2021 Franz Hirtzberger Riesling Smaragd Steinporz

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 91 points

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  6/27/2023 - forceberry wrote: 91 Points

  100% Riesling harvested on October 19th, 2021. 13,5% alcohol, 6 g/l residual sugar and 6,5 g/l acidity.
  
  Pale-to-medium-deep yellow-green color. The nose feels clean, cool and fresh with slightly sweet-toned aromas of crunchy white fruits, some waxy tones, a little bit of ripe Golden Delicious apple, light pineapple notes, a hint of honeyed richness and perhaps a reductive touch of something vaguely plastic. The wine feels ripe, concentrated and juicy on the palate with a full body and slightly sweet-toned flavors of honeydew melon and ripe Golden Delicious apple, some pineapple tones, a little bit of beeswax, light spicy mineral notes, a hint of sweet greengage and a touch of lemon marmalade. The wine is quite high in acidity, lending the wine nice sense of balance, but the overall is a bit on the weighty side and it feels there's a tiny bit of residual sugar contributing to the sweeter fruit notes and the sense of viscosity in the texture of the wine. The finish is rich, broad and juicy with a long, sweet-toned aftertaste of Golden Delicious apple, some pineapple, light honeyed tones, a little bit of mineral spice, a hint of lemon marmalade and a touch of peach.
  
  A balanced and tasty Riesling, but also quite big and ripe at that. Even though we had a few big and ripe wines in our tasting of 2021 GG Riesling, this Austrian take on the style was still noticeably different to its German peers - no other wine showed similar sense of ripeness or weight, and the even though some wines were higher in residual sugar, this wine felt slightly sweeter than any of the German wines. This is a great and impressive wine in its own right, but feels a bit clumsy and cumbersome after the German GGs (some of which that weren't particularly delicate wines in themselves). However, unlike most of the German wines, which seemed a bit too young at the moment, being more about aging potential than immediate drinkability, it feels this Hirtzberger was much more open for business right now. I have no doubts this wine will continue to evolve and improve greatly as it ages, but there's no harm in opening a bottle already now. Feels quite expensive for the quality at 55€.

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