2018 Weingut Franz Hirtzberger Chardonnay Smaragd Wachau

From fruits cultivated in the Setzberg (for the first time) and the Schlossgarten, the 2018 Chardonnay Smaragd opens with a clear, mineral, very stony and crystalline bouquet of ripe but discreetly aromatic fruits. On the palate, this is a very elegant and refined Chardonnay with a hint of oak and fine tannins (2,000-liter oak barrels but just for aging) and a long and salty, very elegant finish. It's still young. Tasted at the domain in September 2019.

93 points, Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (Mar 2020)

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