2012 Franz Hirtzberger Grüner Veltliner Honivogl Smaragd

Lime and lentil, apple and peach scent and flavor the at once creamily rich and infectiously juicy Hirtzberger 2012 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Honivogl, taking on an intriguingly ore-like sense of low-toned mineral matter as well as black tea smokiness, and acquiring a cyanic glow of peach kernel and piquant sizzle of lime rind en route to a lingering and complexly undulating finish that seems to consist of wave upon wave breaking over the threshold of your palate until you can no longer restrain the urge to take the next sip. Textural creaminess uncannily coexists here with transparency to nuance and a sense of light-footedness that cannot recall in a previous installment of this wine. Certainly the vintage is contributory to that buoyancy, but it may also reflect the influence of generational change. "Through the inclusion of over-ripe, botrytis-tinged bunches," opines Franz Hirtzberger Jr. as we taste this wine, "you can obtain an impression of opulence, fullness and textural richness without (indulging in) long lees contact. I like a middle-way, looking for maybe two, three, five shriveled berries - but it has to be a very clean botrytis - and the rest of the bunch completely healthy green-gold." Look for this latest in a three decade-long series of often sensational Gruner Veltliners to prove worth following through 2025 and probably beyond. A starkly simple but profoundly impressive little tasting room (something that never really existed at this famous estate) in the former pressoir under their medieval stone home, is hardly the most noteworthy new development at this winery. The Hirtzbergers have bought at auction the Florianihof in Wosendorf (whence their mid-17th century ancestors first repaired from Styria) and will not only begin farming and making wines from the affiliated acreage but will revive the restaurant that the former owners long ran. The 2012 collection here is not only awe-inspiring in its sheer quality, it also offers intriguing and encouraging insights into what lies in this estate's future as generations change guard. Importer: Weygandt-Metzler Importing, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0700