2025 Weingut Ingrid Groiss, Grüner Veltliner, Weinviertel DAC, Austria.
I absolutely love this latest vintage of Ingrid Groiss GruVee, or Grüner, with its ultra greenish/gold color and electric light bodied palate of mineral toned lemon/lime, tart peach and green melon fruits, along with a hint of bitter almond, wet flint, white pepper and verbena.The 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 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 vintage, but with its natural wonderful fresh detailing. As I’ve mentioned many times before, I have been a fan of Ingrid’s wines, more than ten years now, and they continue to thrill me and are very 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 blend.
As I’ve noted here many times, the Gemischter Satz that first intrigued me, the signature wine of Ingrid Groiss is amazing and completely unique, a field blend white, with up to 19 grape varietals, made from a few rows of interplanted vines including some Chardonnay, Frühroter Veltliner, Grauburgunder, Grauer Vöslauer, Grüner Veltliner, Hietl Rote, Müller Thurgau, Neuberger, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Roter Veltliner, Rotgipfler, Sämling, Silberweisse, Welchriesling, Wiesse Vöslauer and 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, as mentioned, 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 ’25 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 regional producers, with the benefit of making it easier to find her wines here in the States.
($20 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive