Hirsch

Hirsch

This Article Contains People Focus Country Region Village Climate Vineyards Grape Varieties Farming Cellar Work About the winery What do the wines taste like?

People |

Johannes Hirsch

Focus |

The best expressions of the great sites of Kamptal through the lens of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. They reflect Johannes’s energy and vitality, each one better than the last.. 

Country |

Austria

Region |

Kamptal

Village |

Kammern

Climate |

Cool Continental

• Defined as very cold winters, hot, short, fairly rainy summers, with long, cool, dry autumns.
• Now: winters are usually not as cold, summers are much hotter, drought is a serious problem 4 or the last 5 years, autumns start later and are often much wetter than they used to be.
• Kamptal is cooled by air coming down from the north, especially the valley’s and surrounding forest. But warmth comes in the form of hot eastern gusts, helping to ripen the grapes and keep disease at bay.
• There is a big diurnal shift (difference between day and night temperatures) starting in the fall. This extends the growing season and gives Austrian wines their signature balance of freshness and ripeness, opulence and grace.
• Cool climate wines are high in acid, low in alcohol, light in body, and often show a lot of mineral flavors rather than fruit.
• Usually white wines are made, but some light reds, like Pinot Noir can also ripen well.
• Warmer vintages: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2015 produce wines with lower acidity, higher alcohols, and richer fruit flavors.
• Cooler vintages: 2021, 2013, 2010, 2008 produce what are now considered “classic” cool-climate wines.

Vineyards |

31 ha in Zoibing and Kammern. ⅔’s of holdings are Erste Lagen (Grand Cru)

• Heiligenstein: Most famous site in Kamptal and one of the great vineyards of Austria. This terraced hill is an outcropping of 270 million year old unique formation of red sandstone and conglomerate with volcanic permian rocks. Superb Riesling is to be found here. Some plots are up to 60 years old.

• Lamm: Kammerman Village. Southeast of the Heiligenstein vineyard is the Ried Lamm. The deep loess-loam formation is interspersed with volcanic rock with a distinctive silt component. Grüner Veltliner finds ideal conditions on these deep, south-facing loess-loam terraces, to produce a particularly complex and expressive wine.

• Gaisberg: Zoibing. The easternmost end of the Gföhler Gneiss plate that runs under the Kamptal, soils are made up of slatey para-gneiss, mica-schist, and amphibolite (metamorphic rocks formed from intense heat and pressure), marble, and loess. Because of its steep southerly aspect and  exposure to the eastern warming Pannonian winds, it was historically somewhere Rieling would consistently ripen. Today the wines are warm, fruity and pretty.

Grape Varieties |

• Grüner Veltliner: 
• A true Austrian treasure. Grüner is rarely planted outside of its home country, but is revered the world over. 
• Mainly grown in the Lower Austrian region (Niederösterreich) with some vines in northernmost Burgenland, it holds 30% of the country’s vineyard area. 
• Grüner is dynamic making it known for easily quaffable fresh and fruity wines. But, it just as easily becomes Austria’s most famous long-lived, mineral-laden beauties and some delicious sekt (wine made with bubbles). 
• Wines from Grüner Veltliner have continuously taken top marks in blind tastings against Chardonnay from Burgundy and California, displaying a richness and concentration sans the oak barrels its competitors rely on. 
• Its flavors range from stone fruit, fresh pear, lemon, green herbs, arugula, and spicy white or black pepper. The best versions can age for decades and develop complex notes of honey, toast, chutney and wax.

• Riesling
• The King of White Grapes
• You’ll find it on the peaks of high, rocky, steep vineyards in the Wachau, Kamptal and Kremstal.
• What they lack in vineyard area, these wines make up for in pure, clear, undeniable quality. 
• The best examples show the beauty that can come from a perfect marriage: these wines bring the acidity of the Mosel, matched with the density of Alsacian Grand Crus, but are always dry and ready to age for decades. 
• They often benefit from 5-10 years of bottle age, but your patience is greatly rewarded with a kaleidoscope of flavors and textures. 
• Fruits span the rainbow depending on the site, style and vintage, from green melon, lime and herbs, yellow peaches and lemons, orange zest and marmalade, pink grapefruit, even a touch of cherry on occasion. But the real beauty lies in the non-fruit notes. Especially with age, you can get stony minerality, petrol, honey, toast, salt, marzipan and so much more.

Farming |

Biodynamic

• A founding member of Respekt Biodyn, a producer-led certifying group.
• Its basis is a holistic approach to biodynamics for German-speaking wines
• Johannes’s father started organic farming in the 1970s
• Utilizes “soft pruning” a method from Alto Adige that limits the amount of tissue exposed to disease
• Water Buffalo and goats from a famous cheese maker graze the pastures
• Yields between 35-40 hl/ha in the single vineyard wines (relatively love)

Cellar Work |

• Grapes are sorted in the vineyard
• No botrytis is used
• Pressed shortly after picking
• No crushing
• Whole cluster pressing, very long cycle
• Fermentations with ambient yeast
• No temperature control
• “One of the plagues of modern wine is uniformity. Cooling is one of the worst things you can do, in this regard.” says ‘Hannes
• Regional and village wines are fermented and aged in stainless steel
• Erte Lage wine are in a mix of stainless steel and large oak, depending on the vintage
• Warm vintages will see more stainless steel
• Lees aging until the next spring, but nothing by recipe
• Time in bottle is key
• Usually released two years after harvest

About the winery |

One reason that Weingut Hirsch's wines are so good is that Johannes Hirsch did a lot of things first. He was one of the first in Austria to dump Chardonnay and all his red vines to focus solely on Kamptal's great varieties of Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. He was one of the first to farm biodynamically (and his father to farm organically). He was first to switch all closures to Stelvin. So he's had a longer time to perfect this style of hyper-artisanal winemaking than virtually anyone else in Austria.

There were hiccups along the way. Not everyone loved the Rieslings from the late aughts that ended up with some residual sugar. But it turns out that this was just what nature wanted to do in those vintages. And since then, Hirsch (and nature) have made nothing but classical, dry, elegant Grüners and Rieslings. He has avoided the trend towards higher octane Austrian wines that we have seen elsewhere. With lower alcohol levels, Hirsch shows the pure, crystalline essence of Austrian Grüners and Rieslings.

What do the wines taste like?

Along with Jurtschitsch, these are the best wines in Kamptal and with Bernhard Ott the best in Austria. I never miss an opportunity to buy these or drink them myself.

They age beautifully, getting better and more expressive year after year. There is a seamless, complete package in every bottle. Grape varieties are of no consequence, merely a vehicle to demonstrate the specificity of different terroirs.