Franz Hirtzberger, Riesling Hochrain Smaragd, 2024 LOIRECOUNT1123 it's a fragile

it's a fragile

toasted grain

long celebrated for breaking the rules of French wine hierarchy

adding freshness

Franz Hirtzberger, Riesling Hochrain Smaragd, 2024 LOIRECOUNT1123 it's a fragileAnother of Hirtzberger's celebrated Spitz crus, this one with a slightly different signature Hochrain sits on weathered crystalline rock with a thin overlay of sandy loam, which gives the Smaragd a touch more flesh than its purely gneiss bound siblings. Still unmistakably Wachau: cool, mineral, vertical, built for the long haul. 2024 brought clarity and tension to the vineyard, and the result is a Riesling that opens with white peach and apricot