Domäne Wachau Weissenkirchen Grüner Veltliner Smaragd 2020
We don't import Grüner Veltliner in South Africa. Which made this major grape variety a bit of a problem for an upcoming exam. Friends and their suitcases to the rescue! With only 3 bottles available to 'get' the grape, each sniff and sip became an exercise in concentration.
This Smaragd is the bottle that made Grüner click for me last year.
The Wine:
There’s white pepper, loads of celery salt, herbal fennel bulb and chicory that intertwines with the orange blossoms, green apples, nectarines, limes and ruby grapefruit. Call me strange...but Grüner smells like Cream Soda (if you removed the vanilla and focused on the limey sherbert).
All those juicy mouthwatering fruits (minus the nectarines) quickly dissolve into cold metallic baking soda crushed oyster shell minerality that, together with the acidity, frames the palate. It’s the minerality and subtle salinity that linger longest...making it very hard to wait long enough to repeat the injection of juicy bright fruits. It’s very hard to stop sipping because you want to keep repeating the cycle. Dangerous! Delicious!
Viti + Vini:
Grapes are sourced from the Weissenkirchen commune. They experienced alternating sunny and rainy periods during the 2020 summer, as well as a severe hailstorm in late August. Hence, the grapes were carefully selected using hand harvesting.
Pressed in pneumatic press, temperature controlled fermentation in stainless steel, and aged on its fine lees in stainless steel tanks.
Alcohol: 13 % | Acidity 6,4 % | Residual Sugar: 1,5 g/l
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