Melusine: The Final Vintage
2007 Melusine Grüner Veltliner
Grüner Veltliner at its most Forceful, most Burgundian
Marion Ebner's cult Grüner Veltliner project comes to an end with the beautiful 2007 vintage.
Today we offer the final few cases discounted $40 a bottle.
It's an easy ploy, the whole "almost 50% off" thing.
And it is a crazy deal, a ludicrous deal, one of those deals everyone should take advantage of. The only price in the U.S. for this bottle of wine is $88.50 - today we offer the final few cases for $49.95.
That said, we really don't want the pricing to be the whole story, because this wine is too good, the winemaker too talented, the project too unique to be reduced to nothing more than a ridiculous bargain. Frankly, we believed in and supported and sold this wine at $90. We're sad to see the end of this project, but happy to offer it out at such an exceptional price.
In fact, this is one of the most unique Grüner Veltliners coming out of Austria - both in ambition and style. It is very much a Burgundian Grüner, a wine that flaunts ripeness, density, really a sort of shocking concentration (more on that below) and length.
 |
It is a textural wine, a great white that attempts to marry the weight and amplitude of Grand Cru white Burgundy with the signature flavors of Grüner Veltliner and the unique terroir of Austria's Kamptal.
For just about all fans of serious white Burgundy - Leflaive, Lafon, Roulot, Raveneau, Dauvissat, etc - this is worth trying. They are different, obviously - different terroir, different grapes... yet there is a similar ambition, and I think this is obvious in the wine itself.
The Melusine story is an interesting one. Marion Ebner, the winemaker, is a bit of a wine prodigy. Not from a winemaking family at all, Marion caught the wine bug and at the age of 16 she became the apprentice to the famous Austrian winemaker Fritz Wieninger. By the age of 21 she was working for Austria's Wein & Co. and through this job was able to work out a deal on something close to impossible: A single row of lyra-trained Grüner Veltliner grapes in the Kamptal's famous Lamm vineyard.
These lyra-trained vines, pictured to the right, are famous for the phenolic densities they are capable of attaining; thus we have the ravishing concentrations in the 2007 Melusine. It's worth noting that these sorts of vines are used famously by winemakers like Willi Brundlmayer and Michael Moosbrugger at Schloss Gobelsburg to incredible ends.
This is one of Austria's great vineyards and to call this a winemaking coup is a bit of an understatement: Indeed this is something like a super-talented highschooler starting at third at Yankee Stadium.
But Marion did not fail to take advantage of the opportunity. This is one of those bottles that has become a cult wine in Austria and Germany - her 2006 Melusine was awarded one of the top reviews by Gault Millau, almost neck and neck with FX Pichler's Unendlich (which enjoys a $150+ price tag).
The small production of this wine has kept it from getting much exposure in the U.S., beyond a fairly devoted cadre of Austrian wine geeks. And recently, Marion has married into a wine growing family in the Weinviertel, so she's shifting her efforts from this small production bottling to the family winery, which is understandable.
And that's how we reach the end of the Melusine story. But 2007 is a grand conclusion - while the wine is not as dense and over-the-top as the 2006, it is better balanced, clearer and shows off more minerality, more energy and freshness.
That said, in my experience, these are forceful wines that rush over the palate - to temper the energy here, a good decant is recommended. The last time I had this I was shocked at how slinky and elegant it had become with an hour or two in a decanter.
These are also ageworthy: For you devout Austrian-fanatics, happily bury these in your cellar for 5+ years.
This is it - the final cases, the final bottles... priced at $40 below the lowest price in the nation. First come, first served... all orders subject to confirmation!
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Stephen Bitterolf
Wine Director
Crush Wine & Spirits
 |
Special Email Bottle Price: $49.95
The only compare at price is $88.95
Wine available next week!
NET | No further discount