The 2005 Gruner Veltliner Vier Weinberge smells of beet root, lentil, and pepper. On the palate, it brings marine mineral-and-salt as well as herbal, floral, and spice complexities to bear on the beet-and-lentil typicity of Gruner Veltliner. The polished feel and herb and spice finish are also notable. Also recommended: 2005 Riesling Loiser Berg ($24.00; 85), 2004 Riesling Steinhaus ($33.00; 85+), 2005 Weissburgunder Spiegel (not available; 86).Ludwig Hiedler – now that he has a spacious new cellar – is working to see how many chemical and mechanical accretions of modernity he can strip away. Spontaneous fermentation, no supplemental enzymes and no added sulfur to the must will, he has come to believe, make for wines much more expressive and distinctive, even if they are then slower to open in the spring and may mature a bit (“but only a bit”) sooner. This approach is a reaction to what Hiedler sees as standardization of wine as well as an attempt to bring cellar practices into harmony with his herbicide- and pesticide-free ideals in the vineyard. “And there’s a third reason,” he adds. “I’m looking for excitement. There’s always excitement in the vineyard, and I want some of that inside the cellar as well.” His new approach is having an immediate effect in lower alcohol, Hiedler surmises, on account of less efficient conversions by natural yeasts. Wines are finishing with as much as three-quarters of a degree less alcohol, he claims, than they would previously have done with the identical must weights.Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The 2004 Gruner Veltliner Vier Weinberge is a subtle wine, offering discreet white peach, flowers and apricot kernel aromas, then coming onto the palate clear, transparent, and delicate in body and flavors, yet persistently mouth-coating in its finish of pit fruits, fruit pits, nut oils, and pulverized stone. Here is a Gruner Veltliner giving a convincing performance as Riesling. I suspect it is hiding its full charm and potential, and Hiedler says it was very slow to display its present personality. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300