Winemaker Notes
Sophisticated nuances of spices, ripe apples and tropical fruit on the nose. A powerful texture on the palate with mineral salts, luscious apple fruit and structure. The wine is commanding, full bodied yet soft and luxurious. Elegant, mouthwatering acidity and fruit notes create dynamic tension on the lingering finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Give this a bit of time to open up and this Burgundy-like version of Grüner Veltliner will reward you. It features a round profile, with nice verve to the notes of peach and apricot (which are accented by wax, hazelnut and vanilla spice). It is complex and long, with a seductive aftertaste.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From 40+-year-old vines on shale limestone soils in a south-facing vineyard and vinified in stainless steel, the 2021 Ried Hermannschachern Grüner Veltliner opens with an intense and refreshing mineral and limestone-driven bouquet of white fruits and sur lie notes. Aged on the lees until April and bottled in late spring of this year, this is a round, vivacious and elegant Veltliner with playful acidity and fine phenolic grip on the stimulating and saline finish. This is a supple Veltliner with an aromatic, juicy and finely tannic finish.
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.