Hirtzberger

Franz Hirtzberger is located at Spitz, which is at the Western end of the Wachau, closest to the mountains, and is the coolest area. The wines of Hirtzberger, all fermented in stainless steel and then aged in old oak barrels, are markedly different from the rest. Spicy, exotic and perfectly poised, they somehow fit between the opulence of FX Pichler and the racy purity of Prager. PATRICK WALSH

Franz Hirtzberger, longtime chairman of the Vinea Wachau growers’ association, has, like his father and founding member of that organization (another Franz), played an outsized role in elevating the Wachau to its current international prestige. In the process, he also elevated his own wines to cult status, but certainly not through powerful public relations let alone glitz.
Hirtzberger’s approach has always involved a tolerance for botrytis in the search for ripeness and complexity, and it is, unsurprisingly, the most opulent Smaragd wines of this estate that have garnered greatest renown. But the two Hirtzberger Federspiel bottlings (and even their Grüner Veltliner Steinfeder, when one can get hold of a rare bottle) are models of balance, complexity and ageability. DAVID SCHILDKNECHT, Vinous Media