. Austrian Rieslings are almost always dry and are full of bright citrus flavors and good acidity. Red varietal wines include the tart and peppery Zweigelt, spicy and dense Blaufränkisch and juicy Saint Laurent. These red varieties are also sometimes blended.