Weingut Hiedler (Austria) Gruner Veltliner 2000
Gruner Veltliner is a real Austrian speciality grape, reminiscent of a more peppery Riesling in style, and usually made into wines of a dry, quite substantial style. This example comes from the house of Hiedler in Kamptal, one of the most northerly Austrian regions. Hiedler is a small, quality-orientated estate who farm organically and hand-harvest grapes, with gentle pressing and slow, temperature-controlled fermentaion. The result is a wine with a fine but quite powerful nose of white pepper, pear and melon, and delicately exotic nuances. On the palate it is quite full with a wonderfully authoritative spine of mineral acidity, but plenty of ripe asian pear and crisp apple fruit, again a lively peppery quality and a long, dry finish. Wonderfully different and delicious stuff, that will also age well if cellared.Berry Brothers and Rudd (bbr.com) 7.95
