Monuments of Brilliance and Scale
2012 Hirtzberger:
Riesling Hochrain
Riesling Singerriedel
& Grüner Veltiner Honivogl
Hirtzberger is simply an Austrian legend.
When you talk to Austrian fanatics about the best wines they've had, Hirtzberger comes up again and again. They are masterpieces of brilliance and scale.
Today, we're happy to present Hirtzberger's top wines: Rieslings from Hochrain and Singerriedel and Grüner Veltiner from Honivogl.
The pricing is as sharp as it'll get.
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These are the "Montrachets" of Austria and if the immediate comparison is to the wines of FX Pichler, in terms of glossy, sexy fruit, Hirtzberger's wines tend to show an even more complex depth of richness that rolls across the palate with velvet and satin.
To focus just on the textural intensity of these wines, however, would be to miss the true magic - this is only half the story.
Hirtzberger is located at the far Western end of the Wachau, where the Danube steers south. This region is called the "Spitz" and a break in the mountains that border the Wachau to the north allows the cold northern winds to rush down into the Spitz. It is this cooling air that gives these wines a tension and nervosity that propels the enormous dimensions of Hirtzberger.
2012 is a vintage that beautifully captures Hirtzberger's dynamism. The vintage in Austria combines fairly lavish textures with a dynamic acid backbone. This is the type of vintage where Hirtzberger's style flourishes. There's a weight to the wines, but also an elegance and nimbleness.
Hirtzberger's Riesling Hochrain is a dynamic wine of minerals, citrus and flowers. Hochrain displays a firm core of finely etched minerals and a sense of both athleticism and aristocratic breeding. His Riesling Singerriedel stands in contrast with its stately apricot-inflected richness. There may be no wine in Austria (or the world) that's able to integrate so much depth and complexity into a harmonious and regal wine the way that Singerriedel does.
The Grüner Honivogl is a masterpiece combining rich honeyed notes with a brilliance of fruit and a shocking energy and mineral transparency. We have to agree with David Schildknecht when he writes, "there is no more consistently fine Wachau Grüner Veltliner."
Hirtzberger's wines age wonderfully on their density and their finely tuned balance. It's well worth it to stash a few bottles away and watch them transform over the next decade.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits