Gruner Veltliner ‘Pankraz’ from Ingrid Groiss is a magical wine from a single vineyard, which is made up of sand, marl lime and conglomerate soils. 70% of the grapes are gently pressed without stems and fermented with natural yeasts. The remaining 30% are destemmed but remain whole and are fermented in old 500-litre Austrian oak barrels. The wine is then aged for 11 months on its lees. The result is a quite remarkable wine with a complex nose, herby, grapefruit and peachy flavours and a moreish and mouth-watering acidity with citrus and white flower notes. It can be drunk with roasted or braised white meats as well as spicy dishes. Really top stuff.

Describing herself as passionate, emotional and determined, this pretty much says it all about Ingrid Groiss and these are the sort of character traits I’d expect to find in a young wine maker who modernised their parent’s winery. Having lived the corporate life with Coca-Cola in her younger years, Ingrid returned to her wine-making roots in Weinviertel and set about producing fantastic wines from the vineyards her gran had planted some 50 years ago. Ingrid’s wines have a great purity to them and the complexity of her Gruner Veltliners is quite amazing. The wines are all certified organic now and they get better with every vintage. It’s a real pleasure to work with Ingrid and her wines, we love them!