Sauvignon was picked at the beginning of this year's harvest - contrary to usual practice - retaining Riesling-like acidity, and in the case of the Giess bottling, marginally ripe phenolics. The 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Der Wein Vom Stein, harvested the same day as the Giess, offers a juicier, riper, and more harmonious profile. Passion fruit and narcissus aromas might strike some tasters as -stinky,- but I find them fascinating. Gooseberry, cassis, passion fruit, grapefruit zest and apple pit inform a palate that feels relatively full but is at the same time firm and faintly tart. Sheer intensity of essence-of-Sauvignon carry this through to a tenacious finish in which some sense of salty, chalky, or stony minerality emerges.Neumayer reports that a warm wind blew through the Traisental in the last days of September, after which he began picking on October 3; just over a month later, he was finished. I have been an enthusiastic proponent of the Sauvignon experiments of Neumayer and a number of Danubian growers, but it is impossible to overlook the fact that - in U.S. dollars, at least - excellent Sancerre can still be had for not much more than half the price of the Giess, and that with the Stein, we are in Dagueneau territory. Austrian Sauvignon outside of Styria may still count as an exotic, but if the wine is excellent, its price tends to be set with the high tariff that applies to single-vineyard Styrian Sauvignon in mind.Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700