Smoky suggestions of black tea along with notes of grapefruit rind, apple skin, nutmeg, and apple pip render the Hirtzberger 2010 Riesling Smaragd Hochrain palpably piquant, but at the same time there is richer, riper apricot and citrus on display than in the corresponding Setzberg as well as a subtle background suggestions of creaminess, oiliness, caramelization, and a delightfully saliva-inducing salinity to the wine’s buoyant and persistently stimulating finish. I would anticipate at least 7-9 years of satisfaction. Given the penchant at this address for late harvest; considerable skin contact; and must aeration, I was not surprised to learn from Franz Hirtzberger Junior that only their Riesling Federspiel had been at all de-acidified. “If there’d been even a bit more hanging out there though,” he notes “then we wouldn’t have made it” – i.e. acheived ripe grapes. “We learned our lesson from 1996,” as Hirtzberger Senior saw it, namely not to harvest – despite ongoing crop loss and fear of ignoble rot (though in this case that didn’t materialize) – until the acids finally began to diminish and the skins to properly ripen. Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700

A beautifully perfumed wine is give shape by its great swathe of minerality, its intense acidity. The fruits range from citrus to white peach, a gallery of delicious flavor. Like any great Riesling, it needs years to mature. ——R.V.(10/1/2011)—— 96