A slew of 2011 Franz Hirtzbergers
Sun Wah BBQ, Chicago IL
Tasted Friday, February 22, 2013 by KeithAkers with 561 views
Introduction
Every now and then, Tooch gets a huge hookup from Tim at Weygandt wines and we are able to go through some great producers wines in one go. I've done these both in Chicago and DC, and I have to say, they are must attends. It's rare to be able to go through an entire lineup like this and get a great feel for both the vintage and style of a producer. It really can't be beat.
This time Tooch was able to get his hands on the Franz Hirtzberger lineup. The anticipation was certainly there and most of all, we were gonna have some duck with this. Happiness was bound to happen.
Flight 1 (15 Notes)
Closing
This was a real diverse lineup. I didn't know much about the vintage going in and was left wanting some more acidity from the wines. Still, this worked out perfectly with the wide range of wines and I thought the terroir showed through pretty damn well across the board. I can't wait til the next tasting like this Tooch hooks up.
2011 Franz Hirtzberger Grauburgunder Smaragd Pluris 89 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: Nice and fragrant nose with tones of crushed rocks, peaches, some green apples, and a touch of white florals. There is nice balance to the nose, but it is slightly lacking in depth.
Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium acidity. The palate is nice and balanced with tones of crushed rocks, green apples, and a nice bit of peaches as well.
Overall: This was a really nice wine. There is good balance on both the nose and palate, it just misses out slightly with it lacking some depth on both the nose and palate.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Weissburgunder Smaragd Steinporz 88 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: There is a nice mineral quality on the nose with tones of white fruits, slate, and pears. This is fragrant, but it lacks some depth.
Taste: Medium bodied with crisp medium+ acidity. There is nice balance with tones of apples, slate, white fruits, and some pears.
Overall: This was a very good pinot blanc. While there was some depth and complexity lacking, it works well as a whole.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Federspiel Steinterrassen 90 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: Nice and fragrant with tones of quince, white peaches, green apples, and a nice underlying mineral quality as well.
Taste: Medium bodied with really tart medium+ acidity. Nice and balanced, but seemingly holding back a bit with tones of quince, white peaches, and really nice mineral tones as well.
Overall: This does seem like it needs some time to unwind. It was more giving on the nose than the palate. There is a nice acidic spine that is refreshing while showing structure at the same time.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Hochrain 91 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: This is showing more fresh fruits on the nose with tones of pears, white peaches, white fruits, green apples, and a touch of mineral tones as well.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity that is more refreshing than it is overpowering. There is very good balance with tones of pears, white fruits, green apples and some mineral tones.
Overall: This was showing very nicely. There is an open knit quality to it on both the nose and palate. It could use a couple of years to round into form, but it is very nice right now.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Setzberg 92 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: There is a real freshness to the nose with lots of tones of slate, quince, white peaches, pears, and crushed rocks. There is very good depth to this right now too.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium+ acidity that is refreshing but also noticeable. Nice and balanced, with good depth and tones of quince, white peaches, pears, and a touch of minerals.
Overall: This is pretty young right now. It needs some time to fully come together and it has the ability to be a stunner.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel 93 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: This is packed with deep tones of crushed rocks, green apples, slate, and white peaches. This is a very classy nose that is also wound slightly tight right now.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium/high acidity that really shows off it's youth. The tones of crushed rocks, green apples, white florals, and white peaches are all very balanced with excellent depth behind them.
Overall: While this is very young, it has lots of class and depth to turn into something stunning. There is a real precision and elegance at the same time that makes it really attractive.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Federspiel Rotes Tor 88 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: There is a nice freshness to the tones of oranges, pears, peaches, and some spice tones. While there is good complexity to the nose it does lack some depth.
Taste: Medium bodied with medium acidity. This has nice balance with good tones of oranges, pears, and peaches. While the tones are good, it does lack some depth and is more on the surface.
Overall: This is a very good Gruner that is ready to drink right now. There is a good freshness on both the nose and palate that is refreshing.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Rotes Tor 92 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: There is very nice depth with really aromatic tones of white peaches, pears, green apples, herbs and a touch of pepper.
Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium acidity. This is well balanced with succulent tones of white peaches, pears, green apples, and some bits of herbs.
Overall: This was a quality gruner that is drinking great right now. It is on the slightly larger side, but shows real balance to it.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Axpoint 91 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: Very fragrant with tones of peaches, pears, spices, snap peas, and some lemon zest as well.
Taste: Fuller bodied with medium acidity that is very balanced. There are really nice tones of peaches, snap peas, some herbs, pears, and spice tones.
Overall: This was drinking very well right out of the gate. There is nice balance on both the nose and palate with some good depth as well.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Ried Kirchweg 88 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: This has very good aromas of blood oranges, white peaches, green apples, and some white fruits as well. There is nice complexity to the nose with good depth as well.
Taste: Full bodied with medium acidity that plays to the lower side of things. The acidity nearly makes the wine flabby and unbalances it a bit. There are bigger tones of blood oranges, white peaches, and green apples with a touch of heat on the back end.
Overall: The palate is a let down compared to the nose. While the nose wasn't dazzling, it was balanced with a nice expression to it. The palate on the other hand just wasn't all there and the heat was a bit distracting.
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2011 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl 93 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: Very deep and expressive nose filled with tones of red and green apples, peppery notes, some herbs, white peaches, and some white fruits as well.
Taste: Fuller bodied with medium acidity. It is well balanced on the palate, and while on the larger side, it holds it very well. Behind the structure lie beautiful and plush tones of red and green apples, pepper, herbs, and white peaches.
Overall: This was the best gruner I had on the evening. It holds the larger side of it together well with a real expression to it on both the nose and palate. It could use a couple of years to shed some baby fat, but this is a beautiful wine right now.
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2009 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Beerenauslese 92 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: This has a real succulent take on the nose with tones of candied apples, white peaches, nectarines, and some bits of various white fruits poking through. There is very good depth to this, though it does seem wound a bit tight.
Taste: Medium/full bodied with a real plushness and layering to it. There is some really nice medium acidity there with succulent tones of candied apples, pears, nectarines, white peaches, and some red apples as well.
Overall: This was showing young, but it was also showing well. It could use some time to come together, but it's very hard to resist right now.
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2009 Franz Hirtzberger Weissburgunder Beerenauslese 92 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: Very fragrant with tones of nectarines, white peaches, warm caramel, and a good amount of apricots. There is nice depth to this with the tones showing off the botrytis influence very well.
Taste: Medium/full bodied with medium acidity. The palate is very well balanced with succulent tones of nectarines, warm caramel, white peaches and some candied apples.
Overall: This was a beautiful beerenauslese. There was wonderful balance to it with great tones and depth on both the nose and palate.
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2009 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Singerriedel 94 Points
Austria, Niederösterreich, Wachau
Nose: This was like walking through a botryized version of an apricot and red apple orchard along with tones of nectarines and white peaches. Lots of depth with a real sense of class behind the tones as well.
Taste: Deep and silky Fuller feel with some nice medium acidity. There is very good layering on the nose with all sorts of red apples, apricots, and loads of white peaches.
Overall: This is a real stunner right now. It got even better in the glass, so I can only imagine where this will go down the road. It has room to improve, and I imagine it will.
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2007 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel 95 Points
Germany, Nahe
Nose: Gorgeous and flowing nose filled with tones of peaches, papaya, spiced pears, and loads of green apples. There is very good depth to this with a pristine quality as well.
Taste: Medium/full bodied with very nice medium acidity. There is really good depth on the tones of white peaches, papaya, green apples, and some tones of white fruits. The feel is very classy and layered right now as well.
Overall: This was stunning. Absolutely gorgeous and everything one would want from an auslese. This can improve, but it is ohhh so good right now.
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