Svelte and somewhat voluptuous, with good density and tension. This wine's power and balance come from bitter quinine, herbal tea and a green herbaceous thread, which buoys Granny Smith apple and delicate stone fruit flavors. Unctuous, yet superfresh and delicious. Drink now through 2028. 100 cases imported.??–KB??Region: Austria / Nieder?sterreich / Wachau Select to Add

Shows some complexity, with notes of white pepper, lavender and sweet spice accenting the ripe citrus flavors at the core. Mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2023. 175 cases imported.??–AZ??Region: Austria / Nieder?sterreich / Wachau Select to Add

Mineral-driven, with hints of smoked sea salt and tarragon framing the core of apple and peach. Shows good balance throughout and leaves a persistent, mouthwatering finish. Drink now through 2022. 150 cases imported.??–BS??Region: Austria / Nieder?sterreich / Wachau Select to Add

Rich and powerful, with plenty of structure to the dried apple, pear and almond tart flavors. Cracked barley and pastry notes show midpalate. The finish is creamy and well-spiced, showing some buttery hints. Drink now through 2024. 200 cases imported.??–KM??Region: Austria / Nieder?sterreich / Wachau Select to Add

Harvested November 2 – which isn’t late for this particular bottling – Hitzbergers’ 2010 Gruner Veltliner Federspiel Rotes Tor puts me in mind of a rich lentil and vegetable broth accented with pungent green herbs, lemon zest, salt, and white pepper. Considering the propensity for Rotes Tor Gruner Veltliner – not to mention so many wines of this vintage – to exhibit flavors of roasted, autumnal root vegetables, here we have more of a summer garden of peas, waxed beans, and sweet peppers. Hints of nut oils join citrus zest for faintly bitter and invigorating counterpoint in a satisfyingly lingering, juicy finish. Enjoy this over the next decade. Given the penchant at this address for late harvest; considerable skin contact; and must aeration, I was not surprised to learn from Franz Hirtzberger Junior that only their Riesling Federspiel had been at all de-acidified. “If there’d been even a bit more hanging out there though,” he notes “then we wouldn’t have made it” – i.e. acheived ripe grapes. “We learned our lesson from 1996,” as Hirtzberger Senior saw it, namely not to harvest – despite ongoing crop loss and fear of ignoble rot (though in this case that didn’t materialize) – until the acids finally began to diminish and the skins to properly ripen. Importer: Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700