We confess that the craze for Gruner Veltliner passed us by when it first came rolling into town. “It smells of flowering fields!”, they said. “It’s the perfect food wine!”, they said. We looked on unmoved. We felt like the only people at the night club who didn’t know the tune. It’s examples like this that remind us what all the fuss was all about. This example comes from the Isarco Valley, which cuts through the very northern reaches of Alto Adige in northern Italy, on the border with Austria. It’s a wonderfully clean and pure wine, like crystal-clear mountain water, flavoured with the grape’s signature notes of green pepper (or is it cucumber?), as well as nashi pear, grapefruit and meadow herbs, flowing over broken slate. As fresh as an Alp and much easier to drink. It’s a perfect aperitif, but equally pairs brilliantly with any number of meals, wrapping itself around dishes that would confuse and upset more fickle grapes. Ultra-chic and elegant. 13.5% alc. Drink now – 2026.