Hiller Gruner Veltliner Steinzeit Reserve 2020

If you were to try one, just one, new and unique wine this year – we’d suggest this. It's delicious, powerful, bright, and rich all at the same time. 93 POINTS (again!) and one of the most remarkable white wines in Europe. Normally $90, but, hey, it’s First Bottle, so we got you at the delectable price of UNDER $50!

This is the flagship gruner veltliner in the Hiller portfolio. Not only are the grapes grown in the cool, rocky, granitic, primeval soils of lower Austria’s Weinviertel region, the finished wine is actually matured in a one-of-a-kind barrel made from granite (yes, made from granite) for 12 months of aging! Only a single barrel is produced every year! Hate to be the cellar intern tasked with rolling those around. Hannes and Simon told us about the struggle of getting this into the winery – it was so heavy it tipped the forklift over! The walls of the barrel are 6 inches thick and it weighs several tons! In all our years, we’ve never seen anything like it, and the wine is equally unique.

"Steinzeit" translates to “stone age” – perfectly encapsulating the grapes’ beginnings, the wine’s creation, and the flavor profile all in one word! This is an extremely complex wine with enormous crushed granite minerality (duh!), crisp stone fruits, bright lemons, fragrant honeydew melon, and an undercurrent of spine-tingling acidity extending the finish. The wine is rich and mouth coating – a sensation not often associated with Austrian gruner – and this reminds one almost of White Burgundy, in a way. The wine reveals itself beautifully with time in the glass and promises to keep far longer than most would expect for the grape. In fact, we tasted a vertical of this wine going back to the very first vintage on our visit to the winery last spring and were blown away by the ageability, and outright complexity in this cuvee year after year. Like nothing you will find anywhere else, truly. The custom label is made with real granite “dust” to boot, completely impractical for bottle labeling, but super cool nevertheless.

The vineyards are rooted in the foothills of the Manhartsberg, where two climates collide on two distinct ancient soil types that go back 555 million years. At this site the warmer, drier climate of the Weinviertel meets the harsh cooler climate of the Waldviertel – resulting in warmer, sunny days and bitingly cool nights throughout the growing season, all taking place on soils that combine volcanic granite, quartzite, and marble with eroded sandstone and loam. All in all, one of the most unique sites in Austria for growing grapes, all leading to one of the most intriguing and complex gruners you’ll ever taste! Just over 20 cases available, so speak up and get a move on! At 93 POINTS and a cool 44% OFF – this is a spectacular deal for something so rare!

PAIRING IDEAS: This wine has us begging...begging for Thai food. The perfect match? These Green Curry Mussels.