Fred Loimer. Kamptal Gruner Veltliner, 2018
Background
If you like crisp, dry white wines and you haven’t been slowly drinking your way through Austria, you’re missing out. This alpine country produces some of the best in the world. The vineyards in Austria are in the eastern part of the country, nestled in river valleys between the mountains surrounding Vienna.
We’re choosing to highlight Fred Lomer’s wine because he is an absolute legend in the Kremstal and Kamptal regions. Austria is a country that prides itself on the modernization of it’s wine industry. Their wine laws and quality control regulations are some of the strictest in the world. What makes Loimer so interesting is that he is making low intervention, biodynamic wines full of finesse, under the constraints of modern technology and bureaucracy.
Tasting Notes
Gruner Veltliner (a.k.a your new favourite white grape) is really only found in Austria. They grow great Riesling and Sav Blanc up there in the hills, but Gruner is their national white grape. It’s the perfect light fresh accompaniment to the meat and dairy heavy gastronomy of the area. It usually has lots of stone fruit and citrus aromas. Always tart and lively, with a mouth-watering acidity. Often you find savoury vegetal flavours under the fruit. The best gruners will show great minerality. Think ‘babbling brook of crystal-clear alpine water’.
Food Pairing
Pierogis – Obviously this gruner would be great with German/Austrian food. Schnitzel, pork chops, sauerkraut, that kind of thing. If you’re in quarantine and don’t have the time to braise a pork hock, you could get a bag of frozen pierogis out the freezer and do your best to reference those flavours. Add some bacon, green onion, sour cream. Yum.
Salt & Vinegar Chips – Some people like the kind of S&V chips that are so salty that they destroy your mouth. If you are one of these people, grab a bottle of something like this Gruner, with laser-focused acidity that you can drink super cold, right from the fridge.
Roasted Root Veggies – There’s often a vegetal quality to gruner. It usually doesn’t smack you in the face, but we’ve had more than a few Gruners that show it. We’ve found that this makes it an awesome match for some of the vegetal sweetness of roots like carrots, parsnip and turnip.
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