Although its cultivation area declined for many years after 1999, Grüner Veltliner is still Austria's most important grape variety. It occupies almost half of the country's vineyard area, with the lion's share distributed among the Lower Austrian wine-growing regions north and east of Vienna, and the area steadily decreasing towards the west and especially the south. Finally, in Styria there is none at all, while the neighbouring countries of Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary also have quite significant areas of Veltliner.
ÖWM / Gerhard Trumler
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The variety has nothing to do with the rest of the Veltliner family (only the rare Grauer Veltliner is a mutation). Its parents are Gewürztraminer and St. Georgen, which was only rediscovered in 2000 and named after the place of its discovery.
Grüner Veltliner tends to have high yields, which one must not let it get away with if one wants to produce high-quality wines. It has inherited less of the distinctive aroma from Traminer, but more of the tendency towards high sugar levels. This means that it requires a certain sensitivity from producers when it comes to balancing yield reduction with too early and too high ripeness. Basic Veltliner can be a wonderfully drinkable, delicately juicy, pleasantly unobtrusive fruity wine, but it can also be a banal, thin little wine. Top wines can be dense, rich and complex or, in extreme cases, ponderous and alcoholic. However, more and more producers are abandoning the widespread view in Austria that the more powerful a wine is, the better it is, and are increasingly producing lean, finesse-rich Veltliners, even at the top end. At their best, they are at least as complex and expressive as their more alcoholic counterparts, but they are much easier to drink and often have a clearer character of origin.
In general, Veltliner is at its best when it is vinified bone dry. Even a few grams of residual sugar can quickly cause the wine to lose precision, especially in the strong varieties. Successful sweet wines are rare, but they do exist.
We tasted well over 300 wines for this BEST OF last year. We present the best ones here and as PDF here. You can find links to all the Grüner Veltliners tasted with detailed tasting notes, including many other recommendable wines, as well as their producers by clicking on the region names.
- 93WP Ried Schön Smaragd "Old Parcels", Josef Högl
- 92WP Ried Kellerberg Smaragd, Domäne Wachau
- 92WP Smatagd "Limited Edition", Johann Donabaum
- 92WP Ried Kaiserberg Smaragd "G&G", Josef Högl
- 91WP Ried Achleiten Smaragd, Domäne Wachau
- 90WP Ried SAchön Smaragd, Josef Högl
- 90WP Ried Zornberg Smaragd "Old Culture", Josef & Herta Donabaum
- 90WP Ried Steinborz Smaragd, Karl Lagler
- 90WP R ied Kirchweg Emerald, Johann Donabaum
- 89WP Ried Klaus Emerald, Hermengild Mang
- 89WP Ried Vorder Seiber Snaragd, Schneeweis
- 89WP Ried Zornberg Emerald, Johann Donabaum
- 89WP Ried Setzberg Smaragd, Roman Gritsch
- 95WP 2011 Smaragd "M", F.X. Pichler
- 93WP 2009 Ried Schön Smaragd "Old Parcels", Josef Högl
- 93WP 2013 Im Weingebirge "Tree Press", Nikolaihof
- 93WP 2012 Ried Loibenberg Smaragd, Emmerich Knoll
- 93WP 2012 Ried Liebenberg Smaragd, Josef Jamek
- 92WP 2013 Smaragd "Terraces", Rudi Pichler
- 91WP 2011 Ried Liebenberg Smaragd, Josef Jamek
- 90WP 2010 Federspiel "Im Weingebirge", Nikolaihof
- 89WP 2015 "Fass N° 43" Pichler-Krutzler
- 89WP 2015 Smaragd "Im Weingebirge", Nikolaihof
- 89WP 2012 Ried Liebenberg Smaragd, F.X. Pichler
- 93WP Ried Lamm ÖTW.Erste Lage, Willi Bründlmayer
- 92WP Ried Grub ÖTW.Erste Lage, Gobelsburg Castle
- 92WP Ried Käferberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Willi Bründlmayer
- 92WP Ried Spiegel ÖTW.Erste Lage "Vincent", Willi Bründlmayer
- 92WP Ried Käferberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Jurtschitsch
- 92WP Ried Lamm ÖTW.Erste Lage, Jurtschitsch
- 91WP Ried Gaisberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Johann Topf
- 91WP Ried Loiserberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Jurtschitsch
- 91WP Ried Loiserberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Willi Bründlmayer
- 91WP Ried Renner ÖTW.Erste Lage, Gobelsburg Castle
- 91WP Ried Schenkenbichl ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve, Hiedler
- 91WP Ried Schenkenbichl ÖTW.Erste Lage, Jurtschitsch
- 91WPRied Point Smaragd, Johann Donabaum
- 90WP Ried Graben "Steinwerk", Domäne Wachau
- 90WP Ried Stein ÖTW.Erste Lage, Bernhard Ott
- 90WP Ried Dechant ÖTW.Erste Lage, Jurtschitsch
- 90WP Ried Lamm ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve, Steininger
- 90WP Ried Lamm ÖTW.Erste Lage, Hirsch
- 90WP Ried Lamm ÖTW.Erste Lage, Eichinger
- 90WP Ried Kittmannsberg ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve, Hiedler
- 90WP Ried Renner ÖTW.Erste Lage, Allram
- 90WP Ried Offenburg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Johann Topf
- 90WP Ried Loiserberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Fred Loimer
- 89WP Ried Gaisberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Hirsch
- 89WP Ried Seeberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Leindl
- 89WP Ried Spiegel ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve "Titan", Ludwig Ehn
- 89WP Ried Renner ÖTW.Erste Lage, Hirsch
- 91WP Ried Lindberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, Salomon Undhof
- 90WP Ried Pellingen ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve, A. and F. Proidl
- 90WP Ried Gottschelle ÖTW.Erste Lage, Malat
- 90WP Ried Oberfeld ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve Old Vines, Petra Unger
- 90WP Ried Vordernberg ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve, Buchegger
- 90WP Reserve "Urknall", Zöhrer
- 89WP Ried Wachtberg ÖTW.Erste Lage, City of Krems
- 89WP Ried Gottschelle ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve, Petra Unger
- 89WP Ried Moosburger ÖTW.Erste Lage Reserve, Buchegger
- 89WP Ried Spiegel ÖTW.Erste Lage, Mantlerhof
- 89WP Ried Moosburgerin Reserve, J. & P. Brünslmayer
- 90WP 2013 Ried Kaasgraben, Wieninger
- 89WP 2017 Ried Nussberg-Haarlocke, Hajszan Neumann