This Grüner Veltliner Doesn’t Shout—It Slices
We don't like to play favorites, but if you had to pick one wine to serve a dinner guest who’s smarter than you, this is it. The 2023 Josef Fischer Grüner Veltliner ‘Rossatz’ is a white wine with a sharper tongue than your in-laws, and just enough polish to pass as charming. If elegance and tension had a baby, this would be the bottle you’d christen it with.
Made by Joe Fischer—fifth-generation winemaker, fish whisperer, and all-around Wachau wunderkind—this wine doesn’t shout. It slices. Built not on brute force but on steely precision, the ‘Rossatz’ is all citrus zest, green apple snap, and a salty streak that reads more like caviar than sodium chloride. It’s kinetic, coiled, and (unlike most people at parties) thrilling in its restraint.
what makes this wine—and its maker—so compelling is its origin story. The Wachau, Austria’s westernmost wine region, is a narrow, dramatic stretch of the Danube river valley known for producing Grüner Veltliner and Riesling of structure, depth, and longevity. Traditionally, the most prized vineyards were those clinging to the steep, sun-soaked northern banks. Yet climate change has turned the tables. Increasingly, the more modest, north-facing slopes on the southern banks—like those surrounding Fischer’s home village of Rossatz—offer the balance and freshness the region is prized for, without the over-ripeness that can plague warmer vintages.
Fischer’s 'Rossatz' bottling is village-level Grüner made from fruit that doesn’t make it into his single-vineyard wines—but don’t mistake this for second-string material. It’s meticulously farmed, hand-harvested, and certified organic, drawn from terraced plots rooted in paragneiss-rich soils that deliver both structure and a deep saline minerality. These soils, formed from ancient metamorphic rock and flecked with carbonate, act like natural reservoirs, supplying vines with just enough moisture and nutrients in the dry Wachau summers.
In the cellar, Joe employs a light touch. Native yeast fermentation is standard, and he eschews additives, fining, and filtration to preserve purity. Aging happens in a mix of stainless steel and neutral wood, allowing the terroir to lead the conversation. Malolactic fermentation is permitted but never pushed—only unfolding where the wine itself invites it.
The result is a wine that brings impressive complexity to the village tier: bracing acidity, a salty mineral core, and just enough creamy roundness to keep things civil. It's built to refresh, impress, and—if needed—politely upstage the food it’s served with.
In short: it’s Grüner as it should be. From a rising star who’s helping the Wachau evolve without ever losing its nerve.
