2021 Weingut Ingrid Groiss, Grüner Veltliner, Weinviertel DAC, Austria.
This vintage is wonderfully aromatic and cooly crisp on the palate with an effervescent spritz in this beautiful and lively offering with bright citrus and tropical fruits along with loads of mineral charm and a clean almond like bite, it is a wine that begs for oysters and or other briny or raw seafoods. The latest Groiss Grüner Veltliner, Austria’s signature varietal, comes from vines grown on loess, sand and gravel soils in the town of Zeirsdorf within DAC Weinviertel north of Vienna, not far from Groiss’ hometown of Breitenwaida, and was fermented and aged in stainless steel. Picked with lower sugars, this lighter framed, fresh and salty dry Grüner, made in the Federspiel style, comes in at just about 12.5% natural alcohol and saw natural yeasts ferments that while in tank captures a bit free CO2, like Spain’s Txakolina Basque whites. As this Grüner opens you get the classic white pepper, pithy and calcareous stony elements to go with its lemon/lime core. I have been a fan of Ingrid’s wines for about eight or so vintages now and they continue to impress me and are solid values in my book, in particular I love this Grüner, as well as her Rieslings, which are in a slightly richer style and her fabulous Gemischter Satz, a local traditional co-fermented white.
Interestingly, as I’ve noted here, the Groiss Gemischter Satz, the signature wine of Ingrid Groiss is her amazing Gemischter Satz, a field blend white made from Chardonnay, Frühroter Veltliner, Grauburgunder, Grauer Vöslauer, Grüner Veltliner, Hietl Rote, Müller Thurgau, Neuberger, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Roter Veltliner, Rotgipfler, Sämling, Silberweisse, Welchriesling, Wiesse Vöslauer, Zierfandler. It’s all from a single parcel planted by her grandmother in Braitenpuechtorff, north of Vienna, in Austria’s Weinviertel region not far from the Czech border. In the hands of this talented winemaker, these organic 50 year old vines produce one of the world’s great traditional white wines. Totally unique and terroir driven with subtle depth and lively mineral character, Ingrid Groiss’ Gemischter Satz is an awesome, authentic wine and tremendous value! This zippy Grüner is transparent, tasty and an exciting wine on its own and merits attention, especially this exciting vintage, which is very expressive and compares well to much more expensive bottlings from the Wachau. It is also worth mentioning that Ingrid’s sensational wines have gone from an underground favorite to getting world wide recognition and now she is imported by Vineyard Brands that is a leader in organic, family owned and high quality offerings, with the benefit of making it easier to find her wines here in the States.
($20 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive