What would you choose for a special meal if you knew it was going to be your last? This is a question often debated amongst chefs when they relax with colleagues at the end of a long night of service.
Celebrity portrait photographer Melanie Dunea had the idea of collecting last meal wishes from the world’s top chefs and taking photos of them inspired by their final culinary plans. Her 2007 book, My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals, served as the inspiration for just one of the delicious food and wine events at the Sixth Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine event (PBFW) this past weekend.
Over 50 events during this four-day food and wine extravaganza included cooking demonstrations by such celebrity chefs as Daniel Boulud, Masaharu Morimoto and Guy Fiori; wine seminars with the makers of legendary wines like Ridge’s Paul Draper and Ornellaia’s Axel Heinz; three different grand tastings featuring hundreds of wineries and culinary creations by over 20 chefs; and a multitude of incredible lunches and dinners. Three or more events were usually happening at the same time, but the organizers managed, astonishingly, to keep everything flowing smoothly and on time. In the case of the wine events, they were assisted by a legion of sommeliers from around the country.
Being primarily a wine guy, I focused on some of the great wine tastings, including a dinner prepared by award winning Florida restaurateur Michelle Bernstein paired with several vintages of Ruinart vintage Blanc de Blancs and Rosé Champagnes; a vertical of wines from top Bordeaux producer Cos d’Estournel back to the 1966 vintage; a Sunday morning vertical of Taittinger’s Comtes de Champagne with Vitalie Taittinger and Antonio Galloni; and Saturday’s Lexus Grand Tasting, where I sampled wines from Santa Barbara producers like Brewer Clifton, Dragonette and Paul Lato, having just spent the preceding five days touring Santa Barbara County vineyards and meeting with other winemakers there.
The single most memorable wine event of the weekend for me, however, was a complete vertical tasting of California cult Cabernet Scarecrow, led by the proprietor, Bret Lopez and winemaker Celia Welch. The wines, produced from a vineyard that contains vines dating back to 1945, the oldest plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa, were absolutely stunning. They displayed purity, balance and complexity. I scored the 2005 98+ points, and the rest of the vertical, from its first vintage in 2003 to the 2010, were not far behind. I’ll be writing up this event and some of the others in greater detail for this blog in the upcoming weeks.Other popular events throughout the weekend included a a seminar on the art of beer pairing, a dinner honoring U.S.-based Chinese cuisine pioneer Cecilia Chang, a vodka and caviar presentation, and a dinner prepared by three chefs whose restaurants have all earned three Michelin stars: Christopher Kostow, Pierre Gagnaire and Angela Pinkerton.
At the dinner entitled “My Last Supper,” two of the chefs in Ms. Dunea’s book–Michelle Bernstein and Jonathan Waxman–along with Masaharu Morimoto, Paul Bartolotta and George Mendes, prepared a total of five dishes and several appetizers for us. Each dish was paired with a wine (e.g., Bartolotta’s Roast Rack of Lamb with anchovy sauce was paired with a baby Napa Cab, 2010 The Black Bottle). Each of the chefs spoke, as did representatives from all the wineries, while Ms. Dunea emceed and shared stories about her experiences with the chefs in putting together the book.
The 50 chefs featured in the book include Ferran Adrià, Thomas Keller, Mario Batali and Suzanne Goin. These are people who have been creating incredible meals and sampling fabulous dishes prepared by others all their professional lives. Not surprisingly, most of them tend to go simple for their last meal, identifying dishes that conjure up particular memories for them for that final culinary send off.Gary Danko is one of the few who went in quite another direction, specifying an orgy of spectacular foods and dishes, along with a huge assortment of amazing wines, to be shared with 100 or so friends Roman style. Gary was also among the few chefs who named particular great bottles of wine he would like to enjoy on his final day—in his case, over 40 legendary wines.
The other chefs after my own heart who think as much about the wine as the food for their ultimate meal include Daniel Boulud (his last supper would feature 1962 Vogüé Musigny, 1955 La Mission Haut-Brion and a 1921 Château d’Yquem); Thomas Keller (1983 Salon Champagne and a Ridge Lytton Springs Zin); Jonathan Waxman (1950 Château Margaux); Michel Richard (1982 Krug Clos du Mesnil); and Charlie Trotter (1900 Château Margaux)
So what would I have for my final meal? Assuming I can’t schedule my final days to coincide with another PBFW, I would start by selecting several great wines to accompany my remaining hours, and then pick some simple dishes to pair with those wines.
There would be Champagne, of course–older bottles of Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill and Philipponat Clos des Goisses. I’d pair those with caviar. Then some great aged Raveneau Chablis to accompany a couple dozen oysters. I’d need a mature Montrachet for the fish course, a 1990 Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle with a rack of lamb, and then a 1964 Giacomo Conterno Barolo for a wild boar and truffle pasta. We’d then proceed with a cheese course accompanied by a 1994 Quinta do Noval Naçional. The final wine, all by itself, would be the 1875 D’Oliveiras Malvazia Madeira. It would fill me with sunshine and contentment, like great vintage Madeira always does, as I reflect on all the delicious riches life has brought me, like time spent at PBFW.
Ever need a wine that will pair especially well with healthy food choices—grilled vegetables, salads, light chicken and fish dishes? Could you use a fully versatile wine that goes not only with lighter appetizers and your vegetarian spouse’s dishes but even, for a white wine, surprisingly well with red meat? Do you sometimes enjoy vegetables, like asparagus or artichoke, that don’t seem to pair with wine at all?
The wine that can manage all that is made from Austria’s most widely planted grape—Grüner Veltliner, or “GruVee,” as some in the U.S. and Britain have begun calling it.
Several years back, sommeliers who are always looking for better food pairing wines and preferably something exotic started putting Grüners on their lists and recommending them to patrons. While many of those early proponents have since moved on to other white wine discoveries, Grüner remains one of the most versatile and food friendly wines around. And excellent examples can be found for $20 and under.
Snooth, the U.S.’s most heavily trafficked wine website, organized a series of seminars for wine writers and bloggers in New York City that I attended this past weekend. They invited Aldo Sohm, “Chef Sommelier” at Le Bernardin and 2008’s “Best Sommelier in the World,” to talk to us about Austrian Grüner, and to walk us through a tasting of a dozen Grüners from different parts of Austria, made in different styles, at all price points.
Besides being extremely knowledgeable about Austrian wines and winemakers, Aldo is also making dry Grüner in partnership with Austrian sweet wine specialist Gerhard Kracher. One of their wines was among the dozen we sampled.
Aldo explained that Austrian Grüner is made in a range of styles, from light and fairly low alcohol, mainly from high yielding vineyards planted on low lying flatland; to very dry, showing white pepper and minerality; to ripe and rich; and even to sweet versions. He also drew parallels between Austrian Grüner and Chardonnay grown in France’s Burgundy region.
For one thing, Austrian Grüner is grown at the same latitude, between 47 and 48 degrees north, as Burgundy. A well publicized series of blindtastings of top white Burgundies and Austrian Grüners in the last several years surprised the assembled critics when several Grüners placing higher than grand cru white Burgundies.
Like the best Chardonnay from cooler climates, Grüner too is capable of long aging, putting on “tertiary” flavors after 15 years or so of age, and ultimately capable of going 20 to 30 years. Unlike much Chardonnay, Austrian Grüner is usually produced with little or no new oak, although some have experimented with aging at least part of the wines in new French barriques.
Thanks to DNA typing we now know that Grüner is the offspring of Traminer and a grape of which only one vine is known, discovered in 2000 in an overgrown pasture land where no grapes had been cultivated for more than a century. Because this vine was found in the village of St. Georgen, it has benn dubbed St. Georgener-Rebe (“St. Georgen vine”).
Grüner Veltliner (image courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
According to Aldo, Grüner is different from Riesling, the other great white grape of Austria, in that it likes deep soils, prefers plenty of moisture and excels on midslopes as opposed to the less rich soils of hilltops. In other words, Grüner is a grape that likes to “luxuriate,” as opposed to Riesling, which does best when it is “made to suffer.”
Aldo also prefers Grüner from the 1980s to the early 1990s, and from the last several years, since 2004. He explained there was a trend of including botrytised grapes—grapes shriveled by “noble rot,” and therefore with more concentrated sugar—from 1997 to 2004 in Austria that made those wines take on more tropical fruit flavors and honeyed richness than is typical of most dry versions of the grape.
Listed below are 55 Grüners from recent vintages I’ve sampled, with prices and tasting notes, including the dozen we tried with Aldo last weekend. Most of the others I’ve sampled at trade tastings organized by Terry Theise with WineWise and The Vienna Wine Company. Terry is the leading importer of Austrian wines to the U.S.
One of the wines on my list is actually a Grüner from Italy’s northern Alto Adige district, which was part of Austria until 1918, and where a substantial amount of Grüner is still grown. Grüner has also long been grown in Austria’s neighbors Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary, and there are increasing plantings in New Zealand, South Australia and the U.S.
The two most recent vintages are a real contrast, in that 2010 was a very cool growing season in Austria, resulting in some relatively austere wines with very high acidities, while 2011 had quite warm temperatures from July on, leading to very ripe, full bodied wines.
Consistently, vintage after vintage, the greatest producers of Grüner in Austria based on my tastings over the years are Hiedler, Hirsch, Nigl, Nikolaihof, Schloss Gobelsburg and Willi Bründlmayer. I’ve also been impressed with Grüners from Bernhard Ott, Ebner-Ebnauer, Graf Hardegg, Sohm & Kracher and Veyder-Malberg.
The greatest values among my recommendations below, with delicious examples available for $20 or less, are the 2011 Nigl Privat Seftenberger Pellingen Erste Lage (93+ points; averaging $18), 2011 Ebner-Ebenauer Weinviertel DAC Birthal (91+ points; $18), 2011 Graf Hardegg Vom Schloss (91+ points; $18), and 2011 Hiedler Löss (91+ points; $18). There are also a lot of great Grüners, including some from famous old vineyards, priced much higher than this, from $25 to $80, the great majority of which are purchased and consumed domestically in Austria.
Highly Recommended
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2011 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben
Pale green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, white pepper nose; tasty, white pepper, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 93+ points (selling for average of $40) -
2011 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Privat Seftenberger Pellingen Erste Lage
Very light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, white pepper, tart lime nose savory, charcoal, pepper palate; medium-plus finish 93+ points ($18) -
2010 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner Thal
Light green-tinged yellow color; lovely, savory, tart pear, mineral nose; tasty, complex as usual, mineral, tart green fruit, tart pear palate; medium-plus finish 93 points ($27, widely available) -
2010 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Lamm # 1
Light green-tinged yellow color; complex, pepper, tart green fruit, tarragon nose; delicious, complex, pepper, tart green fruit, tarragon palate; medium-plus finish 93 points (2011 available for $62) -
2011 Bernhard Ott Grüner Veltliner Fass 4
Very light yellow color; ripe lemon, white jasmine nose; delicate, ripe lemon, tart pear, mineral palate with good texture and balancing acidity; medium-plus finish 92 points ($26) -
2011 Weingut Hirsch Grüner Veltliner Lamm
Light green-tinged yellow color; savory, celery seed, tart citrus nose; savory, celery seed, tart citrus, mineral palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 92 points ($58) -
2009 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Im Weingebirge
Light yellow color; focused, tart citrus, light pepper nose; tasty, tart pepper, mineral palate; medium-plus finish (1.5 yrs in cask) 92 points ($70) -
2010 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Renner
Light yellow color with spritz; tart citrus, light pepper nose; tight, light pepper, tart citrus, lime palate; medium-plus finish 92 points ($36) -
2011 Veyder-Malberg Grüner Veltliner Kreutles
Very light yellow color; appealing, refined, mineral, lime, white grapefruit nose; tasty, regined, medium bodied, delicate, mineral, white grapefruit palate with good texture and definition; medium-plus finish 92 points (2010 available for $29) -
2011 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Spiegel
Light yellow color; mineral, celery broth, savory nose; tasty, light celery, mineral, light pepper palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish 92 points ($67) -
2011 Ebner-Ebenauer Grüner Veltliner Weinviertel DAC Birthal
Very light yellow color; appealing, lifted, ripe grapefruit, white pepper, orange blossom nose; tasty, bright, mineral, ripe grapefruit palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($18) -
2011 Graf Hardegg Grüner Veltliner Vom Schloss
Light yellow color; savory, white pepper, ripe grapefruit, lime and rock salt nose; very tasty, lime, mineral, rock salt, light white pepper palate with near medium acidity (reminiscent of a good Margarita); medium-plus finish 91+ points ($18) -
2011 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner Löss
Very light green-tinged yellow color; lovely, focused, mineral, ethereal, tart citrus nose; tasty, focused, mineral, tart citrus palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($18) -
2011 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner November Kittmannsberg
Light green-tinged yellow color; tart lime, chalk nose; tasty, tart lime, chalk, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($30) -
2011 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner Thal
Light green-tinged yellow color; tart green pear nose; tart green pear, lime palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($24) -
2011 Weingut Hirsch Grüner Veltliner Heiligenstein
Light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, celery seed, light pepper, mineral nose; tasty, celery seed, light pepper, tart grapefruit, mineral palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($24) -
2010 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Herzstück vom Kirchenberg
Light green-tinged yellow color; savory, light pepper, mineral nose; tasty, savory, light pepper, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($47) -
2010 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner “Hefeabzug”
Light yellow color; focused, tart citrus, mineral nose; focused, mineral, lightly savory palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points (widely available, $26) -
2010 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Im Weingebirge
Light yellow color; tart citrus, mineral nose; tasty, tart citrus, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($33) -
2011 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Kammerner Lamm
Light yellow color; appealing, lifted, ripe pear, white jasmine, light vanilla nose; tasty, focused, rich but poised, ripe pear, white jasmine, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($62) -
2011 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Renner
Light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, tart lime, mineral nose; tasty, poised, creamy textured, tart lime, mineral, light pepper palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points ($33) -
2010 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Steinsetz
Light yellow color; refined, mineral, tart citrus, light pepper nose; delicious, mineral, tart citrus, light pepper palate; medium-plus finish 91+ points (widely available, $30) -
2011 Sohm & Kracher Grüner Veltliner
Very light yellow color; floral, ripe lime, orange sherbet, lime sherbet, tart pear nose; rich, lime sherbet, fresh lime palate with a little bitterness and fresh lime on finish; long finish (14 mos on lees) 91+ points ($38)
Recommended
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2010 Weingut Hirsch Grüner Veltliner Lamm
Light green-tinged yellow color; light pepper, tart citrus nose; tasty, tart citrus, light pepper palate; medium-plus finish 91 points ($53) -
2011 Weingut Markus Huber Grüner Veltliner Obere Steigen
Light yellow color; ripe pear, light peach, apple, floral nose; tasty, medium bodied, tart pear, tart peach, mineral, Chablis-like palate with medium acidity and showing some reduction; medium-plus finish 91 points ($20 for 2010) -
2010 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Im Weingebirge
Light yellow color; aromatic, lime, celery seed nose; tasty, focused, tart lime, celery seed palate; medium-plus finish 91 points ($79) -
2010 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Tradition
Light yellow color; intriguing, celery salt, dill, lime nose; firm, dill, celery seed, mineral, tart yellow fruit, light pepper palate; medium-plus finish 91 points ($46) -
2011 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm
Light green-tinged yellow color; celery, lightly smoky, ripe lime nose; tasty, tart lime, mineral, ripe green fruit palate; medium-plus finish 91 points (not available yet) -
2010 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Kamptaler Terrassen
Very light yellow color; tart grapefruit, tart apple nose; tasty, tart green fruit, mineral, tart citrus palate; medium-plus finish 91 points ($23) -
2011 Weingut Hirsch Grüner Veltliner #1
Very light green-tinged yellow color; savory, celery seed nose; savory, celery seed, mineral palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 90+ points (widely available, $17) -
2009 Moric Grüner Veltliner Sankt Georgen
Light yellow color; appealing, savory, bitter lemon, light white jasmine nose; medium bodied, tangy, tart lemon, mineral palate with a little bitterness; could use 2 years to fully integrate the oak and resolve; medium-plus finish (more reminiscent of a white Burgundy than most Gruners I’ve tasted) 90+ points ($49) -
2011 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Senftenberger Piri
Light green-tinged yellow color; tart lime, mineral nose; tart lime, mineral, light white pepper palate; medium-plus finish 90+ points ($26) -
2011 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Im Weingebirge
Light yellow color; mineral, celery seed nose; mineral, celery seed, tart citrus palate; medium-plus finish 90+ points ($33) -
2011 Prager Grüner Veltliner Stockkultur Achleiten
Light yellow color; mango, tropical fruit, papaya nose; ripe mango, ripe lime, tart green apple, mineral palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish (4 grams RS) 90+ points ($74) -
2011 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Steinsetz
Light yellow color; aromatic, tart lime nose; tasty, tart lime, palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 90+ points ($26) -
2011 Stadlmann Grüner Veltliner
Light yellow color; appealing, ripe peach, apricot, ripe pear nose; tasty, clean, tart pear, mineral, pepper, light graphite, smoke palate; medium-plus finish 90+ points ($14) -
2010 Weingut Hirsch Grüner Veltliner Heiligenstein
Light green-tinged yellow color; tart citrus, lime nose; tasty, tart lime, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 90 points ($30) -
2011 Bio-Weingut H. u. M. Hofer Grüner Veltliner Freiberg
Light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, tart lime, mineral nose; tart lime, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 90 points ($20) -
2010 Martin Arndorfer Grüner Veltliner Strasser Weinberge
Light green-tinged yellow color; tart lime, mineral nose; tasty, tart lime, mineral, stony palate; medium-plus finish 90 points ($21) -
2011 Nigl Grüner Veltliner Freiheit
Light yellow color with spritz; intriguing, tart green fruit, wintergreen nose; tasty, tart green fruit, light pepper, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 90 points (widely available, $20) -
2011 Nikolaihof Grüner Veltliner “Hefeabzug”
Light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, celery seed green fruit nose; celery seed, green fruit, mineral palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 90 points (widely available, $26) -
2011 Bio-Weingut H. u. M. Hofer Grüner Veltliner Von Den Rieden
Light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, tart citrus, light pepper nose; tart citrus, light pepper palate with medium-plus acidity; medium-plus finish 89 points ($18) -
2011 Martin Arndorfer Grüner Veltliner Reserve Strasser Weinberge
Light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, lime essence, mineral, celery nose; tart green pear, mineral, ripe lime palate; medium finish 89 points ($21) -
2008 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Ried Lamm
Light yellow color; aromatic, caraway seed, petrol nose; mature, ripe citrus, mineral, petrol, celery extract palate; medium-plus finish 89 points ($81)
Others
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2011 Ecker Grüner Veltliner
Light green-tinged yellow color; focused, tart lime nose; very dry, tart lime, mineral, tart green fruit palate; medium finish 88+ points ($14) -
2011 F.X. Pichler Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Dürnsteiner Liebenberg
Light yellow color; focused, tart peach, sweet green herb nose; lean, tart peach, mineral, yellow fruit palate; medium-plus finish 88+ points ($69) -
2011 Weingut Glatzer Grüner Veltliner Dornenvogel
Light green-tinged yellow color; aromatic, wet meadow, lime nose; tasty, crisp, tart lime, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 88+ points ($17) -
2010 Weingut Klaus Lentsch Valle Isarco – Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige
Light medium yellow color; aromatic, tart green fruit, mineral nose; tart green fruit, mineral palate; medium finish 88+ points ($28) -
2011 Roman Pfaffl Grüner Veltliner Austrian Pepper
Light lemon yellow color; white pepper, lemon rind, tart peach nose; tart peach, lemon rind, mineral, white pepper palate with medium acidity; medium-plus finish 88+ points ($15) -
2010 Bio-Weingut H. u. M. Hofer Grüner Veltliner Freiberg
Light green-tinged yellow color; tart green apple, citrus nose; tart green apple, citrus palate; medium finish 88 points ($20) -
2011 Schloss Gobelsburg Grüner Veltliner Gobelsburger
Light yellow color; tart grapefruit, mineral nose; tart grapefruit, mineral palate; medium-plus finish 88 points (widely available, $15) -
2010 Weingut Hirsch Grüner Veltliner #1
Light yellow color; tart green fruit, light pepper nose; tart green fruit, lime palate; medium-plus finish 87 points ($18) -
2010 Schwarzböck Grüner Veltliner
Light green-tinged yellow color; smoky, tart citrus nose; tart citrus, mineral palate; medium finish 87 points ($15) -
2010 Schwarzböck Grüner Veltliner Kirchberg
Light green-tinged yellow color; tart green apple, citrus nose; tart green apple, citrus palate; medium finish 86 points ($16) -
2011 Weingut Glatzer Grüner Veltliner
Light yellow color; tart citrus nose; tart citrus, light pepper palate; medium finish 85 points ($14)




















































