All roads lead to Rome, but for Pinot Blanc they lead to the Südsteiermark

As a varietal Pinot Blanc doesn't have it easy, many winemakers don't appear to have a knack for it's peculiarities. If you don't pick the grapes at the right moment, the resulting wines often times lack finesse and have a bit of a dull character. But here in the Südsteiermark, things are a bit different. Long, sunny autumns guarantee adequate ripening and high diurnal temperature shifts provide the much needed acidity. A few producers here have acquired quite the knack for Pinot Blanc and amongst them Weingut Gross is easily the best for me. For them Pinot Blanc is as a core part of their identity, easily rivaling the importance of the styrian mainstay Sauvignon Blanc in their inventory.

This bottling comes frim the Kittenberg vineyard in the northernmost part of the Südsteiermark, Kitzeck im Sausal. Here the vines grow on a rare type of soil, a mixture of slate and limestone. Compared to the rest of the Südsteiermark, this region has a noticeable cooler climate due to the influences of the alps. The vines are also of an impressive age, planted in the 1960s.

The wine presnts itself with a pale golden colour. Apple skin and lemon zest start off the wine, soon after chamomile, smoke and sea breeze are added to the mix. Savoury notes of hops and bread rind also come through, crushed stones add even more complexity. On the way out, the wine also shows touches of caramel and herbs.

On the palate, the wine quickly hits you with an array of complex flavours. Dried apple, lemon curd, vegetable notes, chamomile and maritime touches come to mind here. Salinity and a slight viscosity add structure, high acidity adds quite a bit of freshness. An intense and very long finish brings the wine to an end, here notes of crushed stones, chamomile, apple skin, bread rind and mint come through.

As you might imagine, I really like this wine and pretty much all Pinot Blancs from Weingut Gross. It's incredibly elegant, fresh and has a lot going on flavour wise. With seven years of age this is also beginning to show some tertiary aromas, but it still has a long life ahead of itself. If this sounds interesting to you, definitely keep your eyes and ears open, but I reckon that this might be hard to find outside of Europe. Well, good luck hunting in that regard…