• Dry style
• Apple & ginger
• Citrus & white pepper
• Crisp acidity

"Elegant yet gorgeously aromatic, the bouquet shows apricot, fig, lemon peel and rich floral aromas, followed by an impressively concentrated palate that's succulent and fleshy. Brightly expressed with textural mouthfeel, offering terrific drinking. At its best: now to 2026" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Jun 2021

Pale straw-yellow. Crisp green apple, ginger and ripe peach combine on the nose with just a hint of citrus, honey and white pepper. The palate boasts delicious flavours of rock melon and peach, mandarin and lemon zest. There is also a hint of Grüner’s signature white pepper flavour. This is a fine, concentrated wine with a lovely textural element from the wild fermented portion alongside crisp acidity and a long, refreshing finish.

This year our Grüner Veltliner grapes were 100% hand-harvested from a single, small vineyard in the Wairau sub-region of Marlborough.

The 2021 season got off to a cracking start with a warm spring causing bud burst and flowering to occur earlier than normal. However a significant frost on 30th September followed by unsettled weather during flowering severely reduced the number of grapes. From Christmas onwards, conditions reverted to a more usual pattern with sunny, dry weather causing the grass to turn from spring green to golden brown. The grapes started to race towards harvest, but the prolonged dry spell limited any berry expansion, so at harvest we had very clean small berries but also some of the lowest harvest bunch weights since 2007. Our Marlborough harvest began on the 4th of March, nine days earlier than 2020 and certainly one of the earliest harvests in Marlborough. The Grüner Veltliner was the fruit to be picked this year and was delivered into the winery with a comedy flourish on April Fool’s Day. Without exception, all fruit this year was disease-free and had great flavour concentration. We just wish there were more to go round!

The fruit was whole bunch pressed and the free run juice was cold settled over 48 hours and then fermented cool and slow in a stainless steel tank to retain the vibrant aromatics. This approach contrasted with the handling of a second portion which was pressed directly into old French oak for a wild ferment followed by a full malolactic fermentation. Soon after fermentation the two components were blended together before being bottled and sealed with a screw cap to retain perfect freshness.

Food Pairing: Grüner loves stong flavours and spice so try it with something like sticky pork belly bao buns with hoisin sauce and cucumber and spring onions.