2008-05-24

That Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi

If you are going to pick a wine to drink regularly, it ought to offer the promise of continuing interest. Variability is more desirable than unvarying high quality (that's my clumsy rewording of Trollope - I do apologise).

So it a definite bonus to find that Salomon Groovey Grüner Veltliner 07 is both changeable and tasty. This time around it smells mealy, like cooked rice or barley, and then perhaps a little metallic, but on other occasions it has smelt of lime jelly, as if it were Riesling, or green and grassy like a Sauvignon. Today it tastes very clean, and the white pepper note is very clear. On other occasions the green-ness is to the fore, and on yet others it is off-dry.

I'm sure these particular differences are down to me, since Salomon Undhof are skillful winemakers, and it is bottled under stelvin, but I know I'm not alone in finding interesting variations in the Groovey. It is never quite intense enough to be an out and out great wine, but still, it is an excellent and complex 4.