Not everyone has the stamina, or the inclination, to sift through the word salad of the typical Austrian or German wine label. But it is worth it, believe me. There’s a lot to be learned about today’s wine from its label—the big takeaway being the extraordinary ‘specialness’ it conveys for just $25. 
Austria’s spectacular Wachau region, a verdant stretch of the Danube given UNESCO World Heritage status, is thick with families whose winemaking roots (and family properties) go back many centuries. The profundity of that history and the intricacies of the local terroir are reflected in the region’s inimitable wines, which carry not just village and vineyard names but their own Wachau-specific ripeness designations (Steinfeder; Federspiel; Smaragd). Today’s wine carries yet another Wachau-only trademark: Rupertiwein, the imprimatur of a small group of producers clustered in a section of western Wachau known as the Arnsdorf. They want you to know that this Grüner Veltliner is not just from the Wachau but from this specific little sliver of the Wachau. They want you to know that it is special (which it is—and delicious, too), even if they’re not really charging you for it. There’s so much wine at this price point with nothing to say—don’t settle for that when this much quality and authenticity is staring you in the face!

As defined by the Wachau producers’ association known as the Vinea Wachau Nobilis Districtus, today’s 2018 is classified as Federspiel, the middle tier of three ripeness levels, which usually translates to a wine that reaches 11.5%-12.5% a.b.v. at bottling (this one is 12.5%). Sourced from the steeply pitched, west/northwest-facing Stiegelstal site, the wine is at once angular and fleshy—a mouthwatering push-pull of green fruits, shards of rock, wildflowers and bracing freshness. In the glass, it’s a bright yellow gold with silver and green reflections, with an expressive nose of green apple, lime pith, white grapefruit, peach, tarragon, white pepper, and radish. These sensations are confirmed on the medium-bodied palate, which leaves a lasting impact after a wave of freshness crashes ashore and ignites the salivary response. This is ready to drink now and over the next few years at 45-50 degrees in all-purpose white wine stems, and to put it bluntly, you need a lot: it is so versatile with food, so refreshing, and so crowd-pleasing that bottles tend to disappear faster than you thought possible. Try this with a light meal of pan-fried weisswurst or boudin blanc served with some arugula or dandelion greens and you’ve got your Monday night dinner won. Cheers!