Toni Silver may be known for her stage show Shame Lips and its reboot No Young Lady, where she tap-dances through her life story, but to us wine drinkers she’s the “Grooner Girl” who calls us to pick her bottle of Grüner Veltliner right from the bottle!

When she’s not performing, Silver is hard at work importing Austrian wine with Monika Caha. However, in an interview with Austrian Wine USA, Caha challenges the idea that they are just importers:

“We are not actually importers: Monika Caha Selections, Inc. is an agency that represents winemakers for import and distribution into the US, Canada (and soon, other markets). My business partner Toni Silver and I handle the marketing, press and sales needs of the wineries that we represent.”

That’s true! When most consumers couldn’t pronounce Grüner Veltliner at Caha’s tastings, Toni came through with a brilliant piece of marketing. Why not give them the phonetic spelling? Grooner! From her signs, a spark was ignited in Caha’s mind.

She partnered with Austrian winemaker Meinhard Forstreiter to create the perfect Grüner Veltliner to serve as an introduction to the varietal. They brought on Silver to be the face of the wine and now new converts to the fantastic varietal are greeted by Silver’s call.

Pick up a bottle and taste the magic of Grooner now!

Grooner Grüner Veltliner ($13)
Summer concerts, day drinking, green meadows. Yes, please.

For more in our Women Winemakers series, browse our Women Winemakers category!