Kamptal

Having had a fun afternoon sipping austrian wines recently, I dediced it was time for another foray into the territory of Grüner Veltliner, also known as "Groona" in the Vayniac universe. The austrian national grape, Grüner Veltliner makes for powerfully spicy, herbal and mineral whites, if, and only if, handled expertly by ethnic austrians with Veltliner strains in their genome. Johannes Hirsch from the Kamptal clearly qualifies here. His 06 Heiligenstein has been reviewed one year ago here, with a respectable, but didn't-blow-our-socks-off kind of result. So what has an additional year of bottle age done for this wine?

People have very different ideas about wine labels, including people in wineries, of course, and that must be a good thing as it creates a certain variety. The artist-designed label of this year's GrüVe is certainly very distinctive, although I cannot say that I like the way in which it overpowers the whole bottle to the point that you see nothing else. But that just is the tradition of the Sonnhof estate's GrüVe label, an entry level Austrian Grüner Veltliner from one of Austria's premier wineries.

Grüner Veltliner is Austria's signature white grape varietal. It produces lovely, fresh and crisp wines and I am just having one of these from the Kamptal. Located within easy reach of Vienna, the Kamptal has a few well known vineyards and Heiligenstein (holly stone) is one of the prestigious ones. Grüner Veltliner has a reputation of being a good food companion and so far I have not gone wrong with this grape.

The nose of the Heiligenstein Veltliner is a nicely balanced mix of cool mineral, apple and citrus fruit, enhanced by herbs, vegetable and a bit of freshly ground pepper. Not in an in-your-face style, more of a quiet confidence that does not need a fruit explosion to convince. [read the full post...]

A fairly strong white wine that does not taste of alcohol at all. A fresh nose with mineral, lemon and green apple; fresh and crisp in the mouth too, nicely balanced with a sophisticated richness of almost creamy, buttery consistency.

A very drinkable blend of crisp, young, fresh, aged, smooth, mineral, lemon, acidity and creaminess. Went very nicely with the monkfish and scallops in butter-lime-chili sauce. Go Kamptal.

Was marketed by K&U as a smooth, digestible (!), dry and low acid Grüner that should go well with fish and vegetable dishes, a nice everyday wine. And what can I say, it was exactly that. Everyone enjoyed this crisp yet smooth, very clear Grüner. A wine that excels at being simple.

Pinard gave this one high praise - "faszinierender, mineralischer Duft von Aprikosen, Litschi, Cassis, Pfirsich, Limone, Kräutern und einem Hauch von Ananas", among other comments. The colour was a clear yet powerful golden; not very strong in the nose though, an almost close-lipped smell - some noticeable mineral though and fresh and smooth. [read the full post...]

We had this one with salmon and it lived up to the reputation of being a good fish companion. Easy to drink and strong enough to go with the fish. There is citrus fruit in the nose and mouth and some mineral-acidity. Green apple with a note of pepper. Compact, flavoursome and a nice presence. Not an extraordinary wine, but a very nice food companion.

Very clean colour, very clean taste; and extremely light despite 13%. Strong apple flavour, quite herb-y, a hint of melon. Easy to drink with or without food, smooth, balanced - was everyone's darling this night. Maybe not a truly "great" wine, but a pleasure to drink and at a really good price.

I think I will order a few bottles of this beauty with my next delivery. Really good value.