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Gruner Veltliner in Australia

Gruner Veltliner

Gruner Veltliner is the most common white wine grape variety in Austria, where it makes up about 30% of the national vineyard area. It is also grown in neighbouring countries of Central Europe and in Italy. See this Wine Map of Austria and Hungary.

Many of the wines made from this variety in Austria are quite undistinguished fresh and crisp wines made for consumption when young. It is also is used for base wines to make the local sparkling wine Sekt.

However at the top end this variety can make some rich well structured wines, and it is these that are driving its popularity.

Hahndorf Hills Winery in Adelaide - the epicentre of Australian Gruner Veltliner

Gruner Veltliner in Australia

Until a few years ago this variety was very rare in Australia. Lark Hill in the Canberra District were the first to produce wine from the variety in Australia in 2009. Hahndorf Hill in the Adelaide Hills Region (2010) and Stoney Rise (2011) were quick to follow.

But the real impetus has come from Hahndorf Hill Winery in the Adelaide Hills. They imported some new clones for Australia and have been the trail blazers of the variety. They have made propagating material available to other vineyards and wineries throughout their region.

Hahndorf Hill also a established a Gruner Veltliner project known as the Gruner Growers Group (GGG) to push the agenda of making the Adlaide Hills the premier Gruner region in Australia.

There are two measures of the success of these efforts.

Since 2013 Gruner Veltliner now has its own class at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. The variety was no longer judged in the grab bag "other white varieties" class.

The second measure of success is the number of Australian wineries now producing Gruner Veltliner - over 50 at the end of 2020. A quick scan of this list shows just how the Adelaide Hills is dominating the scene, but growers and winemakers in other regions are catching on.

It will be interesting to see if any other cool wine regions take up this variety.

The list below is of wineries using the variety. In some cases the wineries are located in neighbouring regions outside the Adelaide Hills but in many of these cases the grapes are sourced from the Hills.

A tasting of Australian Gruner veltliner wines

Aramis Vineyards Adelaide Hills

Artis Adelaide Hills

Atwills Wine Adelaide Hills

Billy Button Alpine Valleys

Bird in Hand Adelaide Hills

BK Wines Adelaide Hills

Boat O'Craigo Yarra Valley

Briar Ridge Vineyard Hunter Valley

Brown Brothers King Valley

By Jingo Adelaide Hills

Cape Barren Wines McLaren Vale

Catlin Wines Adelaide Hills

Chain of Ponds Adelaide Hills

Cloudbreak Wines Adelaide Hills

Collector Wines Canberra

Comyns and Co Hunter Valley

Courabyra Wines Tumbarumba

CRFT Adelaide Hills

Crowe Canberra

Delatite Winery Upper Goulburn

Deviation Road Adelaide Hills

Eden Hall Eden Valley

Frankland Estate Frankland River

Granite Hills Macedon Ranges

Guthrie Wines Adelaide Hills

Hahndorf Hill Adelaide Hills

Henschke Eden Valley

Howard Vineyard Adelaide Hills

K1 by Geoff Hardy Adelaide Hills

Ladbroke Grove Coonawarra

Landhaus Estate Adelaide Hills

Lark Hill Winery Canberra

Longview Vineyard Adelaide Hills

Loom McLaren Vale

Lowboi Mount Barker

Main and Cherry Adelaide Hills

Mitchell Clare Valley

Monkey Business Adelaide Hills

Moppity Vineyards (and Cato) Hilltops

Mt Bera Adelaide Hills

Nepenthe Adelaide Hills

New Era Adelaide Hills

Nick Spencer Wines Tumbarumba

Nomads Garden Alpine Valleys

Nova Vita Wines Adelaide Hills

O'Leary Walker Clare Valley

Paracombe Wines Adelaide Hills

Pike and Joyce Adelaide Hills

Precious Little Wines Adelaide Hills

Sam Miranda Wines King Valley

Seppelt Grampians

Shining Rock Vineyard Adelaide Hills

Sinapius Northern Tasmania

Smidge Wines Langhorne Creek

St Ignatius Vineyard Pyrenees

Stage Door Eden Valley

Stefano Lubiano Southern Tasmania

Stoney Rise Northern Tasmania

Swinging Gate Wines Northern Tasmania

The Pawn Wine Company Adelaide Hills

Tomich Adelaide Hills

Tomich Hill Adelaide Hills

Wangolina Station Mount Benson

Word of Mouth Wines Orange

Wren Estate Hunter Valley

Updated 17 May 2023

Some award wining Gruner Veltliner

At the 2021 Australian Alternative Varietal Wine Show (AAVWS) twenty Gruner Veltliner wines were judged. Three gold, three silver and twelve bronze medals were awarded. Longview Vineyard, The Prawn Wine Company and Chain of Ponds were the gold medal winners. The Prawn wine Company's Austrian Attack 2021 won the trophy for "The Best of the Rest" at the show.

You can buy some Gruner Veltliner at Vinodiversity's wine merchant partner

Hand harvested Gruner Veltliner on its way to the winery. Image courtesy Hahndorf Hill Winery

Gruner Veltliner and food

This variety is quite versatile in the number of different styles of wine it can make, from lean and crisp through to full and rich. They can be drunk young and fresh or like Rieslings they can be aged.

The underlying structure of the wine makes for successful pairing with a number of food styles.

Try Gruner Veltliner with

All manner of Asian cuisine from Chinese sweet and sour pork, to Vietnamese spring rolls to a delicate Japanese tempura.
With salads including those with the otherwise difficult to pair villains asparagus and artichokes.
With salty charcuterie - Bratwust, Wiesswurt, sausages and smoked or cured meats of all kinds.
Mild to medium curries or dishes flavoured with North African spices.
Bean or lentil based stews.

For more suggestions see Evan Goldstein's Daring Pairings book

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