Blaufränkisch at ProWein in Düsseldorf, March 2016

the highlight of ProWein this year was a little toddle I took down the spicy paths and byways of Blaufränkisch, reinforcing my consistent conviction that we do indeed have another great red variety on our hands. And in addition to trying the new wines that acquaintances led me to sample – Paul Kerschbaum from Horitschon showed great promise – I made sure to connect with old friends, some of whose wines I had sold at one point or another.

many of the wines I tasted from a few of the younger producers carried too heavy a burden of cooperage – although not nearly so severe as what I was to encounter visiting the growers of Württemburg in the German hall to chew through their Lemberger wines – same plant, different handle – but with the exception of Graf Adelmann, whose wines did indeed show the nobility that the name of the estate suggests, a good number of the German wines were choking on enough new oak to muzzle much of any varietal character.

so, my sample set: six excellent estates ­– five geographic distinctions and one generational. What do the wines have in common, and what distinguishes them from each other?

Wachter-Wiesler – Südburgenland/Eisenberg

Uwe Schiefer – Südburgenland/Eisenberg

Moric – Mittelburgenland

Rosi Schuster – Neusiedlersee Hügelland

Paul Achs – Neusiedlersee

Muhr-van der Niepoort – Carnuntum

there are two grape varieties that, better than any others, carry the message of the soils in which they are grown to the taster: the white wine variety Riesling – currently everybody’s darling but my best bedfellow since before the current crop of sommeliers was out of diapers – and the red Pinot Noir (specifically its Burgundian incarnation). Recent developments in the world of Blaufränkisch indicate that while the variety may not transmit a sense of place as dramatically as Pinot Noir, it certainly sets a good example – especially since the trend toward monovarietal vitality has gotten growers looking to Burgundy and Piedmont for their models, rather than Bordeaux or Napa. And I am noticing a tendency in the variety not to go very far beyond 14% alcohol, even in the very ripe years among growers who prefer the aggressive style.

something needs now to be said: these are wines that will repay time in the cellar. Handsomely. Just because young Blaufränkisch (unless it’s lost in the lumber or painfully extracted) is not nasty and harsh does not mean that its flavours have evolved. Far from it – tasting wines from the early years of the century now, it is clear how well and how beautifully they develop and how many secondaries and tertiaries achieve expression that would not seem out of place coming from the best reds of the Côte d’Or. So don’t drink the wines when they are young! Austria offers a variety called Zweigelt (some have reverted to calling it ‘Rotburger’) that is perfectly suited for doing exactly that.

Weingut Wachter-Wiesler

so, starting with the youngest, to taste Christoph Wachter’s Blaufränkers is to be immediately glad that the fellow is likely to remain in service of his vines and in command of his cellar for the next few decades. And many of the older generation give him a nod as the coming standard-bearer.

...I know of no other entry-level Blaufränkisch from any of the regions where the variety flourishes with such spirit, poise and focus as it does in his Blaufränkisch Béla-Joska. Even from the significantly challenged vintage 2014, where there was hail and brimstone and worse that fell upon the Eisenberg, Wachter has managed to create a true classic of a Klassik. Given a fair shake from the weather, there seems to be little limit to the expressiveness of Christoph’s wine.

...the 2012 Eisenberg DAC Reserve Alte Reben showed extraordinary depth of flavour, sour cherry paradise with nuances ranging from citrus to chocolate; the combination of full-bodied satisfaction and mineral elegance was truly marvellous.

Weingut Schiefer

not too far away on the floor of the Messegelände was the booth of Uwe Schiefer, likewise a denizen of Südburgenland. To taste Uwe’s wines after Christoph’s was a lesson in very fine distinctions, where the younger man’s Blaufränkisch showed more in common with those of the elder than any dramatic difference.  (Mr Wachter, when grilled, would go no further than saying that his wines had perhaps an extra touch of freshness. Possibly true.)

...Schiefer Szapary 2012 was the single Blaufränkisch I liked the best from the entire sample set, although any margin would’ve been quite marginal... This wine had a remarkable depth to its aromatic arc, complex and seductive; then a magickal texture on the palate, deep black cherry and raspberry fruit followed seamlessly by a fine sense of minerality, beautifully integrated tannins and a very light touch in the alcohol department –13% – with a total dream of a finish. Schiefer has also spread his net northward, and is now producing some very respectable Blaufränkisch of the Leithaberg DAC persuasion...

Weingut Moric

according to a recent conversation with Heidi Schröck, the master of Moric, Roland Velich, is the one individual most deeply responsible for reorienting Blaufränkisch production away from the Bordelaise paradigm toward more refined monovarietal stylings like those of Burgundy. There were others involved, certainly, but Roland does stand out. One of my favourite impressions of Moric is how expressive the wines are in years that are traditionally viewed as ‘leaner’, like 2007 and 2010. His 2007 entry level Blauf remains a favourite of mine. 

...the 2013 old vines bottlings from Lutzmannsburg and Neckenmarkt are fascinating to compare and contrast... Splitting very fine hairs here, the vines in the two complementary sites can be over 100 years old, and planted to great density, producing very small berries... Hard to pick between them – the Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben is a bit more floral, a bit more chew to it than the spicier Neckenmarkt Alte Reben bottling. Both have marvellous depth of flavour and gripping minerality. What they do not have is any sort of attention-getting artifice to them.

Roland Velich is a devil with the decanters. I spent several hours before, during and after dinner with him and Hannes Schuster at his home in Großhöflein one evening in December. As usual had egg on my face from the blind tasting – what I swore was Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru turned out to be the 2007 Sankt Laurent Zagersdorf from Hannes, while the wine that absolutely had to be Moric Blaufränkisch Lutzmannsburg AR 2006 was actually Nuits-St.-George Clos de la Marechal 2005 from Fréderic Mugnier...  p.s. Roland get your piano tuned –

Weingut Rosi Schuster

Hannes Schuster is known as one of the top handful of Sankt Laurent producers in Austria, but his Blaufränkisch expresses just as clearly the great care he takes with his vines in St Margarethen and Zagersdorf, including phasing out the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with which his mother Rosi put the estate on the map back in the 1980s. And if Hannes was once upon a time regarded as Mr Velich’s devil’s disciple, he has done much to individuate in the past several years. The only reason this notion might persist at all is that Hannes is more of the silent type, who prefers to let his wines do the talking... One of the soils that Blaufränkisch loves is the sandy loam like that of the Schuster estate in St Margarethen. For me, the highlights are Sankt Laurent Zagersdorf, and the cuvée of SL and BF –

...but then there is the 2013 Blaufränkisch Sankt Margarethen, which showed a marvellous bouquet of floral tones on top of sour cherries and raspberry, revealing a lovely mineral component at the second whiff. On the palate, the core of sweet fruit is remarkable, for both density and liveliness, while the tannins are ripe and nicely integrated already. Very long on the palate and enormously satisfying, with spicy minerality in the finish.

Weingut Paul Achs

for an extended sitdown with Paul Achs, I was joined by colleagues Constance Chamberlain and Konstantin Schindlmeißer, a tasting punctuated by lively banter. Early in his career, Paul had worked in Sonoma as a wine-school dropout from Klosterneuburg. And some traces of California have always seemed to me an element present in the Achs style – embracing and accentuating ripeness – though this could well be because of the significant summer heat that is a factor when one is growing grapes in the town of Gols.

...Paul’s Blaufränkisch Edelgrund is as noble as ever, a lovely whiff of ripe blackberries and dark chocolate, palate likewise more black fruit than red – it combines presence with agility, depth of flavour with refreshment value. This is the wine that typically shows up in by-the-glass programmes at elite NYC addresses like Per Se and Gramercy Tavern...

...and the three great single-vineyard Blaufränkisch show their contrasting personalities even as they even did in the years before Paul pulled back the influence of cooperage in his élevage.

– Ungerberg: (loam & iron) blackberry and black cherry fruit, finely structured

– Altenberg: (loam & limestone) rather elegant, densely packed, subtle minerality

– Spiegel: (loamy sand) spicy, dark berry fruit; very ripe

Weingut Muhr-van der Niepoort

and here we are not in Burgenland anymore... Dorli Muhr doesn’t even put the name of the vine on the label of her Muhr-van der Niepoort Spitzerberg, but is there any noble variety other than Blaufränkisch that could articulate the site’s unique personality in the sizzling summer heat of Carnuntum? Pinot Noir wouldn’t fare nearly so well under those climatic conditions. The Spitzerberg has a core of granite blanketed by layers of limestone that is home to old vines, 40–60 years of age, which yield a wine that is simply unsurpassed for elegance among my sample set.

...surprise or no, that there seems to be every bit as much liquid stone in the 13er Spitzerberg as there is in the Szapary from Schiefer? The flavour profile leans toward red fruit, with a hint of cedar and matchstick in the aromatic profile; very generous on the palate with lovely floral and spicy finish aromatics.

...there is also a young vines Blaufränkisch from this estate called Liebkind that is instantly appealing, though more of a style that would be at home in Rust or Großhöflein.

~

any of the examples here, one could say ‘this is Blaufränkisch.’ These growers all favour the subtle and understated approach, but the variety manages to put up with a greater degree of ‘winemaking’ as well while remaining expressive and secure in its identity...