2018 Gruner Veltliner Praepositus Abbazia di Novacella: a spicy and powerful white wine

The 2018 Grüner Veltliner Praepositus Abbazia di Novacella is an enveloping and very stimulating drink for the palate, which will be tickled by a thousand suggestions, each more intriguing than the other. It is rare to find a wine that is so aromatic, dense, and pleasant at the same time. The aromas are incredible for precision and breadth: you will find honey, almonds, cumin, cinnamon, and a thousand flowers, but don’t think about the aromatic fury of a Gewurztraminer. No, everything is sharp and pungent, drawn with great depth and scrupulousness.

How is it produced?

The vines are quite young, maximum of 15 years. Due to the slow, millenary accumulation of glacial soils, the soils are a mixture of clay, limestone, and morainic marl. Guyot training system. After soft pressing, the must ferments in steel and then refines 1/3 in steel and 2/3 in large oak barrels for 12 months.

Organoleptic characteristics

The color is splendid, golden yellow, slightly faded, with green reflections. The nose is textbook, punctuated with incredible cleanliness. Green fruit, hay, licorice, ginger, and this incredible amalgam of apple and cinnamon is almost like an apple pie.

It is full-bodied, rocky, and sinuous on the palate, driven by glacial acidity and green and juicy tones of lime that alternate with sweet spices and incense.

The sip is long and vertical for the first mineral explosion, but then it relaxes, and lets emerge complex and voluptuous flavors of quince.

Complex, but at the same time easily readable and very easy as a rhythm. Rock structure, but inlaid with jade veins.

The beauty of this wine is the continuous dialogue between the ripe pulp and the more mentholated tones. First hot and then sharp, ripe and then nervous, first spicy and then

The 2018 vintage has some fruity fury and is launching towards an evolution reminiscent of candied lemon, musk, and umami and decadent tones of dried fruit—balsamic finish.

Price

The latest vintage, 2019, is on sale on the Abbazia di Novacella winery website at 17.50 euros and is a real bargain. Leave it in the cellar for 15 years, and it becomes a masterpiece wine: it has a lot of acidity.

Food Pairings

Parmigiana ravioli, spaghetti with clams, chicken tikka masala, Chicken Cacciatore, Vitello Tonnato, truffle risotto, pasta alla carbonara, Pad Thai.