Wine & Spirits - April 2021 - 28

ented growers-particularly some half dozen who share Ott's commitment to biodynamics-largely sympathize. Yet, while Ott is convinced
that " over the next ten to twenty years, grüner veltliner is going to experience [another] decided leap in international recognition, " with his
region in the lead, not all Wagram growers are doubling-down on it: The
Wagram has been dealt a wild card that it should not fail to play: a grape
genetically unrelated to grüner veltliner while sharing its last name.

WIL D CHILD

N THE 19TH CENTURY, roter veltliner was widely grown and
enjoyed a far better reputation than " grüner. " (In fact, Plinia austriaca-so named for its ubiquity even in an era dominated by
field blends-began getting called " grüner muskateller " and later
" grüner veltliner " in an effort to associate it with unrelated but allegedly more noble grape lineages.) Today, the Wagram is home to nearly
half of Austria's roughly 500 remaining acres of roter veltliner, and to
a majority of this grape's champions. There is considerable support for
writing it into a future Wagram DAC, even though roter veltliner represents a mere three percent of Wagram vine surface. Its red berries generate wine frequently featuring rhubarb-like tartness, parsnip pungency
and orange-zest piquancy. Along with those come fascinatingly musky
floral and savory animal or vegetal elements. (Think roasted red pepper).
Proponents of roter veltliner have come to view this gangly, unruly,
hard-to-tame vine not just as the antidote to any soporiferous vinous softness that might arise from loess. They find it singularly suited for the
future in view of its acid retention and drought resistance. Especially in
places where faster-draining red gravel underlies the loess, it outperforms
grüner veltliner. Those growers who recently succeeded in having " Dan28

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2021

ube Terraces Roter Veltliner " inducted into Slow Food's " Presidium " -a
campaign spearheaded by Hans Czerny-committed themselves to each
pursuing an " estate line " through mass selection, promoting those characteristics that made this grape's former reputation. Toni Söllner relates
how, in the 1990s, " we found in a vineyard that was already 80 years
old, a loose-clustered variant that we selected and eventually made available to other growers. " Loose clusters are essential for foiling botrytis,
which some growers still take for granted in roter veltliner, and which has
resulted in an unfair reputation for inherently high alcohol.
" I was fascinated even as a child by this grape, " Söllner says of roter
veltliner. In 1989, it became the first variety he vinified, at age 16. Today,
he bottles three examples. Even though the vines in his Eisenhut vineyard
are relatively young, Söllner's mass selection already rewards with wines
marrying seductive textural richness with billowing buoyancy. The inaugural 2006 was still fresh a dozen years after bottling. The " Irden im Stein "
ferments with its skins for eight weeks in 600-liter steinzeuge (antique
enameled earthenware crocks), then gets racked to Söllner's oldest cask-
gifted new to his grandfather in 1949 for having saved growers and their
wine from Soviet pillage. The wine emerges two years later penetratingly
high-toned, glycerol-rich yet tangy, and mind-bendingly complex.
Roter veltliner's climatically and stylistically adaptive potential is making converts in promising quarters. The ranks of long-time supporters-
which, besides Czerny and Söllner, include Franz Leth and Josef Fritz-
have recently been enthusiastically joined by veteran vintner Karl Fritsch
and his neighbor Fritz Salomon. Four of these six farm biodynamically
and favor low-intervention vinification and élevage, which may help
account for some of their bottlings being disqualified by the official tasting panels from labeling for their region of origin. That's unfortunate,
because these wines are worthy ambassadors for the Wagram.

FRITZ SALOMON COURTESY PHOTOS; PHOTO BY DAVID SCHILDKNECHT

BIRGIT & FRITZ
SALOMON, AND
THEIR VINES, LEFT,
IN THE BRUNNEN
VINEYARD.

Wine & Spirits - April 2021

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