Grüner Veltliner gets a lot of play this time of year. We love it here at Domaine LA and have plenty of Grüner options for the Summer table. Gotta love those big green bottles! But Austria has a LOT of other interesting white wines to offer and I’d like to recommend one made by a winemaker that I think is really cool.
What: 2011 Weissburgunder (a.k.a. Pinot Blanc)
It’s a dry, medium-bodied white with lots of complexity. It’s deep. Think tropical fruit, citrus oil, and a little kick of chalk dust and ginger. If you’re used to drinking Grüner, this Austrian’s a tad more serious. But not too much.
Where: Austria. The winery’s located in a small town called Rust (population 1,900) in the Burgenland region, near the border of Hungary.
Who: Heidi Schrock
Why she’s cool: She’s been making wines in her little corner of Burgenland since 1983. That’s commitment. Her no-nonsense wines are multi-layered and capture the sunny (sometimes foggy) vineyards near Lake Neusiedl.
What to do with it: In Austria, it’s not uncommon to drink white wine with sausages and pork. So do that. Another idea – sip with sushi.
Price: It’s yours for $24. Ask Jill, Whitney or myself to show you where the Austrian section is in the store. It gets overlooked. Bigtime.
