Here’s another one you may not know.  Another white wine made from a white wine grape, this one is named Gruner Veltliner and it originally comes from Austria, where it loves to grow along the Danube River.  Now you can think of Strauss’ Blue Danube whenever you see Gruner.   

Rivers and wine are inextricably linked.  River valleys are found all over the winegrowing world – they are perfect for vines.  Soils are complex because of water erosion and transportation.  There’s a variety of elevations and exposures to the sun.  The Romans made a habit of sprinkling vines on valley hillsides as their empire spread.   

Back in 2009 I visited Germany’s Mosel River Valley for work.  I was over an hour early for an appointment so I simply walked down to a slow turn of the river and took off my shoes and stood in the river.  I don’t know how long I was there, but that memory, that river made a lasting impression.  Not only do I associate rivers with memories, I associate rivers with memory itself – that’s how potent that simple experience was!  Whoa, heavy stuff.   

I say this as a way of introducing this wine but also the idea behind all of my wines – that when we drink a wine we get a chance to dip into that river of memory.  We can make memories, sure – but we can also retrieve and connect memories and feelings.  We can also cast our mind out to think of other people in other places and other times – and thanks to this wine, their memories can join ours.  Why does wine do this successfully?  I think it’s because wine is so adamantly about individual expression of place and very regional culture.  There’s not much else we ingest that comes so loaded with someone else’s story and specificity of place.   

Now that that’s out of the way, what does Gruner taste like?  I kind of think it’s the perfect white wine – it’s fruity but not heavy, it’s got lots of interesting features, none of which dominate.  It’s fresh, spicy, nutty, herbal, zippy and best of all – pleasant.  It provides apple, straw, jalapeno and grapefruit flavors and this unique combination not only tastes good by itself – it also combats challenging food pairings with Keanu-like detachment.  Heat?  Bitter?  Spice?  Strong Green flavors?  Bell Pepper, Asparagus?  All the boogeymen of wine pairing mean nothing to Gruner!  And there you have the inspiration behind why we would make one.  I wanted a white wine that ALWAYS showed up ready to party, that I could mindlessly leave in the fridge for whenever I needed anything white.  And every time I’ve drank it, I am so damn pleased with myself.  It always makes me feel more keen when I’m eating, so I enjoy things all the more. 

The name Endless River and the label came from a desire to kind of capture a mood of Vinyl LP art – I don’t know if the label looks more like folk music or some new age background music, but I love the cool colors which you don’t often see in wine packaging.