2015 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Berg-Vogelsang

• By David Schildknecht
  Austria’s 2015 Rieslings & Grüner Veltliners: Ripe & Ready (Feb 2017), 2/17/2017, (See more on Vinous...)

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Full Pull

• By Paul Zitarelli
  Full Pull Gruner Party, 4/5/2018

  (Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner Berg-Vogelsang) Hello friends. When it comes to European white wines, there are three regions I see as dramatically undervalued compared to their inherent quality and (in some cases) ability to age: the Savoie in eastern France, Alto Adige in northern Italy, and Austria. When I peruse the shelves of my little pantry cellar, a high proportion of the old-world whites come from one of those three places. That we offer so few of these wines is a fairly consistent source of professional shame and personal rending of garments, but the fact is, none of these regions is anywhere near the height of fashionability, so they’re never brought into Seattle in quantities that really make sense for offers. Our history of (non-northwest) Gruners is a perfect example. We’ve offered exactly three European Gruners: two from Austria, one from Alto Adige. They turned up in our Thanksgiving 2012 offer (one of six wines), our Thanksgiving 2015 offer (one of six wines), and our Spring 2016 six-pack offer (one of… oh you get the point). We’ve never been able to properly feature them, because there is never enough to go around. Until today. Sort of. What we did, to make this work: we purchased all the remaining stock of four excellent Terry Theise-imported Austrian Gruners. On their own, none of them would have enough quantity to support its own offer. Together, they form a perfect Gruner Voltron. Because we were willing to go “long” on these Gruners (I put that in air quotes because the parcels really aren’t that big), we are also able to shave a few bucks off the release price for most of the wines. I’m hoping that’s an extra prod to get folks to check these wines out. A few more Gruner plugs: first, these all come from the vaunted 2015 vintage; and second, those of us who structure our calendar based on salmon runs know that we’re mere weeks away from access to fresh Pacific salmon again. I’m here to tell you: Salmon and Gruner is one of the world’s sneaky-great food-and-wine pairings. The shared fat texture; the shared earthy flavor; they each elevate the other into the stratosphere. Try it and thank me later. There is just no other white variety quite like Gruner; no other with its savory umami kick. Oft-used descriptors for Gruner – lentil and sweet pea, corn and hay – just don’t turn up for other whites. I hope many of you give these a try and love them as much as I do. [Note: to keep an already-long offer from going completely overboard, I’m going to refrain from much detail on the wineries and wines. Here is a link to the Theise catalog containing notes on all three wineries and all four wines. Theise’s philosophy on wine, and his ability to convey sensual experience through the written word, have been deeply influential on my career. I apologize for any loss in work productivity that results in our list members opening up that PDF.]Release price: $32, and this is the most limited of the four wines. It’s also the most minerally, and had the most pronounced white-pepper note of the quartet, another telltale Gruner marker. Listed alc is 12.5%, and the fruit (nectarine, apricot, citrus) is densely layered and tightly wound. For left-brain types. Wine Enthusiast: Copyrighted material withheld.