The Shape of Acid

Movement Part 2: Getting’ Jiggy With It

To continue exploring acid movement, I’m bringing back the Sauvignon Blanc from the last post and pairing it with another varietal: Grüner Veltliner.

Both are high-acid Old World expressions, with the Grüner hailing from Austria. They share some overlapping flavor characteristics, but their personalities differ. Sauvignon Blanc leans heavily into greenery, while Grüner can show green notes but tends toward the spicy and savory, with its own distinctive character.

The Sauvignon Supercharged Star

• Wine: Charme de Loire Sauvignon Blanc 2025, Vin de Pays
• Producer: Jean Marie Reverdy & Fils
• Viticulture details: old vines on flint and sand hillsides.
• Aroma: Pronounced aroma, jumping out of the glass like SB often does. Passion fruit is prominent, surprising given its French origins. The typical SB greenery of dried herbs, particularly Mediterranean scrub and thyme. Lemon zest.
• Flavors: Palate has similar notes, but I welcome the less passion fruit-iness! The structure leads, like a typical Old World wine, with additions of minerality, flintiness, and dried grass.
• Acid:
  • The potent acid first starts as a circle tight around my tongue. Then it becomes more of a thick acid blanket around my tongue.
  • The circle continues to expand, encircling more of my tongue until the acidity eventually wraps around my entire mouth.
  • In addition to the growing circular acid shape, there’s a tickling element. My tongue wiggles around as if trying to scratch the different parts of mouth where the acid is prickling me.

When I drink the Sauvignon after the Grüner Veltliner:

• Like when I drank the SB after the Vinho Verde (see Movement Part 1), this wine again loses some of its dimensional movement. It falls flat after the undulating shape of the Austrian white.
• I can still sense the high acid, but the circular shape feels less structured even after the very active Veltliner. Rather than even a strong circular ring, it feels more like a dashed circular border.

The Vorticose Veltliner

• Wine: Engabrunn, Grüner Veltliner, Kamptal DAC, 2023
• Producer: Steinschaden
• Aroma: A little less aromatic, but still strong at medium plus. Also expressing green notes, but more in the realm of grass and dried thyme. With added lemon and floral notes of gardenia.
• Flavors: Lighter body than the Sauvignon with a medium finish. Medium plus intensity of flavors, with additional notes of white pepper, and savory notes like mushroom.
• Acid:
  • The equally high acid is very striking at first sip. But then I found myself thinking, “Oh, no, it’s not really that acidic.” As I continue my swirl, the wine pings all around my mouth. I rethink my acid analysis once again: “It is quite high!” I silently nod to myself.
  • There is an up-and-down nature to the acid shape. Master of Wine Nick Jackson, in his book “Beyond Flavour,” describes Grüner as a “rollercoaster,” which captures exactly what I experience: a swelling, sinking, and surging once again.

When I drink the Grüner after the Sauvignon Blanc: The Grüner’s surging and falling is intensified. This is the exact opposite effect for the other three pairings, which had lessened their shape’s intensity when sipped after the other wine. The up and downswings feel both more prominent and faster in repetition. It’s like that rollercoaster became more of a “hyper coaster” than your typical carnival ride.

The Structural Summary: The Rollercoaster of (Acid) Love

The Sauvignon lost some of its star power after both the Loureiro and the Grüner.

Vinho Verde’s Loureiro lost its shower pressure when sipped after the Sauvignon.

Both experienced changes in their acid movement: lessened intensity, diminished shape, or reduced movement.

But the Grüner was different. Its rollercoaster intensified when tasted after the Sauvignon. Rather than losing momentum, its surges and dips became more pronounced and faster. Did that second surge to the apex make its acidity overpower the other wine? Or did the Sauvignon somehow set the stage for the Grüner’s more dramatic expression?

Now I’m curious how the Grüner will stand up against Portugal’s Loureiro. I’ll tackle that in Movement Part 3!