Grüner Veltliner with Brett Weber from The Whistling Swan

While the name may not be that familiar, (nor easy to pronounce), Grüner Veltliner, properly pronounced Groo ner Vehlt LEEN ehr, (with the accent on the fourth syllable), is an exceptional white wine worth checking out. Grown for centuries in Austria, food-friendly Grüner Veltliner has seen a steady rise in production as a varietal since the 1980s, and now accounts for 37 percent of all plantings there. The grape takes its name from the German word for green (Grüner) combined with veltliner, which is purported to be derived from the name of an Italian town, Valtellina.

In Austria, Grüner Veltliner is made in many styles, with a lot of the production focused on wines that are meant to be drunk young, within months of bottling. Some is made into sparkling wines, as well. However, the wines that come from the steep, rocky banks of the Danube west of Vienna, in Wachau, Kremstal and Kamptal, are often best appreciated with some aging. These grapes are grown alongside Reisling plantings on slopes that are so steep, there is barely any soil at all. The resulting wines are very pure and minerally, with a natural high acidity that allows them to age for years. In fact, in recent blind tastings, Grüner Veltliners have bested world-class Chardonnays, including wines from Mondavi Maison and Louis Latour, among others.

Those familiar with these wines sometimes playfully refer to them by their nickname “Groo-vee.” What makes these wines so popular, however, is their ability to pair well with a variety of foods including some hard to match items like asparagus and even artichokes.

Best served chilled, Grüner Veltliner tends to be a crisp, light-to-medium bodied dry wine with an edge of spice. It can have mineral, herbal, floral, and even fresh pea or lentil notes, and it’s known for having a slight white pepper taste on the finish.

While Grüner Veltliner is found widely around the county, we had a fairly hard time to locate one that was in a large variety of places to feature. Thus, we tasted the one following with the notion that our readers could get an idea of the grape and its features and be open to trying any of the number of wines available around of this varietal.

Laurenz “Singing” Grüner Veltliner Austria 2008

“This Grüner Veltliner has a nice clear yellow color with a green tinge and aromas of citrus, grapefruit and stony mineral characters. The bold flavors come right out at you and start with a certain heaviness that turn zippy with its acidity. I would consider this an old world style of white wine that is a very friendly food wine. For starters, I think a crispy artichoke hearts appetizer with caraway, yellow squash, cashew butter, lavender honey and mint would be a nice accompaniment to this wine (even though artichokes can be a tricky wine match). I would also suggest, as a starter, a chilled corn soup with shrimp and lime zest or even a grilled Hawaiian tuna with watermelon, cucumber, spicy mizuna and roasted cantaloupe broth. When talking about a main course, some Long Island day boat scallops come to mind. Prepared with sugar snap peas, carrots, kohlrabi, tomatillo jam, dinosaur kale and Ledgeview Gardens leeks. A grilled swordfish with ratatouille of fennel, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, tomato raisins and preserved lemon would bring out the stone fruit and mineral rather nicely.”

~ Brett Weber, The Whistling Swan (Fish Creek, WI)

Appearance: A clear pale yellow color with a green tinge

Aroma: Citrus, grapefruit and stony minerals

Flavors: Bold and heavy flavors, with a zippiness

Finishing Notes: A fair amount of acidity with a hint of grassiness and a lingering finish

WINE:30 is written by Karl Bradley and Jody Wuollett. Karl is the general manager and self-proclaimed “sous” sommelier for the Mission Grille. Former restaurant executive and Door County native Jody is happily under-employed as a Mission Grille food server and a member of the local band Northbound.