NIKOLAIHOF 07 STEINER HUND RES

Looking for something ultra-sophisticated, fine, and rare for that wine connoisseur on your list? Look no further.

Superstar importer Terry Theise claims: "The tiny [Steiner Hund] site is one of the 5-10 greatest bits of land on which Riesling grows. David Schildknecht, the Austrian wine critic for Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, once called it a "torrential force of nature."

Recently awarded 95 Points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, the 2007 Nikolaihof-Wachau Steiner Hund Reserve represents yet another spectacular rendition of one of the world's greatest dry white wines. From the great, old bio-dynamic estate of Nikolaihof-Wachau in Austria 's Wachau, often referred to as Austria 's "greatest producer," the Steiner Hund, or "rocky dog" gets its name by virtue of the fact that this tiny vineyard site is so mercilessly steep and rocky it's almost impossible to harvest. Made in the great estate's inimitably contemplative, arch-traditional style, this is a wine to make you think now, but make you dream after a decade or two of cellaring.

We were lucky enough to procure just a few six-packs of this rare wine, so supply is very limited.

WINE ADVOCATE 95 POINTS- "The 2007 Riesling Steiner Hund Reserve is the current offering of this bottling from Nikolaihof, and the 2008 was in fact still in cask at the time of my June visit. Lemon and orange rinds; high-toned green herbs; and intimations of crushed stone lend the aromas a penetratingly pungent cast and persist across this wine-s sumptuous, glossy, and (even at only 12.5% alcohol) glycerin-enhanced palate - brimming with fresh white peach and grapefruit and underlain with rich nut oils - and into a finish of kaleidoscopic, shimmeringly interactive complexity and irresistible, saliva-inducing savor. This will be worth following for at least the better part of two decades."