Franz Hirtzberger
Hochrain Smaragd Riesling
Spitz, Wachau, Niederösterreich, Austria
Beautiful vintage if this wine. Still young!
Beautiful vintage if this wine. Still young!
Dec 7th, 2021
If you could guess this white wine was 20yo i would be highly impressed
Colour is still pale to gold
On the light spectrum of the SMARAGD(😉) category, being only 13% in alcohol
It has a ripe pear, nectarine
Then moves to hints of marzipan and hay
But what it stands out is the mineral
Chalk and wet stones are extremely pronounced on the nose and on the palate
It drinks still extremely young and i am sure it will flesh out in the future i reckon
Long and too easy to go down
I had another bottle of this wine perhaps 5 or 6 years ago and i think this looked younger and with more potential than that, but i will go and cross check what i am saying now.
Few things i figure out from tonight bottle:
Firstly Hirtzberger IS my favourite producer in Wachau, then that Spitzer is surely a fresher subclimate than, for example, Dursteiner and lastly that light Smaragd and Federspiel are more my cup of tea rather than huge 14-15% smaragd(and in saying that i dont deny the bigger potential of the latter, i just enjoy more the former). Ok, i got it down for future reference so that i can't forget.
If you could guess this white wine was 20yo i would be highly impressed
Colour is still pale to gold
On the light spectrum of the SMARAGD(😉) category, being only 13% in alcohol
It has a ripe pear, nectarine
Then moves to hints of marzipan and hay
But what it stands out is the mineral
Chalk and wet stones are extremely pronounced on the nose and on the palate
It drinks still extremely young and i am sure it will flesh out in the future i reckon
Long and too easy to go down
I had another bottle of this wine perhaps 5 or 6 years ago and i think this looked younger and with more potential than that, but i will go and cross check what i am saying now.
Few things i figure out from tonight bottle:
Firstly Hirtzberger IS my favourite producer in Wachau, then that Spitzer is surely a fresher subclimate than, for example, Dursteiner and lastly that light Smaragd and Federspiel are more my cup of tea rather than huge 14-15% smaragd(and in saying that i dont deny the bigger potential of the latter, i just enjoy more the former). Ok, i got it down for future reference so that i can't forget.
Still young and crackling with intensity after a little air exposure. Nose is herbal with fresh ripe peaches and creamsicle, palate is texturally supple with tangy tangerine, yellow pit fruit, apricot, pineapple, finish is stony and nicely bitter. I think it’s not too far away from peak given how quickly it opened up but could evolve a while longer. Going to forget about the next bottle for a few years
Still young and crackling with intensity after a little air exposure. Nose is herbal with fresh ripe peaches and creamsicle, palate is texturally supple with tangy tangerine, yellow pit fruit, apricot, pineapple, finish is stony and nicely bitter. I think it’s not too far away from peak given how quickly it opened up but could evolve a while longer. Going to forget about the next bottle for a few years
Nov 29th, 2020Day 1 a bit too tropical; day 2 botrytis less noticeable & more GV character shines through
Day 1 a bit too tropical; day 2 botrytis less noticeable & more GV character shines through
Aug 30th, 2016Super delicious, super complex, super easy to drink, super hard to find more😢🎶
Super delicious, super complex, super easy to drink, super hard to find more😢🎶
Aug 29th, 2016JPD legacy. Great bottle. Mature but no where near decline.
JPD legacy. Great bottle. Mature but no where near decline.
Mar 14th, 2016Boyrytis city. Outstanding purity and drinkability! $70 on a restaurant wine list 😱
Boyrytis city. Outstanding purity and drinkability! $70 on a restaurant wine list 😱
Feb 17th, 2016
Rounder then expected but still difficult not finishing the bottle 😉
Rounder then expected but still difficult not finishing the bottle 😉
Feb 4th, 2015