E3

Robert Noel

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One of the goals of any wine show is to showcase wines, grapes, wine regions and producers that might be unfamiliar to wine lovers. At this year's World Wine Food and Expo, a great number of unique and different styles of wines and grapes were offered.

For the first time in a few years, one of my favourite grapes was available, a white grape unique to Austria: Gruner Veltliner.

Gruner Veltliner is grown in the north-eastern part of Austria, just to the west of Vienna and close to the Danube River.

It has been cultivated there since the Roman era. The principal wine-producing area is Niederösterreich, including the sub regions of Kamptal, Kremstal and Wachau.

The wines coming from these sub regions are regarded as the best examples of this type of wine.

For the amateurs of Riesling, these areas also produce some excellent examples of this type of wine.

For the moment, outside Austria we cannot find substantial plantings of Gruner Veltliner. Some of it is grown in other Eastern European countries such as Yugoslavia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Gruner Veltliner can produce very concentrated and intense wines.

Personally, for those who never experience this grape I usually say the Gruner Veltliner wines remind me of a combination of the characteristics of Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc.

The best examples offer flavours and aromas of citrus fruits, like grapefruit, tropical fruits, white pepper, peas, green beans, lentils, asparagus and interesting notes of minerality.

Gruner Veltliner produces wines with a beautiful complexity and astonishing intensity. The best examples of these wines can age and offer the same type of tasting experience as a fine mature old white Burgundy.

For the wine amateur who does not like the wines with oak influence, it is quite rare to find Gruner Veltliner wines with any oak treatments.

The structure and the complexity of these wines give them a very interesting versatility when it comes time for food pairing.

Obviously with the 'green' aromas and flavours offered by this grape, just like for Sauvignon Blanc, these wines are great for vegetarian dishes, salads, asparagus, artichokes and other vegetables, which are usually the types of dishes and ingredients that can be difficult for wine. Gruner Veltliner can also be served with pork, poultry or veal.

A great number of wines were sold out at the Moncton wine show but there are still a lot of unique and interesting wines available to some of the stores, please browse ANBL's web site (www.anbl.com) to find them and have your picks transferred to your local stores.

Have a great weekend and please enjoy responsibly.

Weekly wine picks:

#871987000099: Felsner Lossterrassen Gruner Veltliner, Austria ($21.79)

#871987000181: Felsner Moosburgerin Gruner Veltliner, Austria ($26.)

* Robert Noel is Alcool N.B. Liquor's sommelier. His column, World of Wine, appears each Saturday in Life & Times.