Nastl Cuvée Anno 1656 Grüner Veltliner 2014

Light-Bodied White Wine

You can learn about the true meaning of high quality crispy sensation in wine. As you know, this term is usually associated with fresh, citric wines that come from grapes harvested in the fine line between being ripe and keeping a good acidity. Sometimes it fails, and you get a wine that is too acidic, or green. This is not the case! When this wine is recently opened, you feel little fireworks going off in your mouth: a tickle festival that makes you desire another sip. So, despite being an overused cliché, this wine is the exact expression of the word “crispy”. This is why this wine is surprising because, despite this fresh sensation, you notice that grapes were perfectly ripened, and, magically, the wine is extremely crispy at the same time. This is a highly sought after balance in wine that will keep you wanting more and more. The Nastl Cuvée Anno 1656 has an awesome quality-price ratio.

Also, you can learn a good approach to the “Old World wine style”. This is not an intense fruit bomb (in the sense of dense, noticeable flavors), and the aromas are difficult to detect for a wine beginner. Instead, the wine is a superb example of the “physical” sensation of a wine: a cleaning dryness, a mouth watering bitter taste and an evident mineral and lime taste finish.

For those training their nose, I recommend you go back and forth between smelling and tasting, as it’s not particularly aromatic. I’ve found stone fruits (apple, peach) and flowers (orange blossom). Others notice more tropical fruits.

And now the bells and whistles: grüner veltliner is one of the most food friendly grapes and if you add the high quality and good price of this one… what else can you ask for? Try it with everything you want! My recommendation is to drink it as an apéritif, with salads or sushi. I have to say I tried with pretzels and it worked perfectly fine. For cheese lovers: a firm goat cheese, like the Spanish Ibores, Hillis Peak or Elk Mountain.

You can keep this wine until the end of 2017. Traditionally, grüner veltliner is not intended for aging: do not keep them more than 2-3 years. Now it is at its peak.

Curiosity: This is a special wine, as its label says, it’s to celebrate 360 years of winemaking tradition in the Nastl winery (established in 1656). If you go to their site, you will see a happy Günter Nastl (the grower and winemaker of this wine) talking about it.