SF/Bay Area wine store for Gruner Veltliner?

Don't know their stocks, but K&L SF should have some. We had some very nice ones from the list of a restaurant, just around the corner (name eludes me at this instance), and the sommelier stated that he works closely with the folk at K&L. If I can recall, or track down that restaurant, I'll do so, as it was very, very good - just S of the freeway, near China Basin. Dang, I hate getting old!!!!!! :-(

Hunt

Thanks for both the recommendations for the Jug Shop and K&L. Both have it, but the Jug Shop is open later at night. My picnic won't be over before K&L closes. If it's through K&L, it will be mail order. Any of these that are especially good or that should be avoided?

2003 Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben

2003 Buchegger Grüner Veltliner Pfarrweingarten

2004 Hiedler Grüner Veltliner Löss

2003 Hirsch Grüner Veltliner "Heiligenstein"

2002 Leithner Grüner Veltliner "Privat"

2003 Mantlerhof Grüner Veltliner Spiegel

2002 Weingut Pfaffl Grüner Veltliner "Goldjoch"

2002 Weingut Schmelz Gruner Veltliner 'Steinwand' Federspiel

If Michael Pronay or E. Winemonger should read this, they can give you far better advice than I; however, the producers I can recommend are Bründlmayer, Hirsch, Hiedler, Mantlerhof and Pfaffl. There are some very good wines on your list, but there are also multiple vintages. '03 was a particularly hot year that produced bigger wines that are less typical. I'd probably go for '02 Hirsch Lamm "September" and the '03 Bründlmayer Alte Reben, but more knowledgeable posters might be able to give better advice.

Mark Lipton

Alzinger's basic Smaragd, but also very good. Not tasted.

Not tasted. Should be good.

Basic bottling.

Fine. Rated 90 last year.

;-) This one's not Austrian, but Italian. Interesting, if only for contrast. Nowhere near the top Austrians.

Basic quaffing stuff from a cooler year. Crisp and spritzy.

Superb. Rated 91 last year.

Long-lived. Rated 89 last year.

Fine, rated 89.

Beautifully full and rounded, 91.

Basic bottling, not tasted.

Very fine, 90.

Second rank producer, serious, 88.

Super, 91.

Not tasted, but usually good.

Probably with a plastic stopper and too old. Not tasted.

HTH a little,

M.

K & L is great. You should also check out Vino Venue. There you can taste many many many wines by the glass (using a smart card! It's quite an experience). And as luck would have it, they are pouring some Winemonger imported Austrian wines, including Gruner Veltliner. They're open until 10PM on Saturdays, as they are also a wine bar as well as a shop. Here's their info:

Michael covered your list well, but I would give a second "shout out" for the Alzinger, Heidler and Mantlerhof.

e.

Sorry that it took so long, but I've been a bit busy with the business of New Orleans & MS.

Here is the restaurant, near K&L SF. Bacar Restaurant & Wine Salon, 448 Brannan St (between 3rd & 4th), SF, CA, USA. The night that we were there, they had about five - six GV's on their list. Seems that we did three, plus a Gregory Graham Viognier. I recommend the food, and you might get to "taste before you buy" some of the GV's on your list.

Regardless, it also sounds like you have gotten some good rec's on GV's with comments by the experts, plus have found a retailer, who can meet your time frame. I've Saved_As the comments, for my next GV shopping spree!

Don't forget to give the group TN's from all of your purposes - or better yet, invite us ALL over to taste them with you. :-)

Good shopping, Hunt

Well, thank you to Mr. Pronay and Mr. Lipton for their recommendations as well as Mr. Hunt for his suggestion for a restaurant. I'll check that out when I have more time. The thing that was most interesting is that some of the more modestly priced GruVe were the ones that Pronay rated 91. I started out seeking a bottle of unusual wine for a gift and ended up dropping a few bills on a whole case of wine I ordered from K&L in San Francisco. I suppose that's a story that many in this newsgroup could tell. Here's what I got:

I bought one Privat as a gift and two for me. I bought the Italian GruVe as a gift. Also, I'm going to a housewarming in a few weeks so I needed a sparkling wine for that. We'll see how the Italians do it. My question to the other group members would be about the Swiss Merlot. Is it enough of a novelty that an oenophile might be interested in it that I can give it to him as a gift? Or is just another ordinary bottle of wine? Here's what K&L had on it's Web site:

^^ Hiedler

M.

M- I could swear you were a grammar teacher in a former life! ;)

-e. "typo" winemonger

Take a look:

or, shorter:

SCNR ;-)

M.

Not in my former life, but my 5-year job as an assistent professor at Vienna University Law School included intense proof-reading. And I still do it with one of the two magazines I write for.

M.

My husband attended there for a year. Perhaps you have corrected him as well....! e.

Could very well be possible. From 1976 to 1982 I was part of the team that corrected the written exam "Einführung in die Grundbegriffe des Staates und des Rechtes", the first exam alle beginners had to take, two months after the start of their studies.

M.

A small world indeed.

By the way, I sent you a private email- let me know if you did not receive it. e.

Got it, but still not sure about what to reply.

M.