2011 Riesling Smaragd Hochrain

This is without any doubt one of the iconic producers of the Wachau. As the president of the grower's association Vinea Wachau, Franz Hirtzberger was long also one its principal voices. At the same time, his is one of the estates that polarizes both journalists and consumers. Part of that is certainly due to the estate's being based in Spitz at the cooler, western end of the appellation, but it's also due to Hirtzberger's winemaking philosophy. He tends to prune for somewhat larger crops so that the grapes do not ripen too quickly, which allows him to harvest as late as possible. Further, he is not at all averse to a bit of botrytis, believing that it adds texture to the wines without having to leave them for so long on the lees. My feeling is that this works better for the rieslings than for the gruner veltliners, but I still give high marks to both while at the same time wondering if these are the wines that I truly want to drink. Franz Junior, who did apprenticeships with Hans-Gunther Schwarz and Franz Kunstler, two of Germany's leading winemakers, appears to be tempering the extremes, but the entire collection still has the unctuous richness that makes this style unique. While he believes that 2011 was slightly better than 2012 for gruner veltliner, I am not so sure. We agree, however, that both vintages are excellent for riesling. (www.hirtzberger.at) Also recommended: 2012 Gruner Veltliner Steinfeder Donaugarten (86), 2012 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Rotes Tor (87), 2012 Riesling Federspiel Steinterrassen (86), 2012 Weissburgunder Smaragd Steinporz (88).