Discover the Blaufränkisch red wine from Burgenland, Austria that's taking Ireland by storm. Grown throughout its eastern border, Austrian red wine vineyard regions are segregated from other growing sites, so looking for what you need out of a bottle is incredibly easy, even for a beginner. Or it may be that they are trying too hard to appeal to their perception of global tastes. You can occasionally find blaufränkisch, sometimes called Lemberger, from other parts of the world. There is a distinctive tension common to all these wines which should be emphasised, ... Blaufränkisch can yield wines with dense structure and prominent tannins. Our two top wines were a mere $15 each. This is a wild, macho wine for the adventuresome wine drinker. Learn about Blaufränkisch, a red wine from Austria. There are 14 red wine grape varieties classified for the production of quality wine in Austria, and approximately one-third of Austrian vineyard area is planted with red wine varieties. (A.I. As for social media, hello? But my guess is that producers are tinkering rather than pandering. For those who have yet to discover the pleasures of spätburgunder, trollinger, zweigelt and blaufränkisch, the notion of German and Austrian red wines may seem alien and suspect. Blaufränkisch The trend for Austria’s star red grape has been away from sweetness and concentration and towards finesse and structure. Great price. This late-ripening grape is cultivated in several wine regions, but Burgenland remains its stronghold. With our focus on Burgenland, we had no blaufränkisches from Carnuntum, a region just southeast of Vienna that stretches to the Slovakian border. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that blaufränkisch offers the potential of myriad rewards. It is rich in tannin and may exhibit a pronounced spicy character. Blaufränkisch is the most important Austrian red variety to many Austrian vintners despite the fact it is not the most largely planted. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Look particularly for the wines of Muhr-van der Niepoort. Winemaker Uwe Schiefer brought an "old" Blaufränkisch along--old being 1999. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Despite being known for white wines, there is also a richer side of Austrian wine found in Blaufränkisch, a red wine variety that can be made very opulent with oak-aging. You almost never see it on wine lists unless you are at the rare Austrian restaurant. No. (V.O.S. Though blaufränkisch was widely said to be Austria’s best red grape, back then I preferred the more widely planted zweigelt, which had a lithe energy that blaufränkisch rarely possessed. Perhaps Americans are held back by the overall association of Germanic wines with whites like grüner veltliner and riesling. In our tasting we found a few wines that were too oaky or seemed clumsy. 2 bottle, is a fascinating, integrated biodynamic farm that makes not only wine but beer, too, while raising other crops and cattle. By far the most successful red wine variety is the Blauer Zweigelt , an Austrian crossing , of which there are many planted in regional vineyards. Blaufränkisch is the archetypal Austrian red: ... By now, people have recognized that Blaufränkisch is a kind of Austrian red-wine DNA, but only if there is precision in vineyard­ and winery. In my first encounters with blaufränkisch around the turn of the century, I remember stolid, blockish wines of little grace. Zweigelt serves as the wine’s base, providing soft and juicy red-berried fruit while notes of tobacco and spice come from Blaufränkisch. No. Wines Direct | 49 Lough Sheever Corporate Park, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, N91 V658, Save 5% at Checkout: Pick & Mix 12 Bottles or More, Not Applicable on Pre-Selected Cases or Sale Wines. RED showcases the enormous strides made in Austrian red wine and exhibits the quality of its native red grape varieties. Dirk Niepoort is a winemaker synonymous with the kinds of lissom, light-footed wines that 21st-century Austria does so well. Blaufränkisch, 2017. It makes sense that Austria would grow wines with great elegance and acidity, because the country is on the same parallel as northern France and Canada. Austrian Red Wine One of the more difficult wines to source and not widely exported, Austrian reds could be considered one of European viticulture’s hidden gems. 01438 741177. If our top 10 seems skewed toward the lower end of the price range, I have two reasons for that. All told, six of our top 10 were $20 or less. Yet the crowds that might rightfully be gathered at the blaufränkisch display are nowhere to be found. Selections, New York), ★★ Schiefer Südburgenland Blaufränkisch Königsberg 2012 $22, Lively and easygoing, with fresh, spicy fruit flavors. All Rights Reserved. But for the most part, an exploration of the grape and its wines requires a journey through the world of Austrian reds. Most of these wines came from small- to medium-size estates, which are highly conscientious in their farming and winemaking. And then there's Blaufränkisch's ability to age. The Ödenburg mountain range, on the Hungarian border, is defined by its smouldering slate and orthogneiss. These blaufränkisches can be especially elegant and fresh. (Winebow, New York), ★★½ Weninger Burgenland Blaufränkisch Hochäcker 2011 $35, Chewy tannins, with plummy flavors of dark fruits. The grape's name breaks down to mean, "good, fine" grape. A delicious example of Austria's most coveted red grape; this is bright, elegant and generous, with lashings of red-fruit flavours, a twist of blackberry and a hint of spice. While certain small cuvées from the best producers are occasionally expensive, like the rare, old-vine, single-vineyard bottles from Roland Velich’s Moric label, many good examples are far cheaper. Fast and insured delivery in Europe. Now, I could tell you a that it is a rather interesting area - a red wine making region dominated by a plethora of growers associations and rivers - but the main reason I like to drink wines made by the local tribe of the Swabians is that I was born there. (A Terry Theise Selection/Skurnik Wines), ★★½ Anita & Hans Nittnaus Neusiedlersee Blaufränkisch 2013 $19, Bright and expressive, with juicy fruit flavors and chewy tannins. Great natural wine from Austria. It was savory and more complex than the first two, and was altogether a more serious wine, but maybe lacked their energy and zest. (A Monika Caha Selection/Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York), ★★½ Paul Achs Neusiedlersee Blaufränkisch Edelgrund 2012 $32, Lively and balanced, with succulent flavors of red and black fruits and a touch of chocolate. But they were far overshadowed by the number of well-balanced, instantly appealing bottles. 5 was the lively, succulent 2012 Paul Achs from Neusiedlersee, followed by the plummy, tannic 2011 Weninger Hochäcker and the fresh, earthy 2013 Judith Beck. The interaction of the elements over millennia forms the substrate for vines and fruits that create the precise character of Wellanschitz wine. While varieties like Blaufränkisch, Zweigelt and St. Laurent may not roll off the tongue as well as better known grapes, Austrian red wine needs to be on your must-try list. Learn about it now! Any manipulation, falsification or acquisition, which would alter the cultural asset of the wine are prohibited at Wellanschitz vineyards. This would not be worth mentioning except that blaufränkisch possesses so many desirable traits worthy of public embrace. Second, some of the more expensive bottles seemed to be overly oaky, an indication that perhaps Austrian producers, who may not have a long tradition with new oak casks, are still calibrating the best way to use these powerful tools. Order today online at Wines Direct, nationwide delivery within 48 hours. But I came away enamored with one of its red wines, a wine with the classic Germanic name of Blaufränkisch. Among its other attributes, blaufränkisch, when not produced with a heavy hand, is a transparent grape sensitive to differences in terroir. This wine … Sometimes, for one reason or another, an entire category of wine seems to be virtually ignored. In Austria, Blaufrankisch is the second most popular red-wine variety behind Zweigelt – a crossing of Blaufrankisch with Austria's other signature red variety, Saint-Laurent. 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