2012 Hirsch Riesling Gaisberg

Hirsch's 2012 Riesling Gaisberg combines memorable richness and mouthwatering savor, as though salted, browned butter, saffron and oyster liquor had been stirred into a mixture of tart apple sauce and porridge of toasted grains. These elements have their aromatic counterparts here along with scents of green tea and sea breeze encompassing iodine, alkali and kelp, so that you can spend a delightfully long time just breathing in this beauty before proceeding to luxuriate in its satiny texture and be revived by the lift, refreshment, and saliva-inducement of its lingering finish. Look for stellar performance through at least 2020. Incidentally, this was yeasted in the course of its fermentation to get it to complete dryness, whereas the corresponding Heiligenstein got to that point entirely spontaneously. "I'm in favor of relatively warm fermentations," notes Hirsch, "which I think helps the native yeasts build mass and work efficiently." Johannes Hirsch suffered especially severe 2012 losses to frost of Gruner Veltliner from his estate as well as that of the supplemental source for his intro-level bottling. He has rented further acreage of young vines in Kammern as well as in adjacent Strass to supplement that wine going forward and avoid future shortages. Hirsch was among those Kamptal growers to emphasize that, paradoxically, this particular May frost in some places affected higher-elevation parcels equally or even more than low-lying ones. But thankfully, his top Riesling sites were largely spared. Picking for Gruner Veltliner began here already at the beginning of October, two weeks ahead of the estate norm, although, notes Hirsch, "it's beginning to look as though early October might become the new normal." Hirsch favored slow pressing over pre-fermentative cold soak as a means of gently encouraging phenolic extraction. Importer: Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300