2022 Weingut Ingrid Groiss, Grüner Veltliner, Weinviertel DAC, Austria.
The bright and pale greenish/gold hued 2022 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. The 2022 is slightly richer and deeper than the previous vintage, but remains beautifully mineral driven, fresh and vibrant with herbal laced lemon/lime, unripe peach, quince, kiwi and melon fruits, along with wet stones, green almond, verbena, grapefruit pith and mint tea accents. Picked with lower sugars, this lighter framed, fresh and salty dry Grüner, made in the Federspiel style, comes in usually 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, though less obvious in this 2022. As this Grüner opens you get the classic white pepper, pithy and calcareous elements to go with that tangy 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 I recently reviewed, are in a slightly richer style and her fabulous Gemischter Satz, a local traditional co-fermented white.
Interestingly, as I’ve noted here many times, 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 always transparent, tasty and an exciting wine on its own and merits its own praise, 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. With a focus on Women’s History Month, Ingrid is worthy of attention and I highly recommend this vintage of her wines.
($20 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive