Jump to content

Take Me To Your Liter: 2015 H&M Hoffer Grüner Veltliner in One-Liter Bottles - Organic Wine from Austria


DonRocks

Recommended Posts

I have always loved this wine, and right now they have stacks of it at the Pentagon City Whole Foods for $16.99 a bottle.

Two unusual things about the bottle itself: it's a 1 Liter bottle (most bottles are .750 ml, or 3/4 as much), and more interestingly, it has a "pop top" that you open like a bottle of Heineken - it's not twist-off, but a bottle opener does the trick.

I think both of these qualities drive home exactly what this wine is: a wine to quaff like water. It's dirt cheap (Pentagon City Whole Foods cannot possibly have low prices, and I suspect the producer sells this ex-cellar for about $5 a liter - I don't know this, but it's certainly less than $10.

This is not a wine to cellar and mature; it's a wine to guzzle, and if you don't finish it, you can stick the top right back on and save it for the next night. It has real Grüner Veltliner character, with no oak that I can detect - it's a fairly "dilute" wine, so oak would be positively overwhelming.

This Hofer is organic, and is made in a sleepy little hamlet just a few miles north of Vienna (it's pretty amazing how Vienna, a big, powerful city, can taper off into serenity just a few miles to the north).

It's impossible to cherish this wine as something sacred (because it's not), and it's impossible not to like this wine as something joyful (because it is) - it's like a really fun session beer that you don't feel guilty about splurging on because it's a few dollars.

Having a "house wine" is a quaint, but rare concept in this day and age, but if you were to have one, this wouldn't be a bad place to start.

Yes, I'm friends with Terry Theise, but I haven't spoken with him in months, and he has no idea I'm writing this. I know this wine very well from previous vintages, and have never not liked it. Think: pitchers of Budweiser, except good.

Gruner.jpg

Screenshot 2016-11-25 at 19.12.06.pngScreenshot 2016-11-25 at 19.12.51.png

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I picked this up at my local whole foods, and we really enjoyed it. It reminded me of many great house wines I enjoyed in Europe, so it's nice to know someone with your expertise enjoyed it as well.

*Mine did not come with a table tennis/ping pong paddle. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...