With the 2004 Gruner Veltliner Von Stein Reserve, we enter a different realm of complexity and nobility. The name of this wine is in one sense obvious as it is from Stein vineyards, but it also alludes to the stoney character of the sites chosen, which include portions of the famous Steiner Hund, and of the Kogl (where Salomons have their best Riesling). Already in the nose, this lives up to its name, with a sort of quarry dust character, along with smells of cooked rutabaga, raspberry distillate and charred wood. On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied, satiny in texture, palpably dense in its brothy mineral and root vegetable expression, and suffused with high-toned distilled berry esters. The Riesling-like acidity keeps this dynamic and lip-smacking and powers a long, finish as striking in its meld of distilled berry, root vegetable and overt mineral character as the aromas promised.

David Schildknecht.The Wine Advocate.