Where it’s grown
If you’re offered a glass of grüner veltliner, the likelihood is that it will be from Austria. Grüner flourished and spread here in the 1950s and is today Austria’s most widely planted grape. It is also found close by, in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. Thanks to its status as a darling of the restaurant wine list, it has recently been adopted further afield, in New Zealand, Australia and Washington State, although wines from these places never quite seem to have the fine edge of those from Austria.
Flavour profile
Grüner is loved for its cleansing acidity. It can be fairly simple: citrussy and innocuous, perhaps with a light spritz. Better versions are precise and focused, like a serrated blade with notes of white grapefruit, perhaps with lemon and lime, mineral undertones and a faintly peppery vegetal note that to some is reminiscent of galangal; to others, white pepper and gherkin, or the riffle of radish or mooli. Made as a fine wine, grüner often becomes richer, more full-bodied and exotic, with notes of spiced orange peel and nectarine.
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