From loess soils in and around the Sandgrub sector at the northeast edge of Krems, Salomon’s 12% alcohol 2010 Gruner Veltliner Messwein is scented and flavored with rhubarb, blond tobacco, and toasted sunflower seeds; offers a lovely balance among stuffing, levity, and refreshment; delivers all this in an infectiously juicy, cucumber-like matrix; and finishes with saliva-inducing salinity. If this were enough to get a believer to mass on Sunday morning, it would also offer a lovely wake-up! It ought to remain attractive for at least another several years. Berthold Salomon suffered dramatic 2010 crop-losses with Riesling, but only a small diminution of Gruner Veltliner, “and for me,” he adds, “this is definitely a Gruner Veltliner year.” Between selective de-acidification of musts and allowing some lots to undergo malo-lactic transformation, the high acids of the vintage managed to be quite well-tamed at this address. (Details on some of this estate’s large acreage can be found scattered throughout my previous reports.)Various importers, including Fruit of the Vines Inc, Long Island City, NY; tel. (718) 392 5640, Artisan Growers & Producers, San Francisco CA; tel. (415) 264 4866, and Bommarito Wines, Saint Louis, MI; tel. (314) 961 8996