2002 Weingut Hirsch Riesling April Gaisberg - Austria, Niederösterreich, Kamptal (7/9/2015)
I purchased a number of bottles of this wine back on release. Most were drunk up soon after, as it was quite delicious when it came out. One was put aside, and then I just left it to age, as it was the first vintage where Hirsch used a screw cap closure for the wine.
Lately I have been opening older screw capped bottles to see where they are at. A recent 2003 Hexamer Riesling Spatlese was aging beautifully, and this Hirsch bottling is also doing very well.
White flowers, peach fruit and lots of salty/stony minerality are showing up now. There's a touch of richness to the wine, though 2002 was not a particularly ripe vintage. It's likely a development of that creaminess that a number of Rieslings take on with some age. There's plenty of material here for further aging/development, though as it's my last bottle I won't get to check that. Looks like it's the last bottle of the wine on Cellar Tracker as well, so it's goodbye Gaisberg April*.
*For those who are not aware, Hirsch bottled the Gaisberg in two separate lots for a period of time. One was bottled in April, and the other in September. I believe it's now all bottled in September.
