Moment with a Winemaker

You never know who will visit the wine shop: senators, magnates, heart surgeons, and guys who live under the nearby bridge.

A few weekends ago, Ronnie left on a bank run on a quiet Saturday afternoon. As I handled one customer eager for some local whiskey to calm down her house guests, a middle-aged man with an affable grin entered the store. The acerbic customer so consumed my time that I had no way to help him promptly. He just looked at the coolers and smiled after I greeted him. I couldn’t be sure, but I caught the accent of Europe somewhere in his reply.

When Ronnie returned, the man approached him and introduced himself as Jost Hopler, founder of Hopler Winery in Austria (apologies for the lack of umlauts over the 'o' in his last name - just  pronounce it "Hepler" and it will all work out). He had come to Nashville for a wine dinner and wanted to check in on stores he visited  before. Seeing his pinot blanc and Gruner Veltliner in the cooler helped out.

Hopler's son had taken over as winemaker, and the elder Hopler now served as the winery's ambassador of sorts. Matters of succession often cloud the future of wineries, but this one nipped the issue early.

Jost Hopler (left) and myself display the winery's wares.

It isn’t often we host winemakers from half a world away. Even better, we had fresh bottles of his Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch on the shelf. Hopler related the tale of a Houston tasting where the big Cabernet Sauvignons served with the steak dinner had overwhelmed the guests, who stopped eating. He substituted his Blaufrankisch and rekindled their appetites. “Thank you for stocking my wines.”

Mr. Hopler repeated that line several times, and it stuck with me. I had never met a winemaker so effusive in praise for keeping his wines stocked. Well, anyone who has tasted his white and reds knows the exceptional quality. Hopler's Gruner Veltliner might be the finest sushi fine I've tasted in recent memory.

Austria has a fine viticulture that doesn’t get celebrated near the level anything not France, Italy, Spain or Germany. The Burgenland produces great juice, but faces the roadblocks of any region heavy on indigenous grapes. Gruner Veltliner is the ultimate dry summer wine, and Blaufrankisch can spice up dinner centered on red meat.

There’s still a bottle of Hopler Gruner Veltliner in my fridge. In the foreseeable future, I don’t see that niche going vacant for long.