2025 CRFT K1 Gruner Veltliner, Adelaide Hills

This ticks a good deal of boxes for the variety. Lightweight, saline minerality, a green pear character, some tonic water and light gingery elements in play. It's a little diffuse, the acidity a touch jangly, but a refreshing, pleasing white wine is on the cards.

91 points Mike Bennie winecompanion.com.au

From the elevated K1 vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, this Grüner Veltliner is all about tension, spice and cool climate precision. The site sits high enough to catch cold nights and long, gentle ripening, conditions that suit the variety perfectly. CRFT works the vineyard with a detail obsessed approach, harvesting in small passes to protect acidity and aromatic lift. The goal is a wine that feels energetic and site driven rather than broad.

Winemaking keeps intervention low and clarity high. Stainless steel fermentation locks in freshness while extended lees contact adds a subtle textural cushion. There is no oak to distract from Grüner’s natural peppery snap. The style is crisp but not thin, layered without losing its edge.

Pale straw in colour, the aromas lift with green apple, pear and lime zest layered with white pepper and fresh herbs. The palate is light to medium bodied and tightly wound, with citrus and orchard fruit carried by bright acidity. A chalky texture and savoury spice run long through a dry, mouthwatering finish.

It pairs beautifully with seafood, pork, salads and lightly spiced Asian dishes. Drinking beautifully now for its freshness and bite, it will hold comfortably for five to seven years, developing gentle savoury depth.

This is Adelaide Hills Grüner with real alpine energy, spicy, focused and quietly complex.