Selling Grüner Veltliner online – Interview with Thomas Burg

Through LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook I’ve met a lot of people in the last couple of months. Some in real life, some only virtual. Recently, I came in contact with Thomas Burg, an Austrian who has opened a webshop solely devoted to Grüner Veltliners. Thomas asked my advice how to promote his shop in the Netherlands; he also delivers across Europe! Since the selection of wines offered in his shop burgWeine is very worthwhile, I decided to interview Thomas and ask him about his passion. And readers of Wijnkronieken receive a discount till May 6. See below!

Tell me something about yourself. Is this only hobby or a living?
I worked for 10 years at the Donau-University Krems amidst the premier white wine growing regions in Austria: Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal, Traisental. Besides heading the Center for New Media I began to investigate the wines in the vicinity. Since 2005 I mainly work as an online marketing consultant. In parallel I started with a continuing education program at the Austrian Wine Academy and in December 2009 the shop burgWeine turned the hobby into a business.

Why only Grüner Veltliner? What makes it so special?
There were several reasons why I chose to start with Grüner Veltliner. From a marketing perspective I was looking for a niche that is big enough while being small enough at the same time. I think Grüner Veltliner is a – well almost – well known international brand in the wine lover community.

Grüner Veltliner is not only a niche but it’s also a very promising grape variety that successfully conquered the palates on our planet. Grüner Veltliner developed – over time – from a grape for mass wine production into a distinguished variety that competed with Chardonnay and Riesling as the permier white wine variety. It reflects many differents styles and soils. Grüner Veltliner’s scope reaches from easy young and fresh wines to very serious and powerful.

Is Grüner Veltliner appreciated enough in the wineworld?
I think during the last 10 years Grüner Veltliner made it’s way into the hearts and glasses of wine lovers around the globe. Based on excellent quality, Grüner Veltliner showed up as an alternative to Chardonnay from Burgundy. It’s still better priced and offering equal and sometimes better quality. One of the main strengths of Grüner Veltliner is it’s suitability as food companion. From sea food, fish to white meat, vegetables and even chocolate.

Can you tell something about the history of Grüner Veltliner?
To make a long story short (there is no comprehensive article/book written yet) the Grüner Veltliner is at home in Austria and some of it’s neighbouring countries. The name Grüner Veltliner is misleading because based on ampelography it is not related to other Veltliner varieties. Weißgipfler (related to the Traminer family) might be the more precise name. The Traminer is one of the parent grapes of GV and in 2009 another parent was found in Burgenland, Austria: St. Georgen Rebe. It is said that already the Romans drank it.

One of the first historical documents dates from the early 18th century. By then the GV grape was called Grüner Muskateller. This name lasted until the 1930s. The GVs hightime started in the 1950, closely related to the Lenz Moser style of winegrowing. Until the mid 1980s GV was used mainly for mass production. Only when the vintners started to reduce quantity, very elegant and complex wines emerged.

What is you favorite GV?
Impossible to tell. There are so many good ones. Currently I like GV Hundsberg 2007 from Leo Uibel and Alte Reben 2008 from Ebner-Ebener. Both are from the Weinviertel. A region with excellent terroir for Grüner Veltliner.

Why a webshop?
Having a webshop is the most natural way of selling wine today. It makes it easy for consumers to browse your inventory and to order. More and more people are turning to the web to do their shopping. You are not bound to opening times and you can acces the stores from at home or at work. It’s also cheaper to run an online store.

You also sell abroad?
Yes, I sell to many EU-countries. Demand is traditionally high in Germany and the Netherlands. Switzerland is also interesting but since it’s not a EU-state, it’s more complicated and more expensive.

burgWeine | Faktorei für Grünen Veltliner – www.burg.cx

Readers of Wijnkronieken have a discount of 10% on all purchases till May 6! Type this code marin01x during check out at burgWeine, and the discount will be activated.