As with rearing children, some winemakers see a potential in a grape variety that others might not, at least not if it’s normally slated to take up a trade after high school when the nurturer sees a potential college grad entering the professions. Of course, Grüner Veltliner is often well-groomed in Austria and elsewhere in Central Europe, but there was doubt about its true potential in the marine climates of California, even with their fog-induced chills. Winery owner Kathy Joseph saw the potential and experimented with the variety in the vineyard and the cellar. This is her “regular” bottling, but it is whole-cluster pressed with 80% fermented and lees-aged in neutral oak and the remaining 20% made in stainless. Already five years old, this Grüner is amazingly complex, and it draws mental comparisons with a number of other varieties. On the nose, it has delicate floral and geranium-leaf aromas, followed on the palate by a little Riesling-like oiliness, juicy ripe stone fruits and hints of whey and dried wood. It is one of those wines both complex and well-integrated that you might be well into the second glass before it tells you to slow down and pay attention.
Fiddlehead Cellars, Sta. Rita Hills (Central Coast, California) Grüner Veltliner 2017
By Roger Morris