Terry Theise, one of the world’s leading experts on German and Austrian wines, was in San Francisco recently. He showcased 4 estates from Europe during a panel discussion and tasting with the proprietors.
Hiram Simon of the Vienna Wine Company imports and distributes Terry’s selections on the West Coast and we’ve come to see a good sampling of the portfolio making its way into the hinterlands of Sonoma County.
The first up was Johannes Hirsch:
Johannes Hirsch, from Weingut Hirsch in Kamptal Hirshch
Zobinger, Gaisberg, Riesling 2006 This wine is from the schist-laden terraced vinyeard of Gaisberg. There’s minerality in the nose and the fruit came through after 10 minutes. The mouth was full of acidity, the flavor of lemon and very long.
Zobinger, Heiligenstein, Riesling 2003 This is from the volcanic and sandstone vineyard of Heiligenstein and offers a peak at these wines ageability. There is lots of petrol, incense and heavy notes of vaseline in the nose. The mouth was round and complex, quite viscous in contrast to the steely youthfulness of the ’06 Gaisberg. Both are delicious in their own ways, just quite different and at walking at different times of their lives.