Leth Gruner Veltliner Steinagrund 2020

Meyer lemon, baby's breath, creme anglais, dried straw and fennel pollen

We have been pounding the drum for Grüner Veltliner for a long time, a grape that offers something for almost any white wine drinker. It is an ideal variety for passionate food people because good examples can take center stage if the dish is simple, like a roast chicken, or stay in the background for more complex meals, like smoked pork ribs with gremolata. Moreover, the best examples have the freshness of Sancerre and the texture of Chardonnay, meaning you can satisfy a lot of tastes with one wine. We have featured many good entry level examples over the years, this week I present one that is a step up in quality and sophistication.

Our feature comes from the Leth family, who began making wine in the 1960s in the Austrian region of Wagram. This area is famed for its unique loess soils, which imparts more texture than examples that grow just to the west in the Wachau, Kremstal and Kemptal. To build exemplary richness the family lets the juice soak on the skins for 12 hours before fermentation, then age the wine for six months in large Acacia wood barrels.