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Weinhofmeisterei Hirtzberger

Mathias Hirtzberger did not initially plan to follow his family tradition of winemaking—he is the son of Franz Hirtzberger Sr. and the younger brother of Franz Hirtzberger Jr., of the eponymous estate in Spitz. Mathias Hirtzberger studied business and went into consulting and banking but became disillusioned. Having attended viticultural college in Krems before his business studies, he decided to return home, where he wanted to work for one entire viticultural year. Just before Mathias’ decision, father Franz Hirtzberger Sr. heard of a Wösendorf estate becoming available for lease that he was interested in taking over. This coincidence led to Mathias Hirtzberger and his wife, Hanna Maria Hirtzberger (née Pichler), founding the new estate in 2014. The first three vintages of the then six-hectare estate were made at the home winery in Spitz. As of the 2017 vintage, the wine is made at the new facility in Wösendorf. Around the same time, the family was able to buy a 13th century Weingartenhofmeisterei, a former monastery that lent the name to the newly founded estate and now houses a restaurant. Today, the Hirtzbergers farm 12 hectares, which are split into 70% Grüner Veltliner and 30% Riesling, with just a “tiny bit” of Gelber Muskateller. Five of these hectares are in the Kollmütz and Kollmitz sites. Referring to his family estate’s style in Spitz, Hirtzberger says, “If you grew up in the Hirtzberger family, you know that ripeness is ripeness.” He indeed plays with ripeness in his wines, utilizing some high-altitude sites at 350-400 meters for very late harvests, even for Steinfeder and Federspiel sites, because the fruit does not clock up that much alcohol and retains acidity. The wines are thus expressive, rounded and full-flavored, even at moderate alcohol levels. Some fruit is destemmed and crushed, and some is whole-bunch crushed, while nothing is just whole-bunch pressed, so there always is some skin contact. Fermentations begin spontaneously but are inoculated later to ensure dryness. The 2022 harvest started on 20 September and concluded on 9 November – harvesting some Federspiel grapes even at this late date. During my visit, I tasted the 2022 Grüner Veltliners and Rieslings.

From 2022 Wachau and Lower Austria: An Overshadowed Vintage Worth Exploring (Feb 2024) by Anne Krebiehl MW

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2022 Grüner Veltliner Kollmütz Smaragd

Color: White

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