Fiddlehead Cellars, Sta. Rita Hills (Central Coast, California) Grüner Veltliner 2017

 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.