Austria’s most popular export at the moment is a wine that’s cropping up on more and more restaurant wine lists around the country — gruner veltliner.

The most widely planted vine in Austria, gruner veltliner produces pale, crisp, light-to-medium bodied wines that can be delightfully spicy. There are notes of green vegetables, white pepper and, on occasion, rhubarb and strawberry in a gruner veltliner, as well as an attractive floral bouquet.

And what’s nice about Austrian gruner veltliner is that it is quite dry and will match well with almost any kind of food, including such famously difficult items as artichokes and asparagus.

Gruner veltliner (GROO-ner VELT-lee-ner) is easy to say, easy on the wallet and easy to drink. Refreshing acidity — almost bracing with its citrus flavors — along with floral and mineral notes make it a wine that’s as good on its own as it is with a wide variety of food.

If you didn’t know much about this affordable, enjoyable grape variety, the Austrians were in town last weekend armed with lots of information and wine to share. Members of the Austrian wine community, tourist authority and a couple of first-rate Viennese chefs showed up at Copia where Austria just happens to be flavor of the month.

A trio of winemen from Austria’s Burgenland and the best known producer from the wine region within the confines of Vienna (yes, there are nearly 1,600 acres of vines within the city limits), Fritz Wieninger — whose claim to fame is the exceptional field blend wines he offers at everyday prices for consumers at home — were on hand to dispense valuable information and pour wines.

Wieninger said barely 5 percent of Austria’s total wine production is earmarked for the United States (the country’s third most important export market) because Austrians, Germans and the Swiss drink all the rest.

“Austrian wines pair quite well with modern-day Austrian cuisine — they are fresh, medium-bodied, unoaked wines and the Austrians love them,” he added.

Austria’s cool climate is responsible for the wealth of fruit-driven wines, “wines with great fruit and a nice acid backbone,” noted Christian Zechmeister, CEO of the Burgenland Wine Association. Burgenland, just to the south of Vienna,  is renowned for its red wines, although it produces a lot of whites, as well as sweet wines that rival the Sauternes of France.

Best known red grapes from Austria are zweigelt, which produces a light-to-medium-bodied wine with peppery fruit, and blaufrankisch (or lemberger in Germany), a medium-bodied wine with with good tannin structure and an underlying palate of cherries and spice.

The two reds aren’t as easy to find as is the hot new import, gruner veltliner.

“Personally,  I enjoy gruner veltliner a lot,” says Dustin Moilanen, sommelier at Napa’s Cuvée. “It’s achieved exotic status among the people who enjoy it. Think pinot grigio five years ago.”

Moilanen said he was pouring gruner veltliner by the glass of late, but exhausted his supply. At present, Cuvée has four gruner veltliners on its wine list by the bottle.

Tasting wines at Copia last Saturday made from grapes grown in various regions of the country displayed marked differences that could only be attributed to terroir. We enjoyed:

Donabaum Johann Gruner Veltliner 2006 ($16.99): From the Wachau, this is the second vintage of the eponymous Johann from vintner Johann Donabaum. A light and refreshing wine, it has great acid and an exceptional citrus mid-palate and finish.

Weingut Leopold Sommer Bergweingarten Gruner Veltliner 2006 ($14.95): A lighter style gruner veltliner with great acid and a mouthful of fresh stone fruit, with a mineral finish.

Wieninger Herrenholz Gruner Veltliner 2006 ($20): From low-yielding 30-year-old vines, this is a complex, racy wine with peppery, citrus entry and finish.

Weingut Liegenfeld Gruner Veltliner Leithaberg 2006 ($20): Andi Liegenfeld produces exceptional gruner veltliners from vineyards within sight of Lake Neusiedl (where the late harvest wines are renowned). This one does have a “green” quality, a young wine with lots of grapefruit on the palate that lingers and lingers on the finish. A new import.

Also worth finding:

Juris 2004 St. Laurent ($18.95): This distant cousin of pinot noir produces a light-bodied red with a velvety texture, a spicy, juicy wine with lots of cherries and currants on the finish.