We are big fans of liter bottles at Flatiron.

As the standard size for tavern wines throughout central and eatern europe, it's perfect for the deliciously simple wines that reside within.

They are made for washing down hearty, rustyic meals. Almost always crowned with a screw top, they are perfect for picnics and all other off-site drinking needs. Besides the pleasurable drink within these bottles are often the best values in the store. You basically get a quarter more wine without a commensurate price increase. 

We have litre bottles from Italy, Romania, Hungary and more but perhaps no one exports more litere to the US than the Austrians.

These green glass bottles are almost always filled with that country's signature variety Gruner Veltliner. We carry a fair share of these and over the years have pretty much nailed down which producers we think are taking these fun sized bottles seriously.

While almost all are good there are few standouts and until recently we thought we carried all of those.

Boy were we wrong. When the importer told us that he had an Orange Gruner Veltliner in a liter bottle we were intrigued. While we were excited about the prospect of an Orange version of this most quaffable wine, there was a bit of concern that the extended skin contact might reduce this wine's easily accessible pleasure. We were pleasantly surprised to find the opposite to be true.

Hollötrio is the brainchild of husband and wife duo, Josef and Eva Maria Bauer. Their winery Weingut Famile Bauer is Located in the Grossriedenthal area of Wagrams.

Their they farm 17 hectares of certified organic vines with the goal of cultivating the natural diversity of the landscape, believing this is the best way to express terroir in their wines.

They have a wide range of wines, including crisp classics made from grüner veltliner and roter veltliner, along with incredible dessert wines. But it's this, their entry level bottling, that caught our attention.

Hollötrio is 100% Grüner Veltliner, hand harvested from vineyards in Kronberg. 80% of the wine sees 5 hours of skin contact, while the other 20% is crushed, fermented, and kept on the skins for 30 days.

Spontaneous fermentation takes place in temperature controlled stainless steel for a total of two weeks, and the wine spends over a month on the lees (with stirring), with an additional four months of aging in steel before being bottled unfiltered

For a liter quaffer this is a surprisingly sophisticated wine with generous yellow apple notes accented by hints of green pea, spice, preserved orange peel, and white pepper.

The skin contact accentuates rather than overwhelms grüner’s classic notes of white pepper and spice on the finish without adding funkiness or excessive tannic grip.

Complex yet clean, this will satisfy both crisp white wine lovers as well as orange wine fans looking for something on the lighter side. 

Don't be fooled by the larger size, this wine will disappear quickly. No worries though because  at this price you can afford to stock up.

Delicious and with extreme culinarily versatility, a few bottles of Hollötrio stashed in the back of the fridge will keep you primed and ready fo all manner of summer hangouts and meals.

Familie Bauer Orange Gruner Veltliner Hollotrio 2020 (1L)