Larry Jacobs in his beloved Gruner vineyard
How time flies when you’re having fun! I can’t believe that we’re about to release the 2012 GRU – our third vintage of Gruner Veltliner. This vintage was the ‘vintage that we were meant to have’ in 2011 – before all the rain set in! But 2012 has more than adequately made up for that. An almost perfect year which started off with excellent winter rains and then proceeded to unfold gently as one of the mildest summers I can recall since 2002.
The Gruner vines are now more established with excellent balance between canopy and fruit and as each year passes by, I anticipate greater depth and quality in the fruit.
The harvest of this vintage was carried out on different days so as to ensure varying degrees of fruit ripeness for added complexity. Fermentation was carried out in multiple batches – some with selected commercial yeasts and others wild fermented. In addition to this, some of the wine was also wild-fermented in old oak.
And I’m delighted with the end results!
GRU 2012 has a vibrant, complex nose which teases you with apple-skin and pear one moment, and then orange peel and gentle pineapple the next. There are also intriguing hints of root vegetable, crushed herbs and struck flint-stone. Full and round in the mouth, yet beautifully balanced with a core of stone-fruit and a zesty citrus twist. It is continuously textural on the palate with a crystalline purity, a gritty edge of nectarine pip and a salty-slatey mineral tail.
If you have already signed onto our Gruner Loyalty Program, you will shortly be receiving a priority offer from the 2012 allocations.