One of the best things about living in Boulder over the last year and a half has been seeing the launch of David Vogels' Sommelier Journal, a trade magazine for wine professionals. David has a long history as a journalist and publisher, but it was his personal interest in wine that gave him the idea for the magazine. David enrolled in the CIA's Certified Wine Professional course out of his passion for wine, and in the process realized the need for a trade journal specifically for sommeliers. In only a few months of publication, David has tackled everything from Bordeaux-buying strategies to comprehensive Barolo tastings, and I've found many of his articles helpful in my current position at Frasca Food and Wine. This afternoon, I was happy to accept an invitation to sit on a panel tasting two vintages of Austrian Grüner Veltliner for an upcoming issue. It was informative and inspiring, and without a doubt, my wine moment of the week.

We tasted the 1999 flight first, followed by the 2006 flight. Both the producers and the quality levels were kept consistent in order to focus on vintages. Only the vintage was different in the two flights. Both vintages have been highly touted by the wine media, with the 1999 edging out 2006 in overall quality. With vintage evaluation being the focus of todays tasting, it was challenging to look past the stunning complexity developed over the past seven years in the 1999s. This vintage has established itself as one of the greatest in the past two decades for the dry white wines of lower Austria. The quality of the 1999s was undeniable, with the white wines possessing great concentration and firm acidity, a result of the nearly perfect growing season.

The ripe, warm vintage character found in many 2006 European white wines permeated the second flight. Notes like ripe apricot, peach, apple blossoms, and summer honey repeated throughout my tasting book. I kept thinking of the vintage updates I had read which reported record-breaking heat that year. While 2006 is an approachable, forward vintage of immediate charm, 1999, with its pepper-laced flavors and layered complexity, is a vintage of superb quality and is developing beautifully in the bottle. Look for the full details of this tasting in the September issue of Sommelier Journal.

www.sommelierjournal.com.