whats-on, food-and-drink, Canberra wine, Daniel Honan, Hunter wines, gruner veltliner, Tumbarumba wine, Lark Hill wine, wine and love, spring wines
You can't help but smile at the word for the Austrian white wine grape, gruner veltliner. No doubt, it's because of the umlaut that appears above the u within the word, which is meant to indicate an elongated 'ooh' type sound, but to our eyes appears more like some sort of prototypical medieval emoji. For me, though, the term gruner veltliner reminds me of the first time I tasted the wine - some long forgotten example that hailed from its native home in Austria; a chilled glass bought from a quiet London wine bar on a rainy Wednesday night, in Spring. One glass in a series of glasses ordered with the intention to suppress sad thoughts from sloshing about in my mind after the breakup of a relatively brief but intoxicating relationship with a beautiful blonde-haired girl from Brighton. The events of the day leading me and my wretched mind to try and find some answers at the bottom of a wine glass, or rather, glasses. I can remember sitting there, thinking, that the wine reminded me of the opening chords of Jeff Buckley's cover of James Shelton's Lilac Wine. Not the haunting, melancholic version that appears on Grace, but rather the unforgettably mournful live version he played, Live in Chicago, back in May 1995. She was born in May. As was I. The chords Buckley played, all reverb soaked, slender and sparse, melding perfectly with his miserably angelic vocals; sweet and heady, like my love, and like the wine. I left gruner veltliner alone for a while after that night. The next time I encountered gruner was under happier circumstances. Rootstock Sydney Wine Festival in 2013. I was sitting next to Canberra winemaker Chris Carpenter from Lark Hill during a masterclass on biodynamic winegrowing. We were tasting his wine, a gruner veltliner, grown high on a hill in Bungendore. This time the wine was vibrant and light, brisk and spry. Any thoughts of that rainy night in London were zapped away in a flash of elation and acidity. An exaltation of larks, indeed. Gruner veltliner is not a wine for drunken and lonely rainy nights. It's a wine for sunny days. It's a wine for Sunday lunch with friends and fresh seafood; oysters and prawns, sashimi and salads. It is a wine for smiles.While gruner veltliner will always be my own private Lilac Wine, I'd like to suggest two exuberant examples for you to try. Collector, 2019 Ledger Gruner Veltliner, Tumbarumba ($30) Heady scents of white jasmine florals, ripe tropical fruits, lychees and milk bottles emanate from this pale lemon water liquid. Gorgeous flavours of juicy pears and cold-pressed pink lady apples held tight by acid and lace, and white tea tannin. Lark Hill, 2018 Gruner Veltliner, Bungendore ($45). Pale and light like the ivory silk blossom of a lilac tree. Scent of a cool coastal breeze drifting over peppered springtime florals; white jasmine and braised almonds. Swelling orange blossom, pear skin and crunchy green apples in the mouth. High toned, slippery and bright.
Spring thoughts: Lark Hill winemaker Chris Carpenter. Picture: Karleen Minney.
You can't help but smile at the word for the Austrian white wine grape, gruner veltliner. No doubt, it's because of the umlaut that appears above the u within the word, which is meant to indicate an elongated 'ooh' type sound, but to our eyes appears more like some sort of prototypical medieval emoji.
For me, though, the term gruner veltliner reminds me of the first time I tasted the wine - some long forgotten example that hailed from its native home in Austria; a chilled glass bought from a quiet London wine bar on a rainy Wednesday night, in Spring. One glass in a series of glasses ordered with the intention to suppress sad thoughts from sloshing about in my mind after the breakup of a relatively brief but intoxicating relationship with a beautiful blonde-haired girl from Brighton. The events of the day leading me and my wretched mind to try and find some answers at the bottom of a wine glass, or rather, glasses.
I can remember sitting there, thinking, that the wine reminded me of the opening chords of Jeff Buckley's cover of James Shelton's Lilac Wine. Not the haunting, melancholic version that appears on Grace, but rather the unforgettably mournful live version he played, Live in Chicago, back in May 1995. She was born in May. As was I. The chords Buckley played, all reverb soaked, slender and sparse, melding perfectly with his miserably angelic vocals; sweet and heady, like my love, and like the wine.
I left gruner veltliner alone for a while after that night.
The next time I encountered gruner was under happier circumstances. Rootstock Sydney Wine Festival in 2013. I was sitting next to Canberra winemaker Chris Carpenter from Lark Hill during a masterclass on biodynamic winegrowing. We were tasting his wine, a gruner veltliner, grown high on a hill in Bungendore. This time the wine was vibrant and light, brisk and spry. Any thoughts of that rainy night in London were zapped away in a flash of elation and acidity. An exaltation of larks, indeed.
Gruner veltliner is not a wine for drunken and lonely rainy nights. It's a wine for sunny days. It's a wine for Sunday lunch with friends and fresh seafood; oysters and prawns, sashimi and salads. It is a wine for smiles.While gruner veltliner will always be my own private Lilac Wine, I'd like to suggest two exuberant examples for you to try.
Collector, 2019 Ledger Gruner Veltliner, Tumbarumba ($30) Heady scents of white jasmine florals, ripe tropical fruits, lychees and milk bottles emanate from this pale lemon water liquid. Gorgeous flavours of juicy pears and cold-pressed pink lady apples held tight by acid and lace, and white tea tannin.
Lark Hill, 2018 Gruner Veltliner, Bungendore ($45). Pale and light like the ivory silk blossom of a lilac tree. Scent of a cool coastal breeze drifting over peppered springtime florals; white jasmine and braised almonds. Swelling orange blossom, pear skin and crunchy green apples in the mouth. High toned, slippery and bright.
