It has come to my attention through our regular readers -- we actually have a couple -- that we haven't been posting enough. To make matters worse, these same regular readers say that we haven't been posting enough about the wine we've been drinking -- too much about the wine industry, not enough about the wine.

Starting with this post, Vinilicious will be dedicated to blogging about the wine we're drinking. With the wine, we'll also give some background on the grape variety, the appellation, and the winemaker, if possible.

Since it is now spring, the temperature should theoretically be warming up (though we have seen barely a sign of it lately up here in Boston), so I'm going to start with a great white wine I had last week, a Grüner Veltliner made by well-respected and influential Austrian winemaker Willi Bründlmayer.

Grüner is a white grape that can be made similar to a dry Riesling, especially when vineyard yields are kept low. The wine made from Grüner can taste like a wild and dry Riesling, with hints of white flower, grapefruit and white pepper, and with an acidity level in better bottlings that can allow for considerable aging, which is somewhat rare for a white wine outside of France.

The Austrian wine industry took a big hit in 1985 when some producers were caught adding diethylene glycol to their wines to give them more body. While far from fatal, the industry's reputation was shattered. Out of the ashes rose several incredibly talented winemakers dedicated to restoring and enhancing Austria's wine rep. Will Bründlmayer was one of those makers, and this wine is representative of a quality Austrian Grüner. Wine Spectator gave this wine a 92 out of a 100.

2005 Bründlmayer Gruner Veltliner Kamptaler Terrassen

Pale straw-yellow in color, white flower, crisp apple, and a slight grassy hint in the nose. A touch of effervescence in the mouth, with a long finish and good, bracing acidity. Pair with grilled fish or smoked chicken.