Sonntag GeschlossenGrüner Veltliner 2003 (750ml)

This wine, one of Markus’ first ever, spent well over twenty years – 7,492 days, to be exact – in an old, 800 liter barrel, in a cold cellar in Austria, not terribly far from the Czech border.

This 2003 Grüner Veltliner is one of the most unusual wines Markus has ever made. Markus chose to ferment this vintage with whole bunches on the skins for four weeks. While the plan, initially, was probably not to keep it in the cellar for 20 years, here we are. This is the first time this wine has been bottled.

It is an extraordinary wine with a glowing, amber hue. At only 11% alcohol, the wine is lithe and direct, with very fine, yet sturdy, tannins; even at 20 years this wine has grip and structure. On the nose the wine is subterranean; one certainly gets a sense of the barrel this wine spent its life in, overlaid with spiced dried fruit, citrus skin, dried flowers. This is a subtle wine, still very mineral and youthful; aside from the color, it would be hard to guess that this wine is over 20 years old.

Only a thousand bottles, and of course there will never be another wine like this again.