The GRU Files

Hahndorf Hill Winery
  Adelaide Hills

When we initiated the Gruner Veltliner project at Hahndorf Hill Winery in 2006, by importing three different clones of this Austrian grape variety into Australia, we did this on the basis of extensive research.  It was important to know that we had chosen a variety that would have a specific affinity to the unique terroir of the Adelaide Hills wine region.

More often than not, in the past, various grape varieties have been planted ubiquitously across our wine regions in Australia. There is not a wine growing region that does not, for example, offer a selection of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon – irrespective of the prevailing terroir. And these are just a few of the varieties that crop up everywhere, regardless of suitability to climate or terrain.

This issue was the main driving force in directing us to find an exciting new white grape variety that would be specifically suited to the unique conditions in the Adelaide Hills. At the time, in 2006, there were several possible candidates, but the one variety that seemed to offer the most exciting future and which, to our mind, produced the most exciting wines, was the Austrian native, Gruner Veltliner. After tasting many examples of the wine, reading as much as possible about the variety, the next step was a field trip to Lower Austria, where Gruner Veltliner is the headline act.

The trip was planned for the month of July, which is the equivalent of the critical January growing season in the southern hemisphere. We were delighted to discover that from a climatic point of view, the Adelaide Hills was a near exact match to the select growing regions of Lower Austria.  Both regions share the desired combination of warm days and cool nights – a feature which all the Austrian growers we spoke to, regarded as essential for producing a quality Gruner wine. They regularly pointed out that a high diurnal variation during the growing season was essential to achieve the fruit flavours whilst maintaining the intrinsic vibrancy of the wine. The mean January temperature in the Adelaide Hills also neatly matched the mean July temperature of Lower Austria.

Another important feature was the soils that were prized by Austrian growers. These consisted of a range of interesting components, but the common factors seemed to be that they had good moisture holding capacity and a significant mineral component. These features also match the soils of the Adelaide Hills region which have top soils rich in slate, iron stone and quartz mineral elements, plus deep red, water-holding clays in the sub-soils.

Newly planted Gruner Veltliner vines at Hahndorf Hill

When we finally planted our first crop of new vines at Hahndorf Hill, it was done with the conviction that the growing conditions would suit this new variety. The next issue to resolve was whether the three clones that we had selected would produce the quality that we wanted.

We have now harvested our fourth vintage from these vines and judging from the quality of the wine, we are confident that the clonal material is indeed excellent. Perhaps the most convincing factor in this regard was the recent wine tasting organised by the prestigious Falstaff magazine in Austria, the purpose of which was to gauge the success of Gruner Veltliner planted outside of Austria. Wines from Germany, Italy, USA, NZ and Australia were pitted against each other – and the top wine was the Hahndorf Hill ‘GRU’ Gruner Veltliner 2012.  http://bit.ly/ZpQSoU  We were indeed proud – but more importantly, this went a long way to indicate to us that not only was our selected plant material suitable, but that the Adelaide Hills wine region could indeed have a bright future for this amazing variety. Viva the Adelaide Hills and viva Gruner Veltliner!

For pre-release allocations of our GRU 2013, and further information, please go to http://bit.ly/XUJJct