a selected exploration into the world of Blaufränkisch

This was an attention-grabbing tasting, with a variety of essentially the most attention-grabbing Blaufränkisch producers, all of who’re imported into the UK by Newcomer Wines.

It’s a grape choice that has been gaining rising consideration – inside the closing couple of years I’ve been to conferences on Blaufränkisch in Sevnica (Slovenia) and Lech-am-Arlberg (Austria). It’s a variety acknowledged by quite a lot of names along with Kekfrankos, Modra Frankijna and Lemberger.

Its origins? It’s a cross between Gouais Blanc (the male mom or father, which has been a mom or father to many very important varieties, additionally referred to as Heunisch) and Sbulzina (a unusual, late-ripening choice current in Fruili, Italy). Definitely one in every of its participating traits is that it makes wines with extreme acid and low pH.

The story of Blaufrankisch is de facto no older than 20 years, though. Throughout the Nineties Austrian reds had been all about ripeness and oak, and inside the Nineteen Seventies and Eighties it had been an issue to ripen. Nonetheless inside the closing 20 years quite a few people have started making additional vital wines from it.

Hungary has better than anyone else. Proper right here’s the league desk.

Nittnaus

Andreas Nittnaus is winemaker on the Anita & Hans Nittnaus winery in Gols, after taking over from his father, Hans ‘John’ Nittnaus, a pioneers of single vineyard Blaufränkisch. They’ve vineyards on the Leithaberg along with in Gols and Neusiedl am See.

Nittnaus Gritschberg Blaufränkisch 2021
That’s on limestone. Linear, up to date and juicy with shiny focused berry fruits and an essential acid line. Pure, good and balanced with a linear prime quality. 94/100

Nittnaus Jungenberg Blaufränkisch 2021
Pure slate soils. Good generosity. Has ripe cherry and plum fruit with some raspberry and a nice graininess. Mineral with good depth. 94/100

Nittnaus Elektra Blaufränkisch 2022
That’s low sulfites, low extraction. Very good brightness proper right here with tart raspberry fruit with a stony, mineral edge. Reveals extreme acidity. Vibrant, up to date and linear. 94/100

Hannes Schuster

Hannes Schuster depends in Sankt Margarethen on the western shores of Lake Neusiedlersee. Most of his vineyards are on the Rusterberg, a gently sloping hillside that takes inside the villages of Oslip, Oggau, Schützen, Sankt Margarethen and Rust. The winery stays to be named after his mother, Rosi, who he took over from a while once more.

Hannes Schuster Blaufränkisch 2021
All destemmed, stainless steel ferment, then 14 months in large oak barrels. Latest, focused pink fruits with good acidity. Vigorous with a chalky, mineral edge. So pure with delicate smoky notes inside the background. 94/100

Hannes Schuster Sankt Margharethen Blaufränkisch 2021
Taut, mineral and finely spiced with good grip and a phenomenal focus. Elegant with precise purity and good acidity. 95/100

Hannes Schuster Mullendorf Blaufränkisch 2021
Pure chalk soils. So shiny and actual with good linear fruit. Has good acidity. Very good and expressive with acid line. I just like the purity. 95/100

Tschida

Christian Tschida depends in Illmitz , a village on the east shore of Lake Neusiedlersee, He has vines in Purbach, with many on the western shores of the lake alongside the Leithaberg.

Tschida Himmel auf Erden Rosé 2022
Full pink/pink in shade. Vibrant and up to date with a nice acid line and raspberry and cherry fruit with great focus and brightness. Very good. 94/100

Tschida TNT Blaufränkisch 2018 (magnum)
That’s from limestone, and it’s an earlier quarry the place dynamite was used, due to this fact the title TNT. Supple, shiny and linear with chalky notes and good acidity. Textured with sweet raspberry and cherry fruit along with some depth. 93/100

Tschida Felsen I Blaufränkisch 2015
Limestone soils. Latest, supple and glossy, this nonetheless has good acidity and focus. Tart with a nice mineral edge and juicy cherries and spice, along with some blackberry. 94/100

Weninger

Franz Weninger depends in Horitschon inside the Mittelburgenland space. His father extended the family domaine to include historic vineyard web sites on the Hungarian facet f lake Neusiedlersee some 20 years up to now. Franz’ moreover works a small parcel inside the Südburgenland alongside the Eisenberg often known as ‘Saybritz’.

Weninger Steiner Kékfrankos 2017 Hungary
That’s from 1964 plantings on mica and schist soils. Linear and glossy with precise magnificence, good spices, pink cherries and plums, and good acidity. Made in a lighter kind and displaying precise magnificence. 94/100

Weninger Ofen Blaufränkisch 2020
That’s from the Kalkofen vineyard, a spot the place they burned lime beforehand. Limestone soils. Vibrant and linear with pure raspberry and cherry fruit along with good precision. Direct and focused with a phenomenal acid line, that’s pure and refined. 95/100

Weninger Say Blaufränkisch 2021
That’s from the very best place in Burgenland, and there has in no way been any tractor train on this plot: it was planted for people and horses to work inside the Sixties, and could possibly be very steep, with slate soils. Stunning generosity proper right here with rounded pink fruit and some chalky, grainy notes, with shiny acidity nonetheless always a method of harmony and generosity. So pure. 95/100

Wachter-Wiesler

Christoph Wachter heads up Weingut Wachter-Wiesler, which depends inside the village of Deutsch-Schützen, inside the Eisenberg appellation of Burgenland. Christoph works alongside his sister Julia for now just about 15 years. The clay and iron rich slate soils make distinctive Blaufränkisch.

Wachter-Wiesler Deutsch-Schützen Blaufränkisch 2020
Latest, linear and pure with stunning raspberry and pink cherry fruit. Direct with good acidity. Supple and good with a linear prime quality and a twist of iron and blood. 94/100

Wachter-Wiesler Ried Weinberg Blaufränkisch 2020
Deep iron-rich loam soils. Stunning depth proper right here: up to date and good with some iron/blood notes and good acidity. Chalky notes, too. Very pure and good with direct pink fruits and truly good acidity. So good. 95/100

Wachter-Wiesler Ried Ratschen Blaufränkisch 2020
Supple and up to date with direct fruit and a vigorous persona. Sweet raspberry and cherry fruit with a stony edge and some iron and blood character. Stunning harmony proper right here. 95/100

Michael Wenzel

Michael Wenzel depends inside the village of Rust on the western shores of Neusiedlersee. He’s focused on Furmint, which his family have helped revitalize proper right here, however moreover Blaufränkisch.

Wenzel Blaufränkisch Aus Dem Kalk 2022
Stunning aromatics with perfumed floral cherries, raspberries. The palate has great texture and a nice acid line. Actual with good acidity. It’s stony and glossy nonetheless has stunning weight inside the mouth. 96/100

Wenzel Blaufränkisch Aus Dem Kalk 2019
Vibrant and linear with good purity. This reveals up to date cherry and raspberry fruit with good acidity. Excessive-quality and mineral with such stunning weight. 95/100

Wenzel Blaufränkisch Aus Dem Kalk 2016
Latest, good and glossy with good acidity. This has good tannins, too with some flesh. It’s evolving slowly and stays to be shiny and linear. 94/100

Naboso

Naboso is owned and run by Nadja and Andrej Miklušičák, they normally working inside the village of Svaty Jur which is close to the city of Bratislava. They’ve acquired experience working in Austria, and established their very personal domaine pretty simply currently.

Naboso Zore 2022 Slovakia
That’s 65% Blaufrankisch and 35% Andre, 8 days carbonic maceration. Very floral and glossy with juiciness and good flesh. Good raspberry and cherry fruit with an precise ease to it. So floral. 93/100

Naboso Ritual 2021 Slovakia
From this 12 months the wine seen two years in barrel for the first time. Latest and floral with good raspberry notes. Supple and stylish with good kind and glossy raspberry and cherry fruit. Good steadiness proper right here, with supple inexperienced sappy hints. 94/100

Naboso Ritual 2018 Slovakia
One 12 months in barrel. Vibrant and linear with extreme acidity. Latest and focused with alert fruit, and notes of redcurrant and raspberry. Very up to date. 94/100

Milan Nestarec

Milan Nestarec depends in Velke Bilhovice, which is the precept wine village in Moravia proper now. He took over from his father a decade up to now, and is targeting making mild, elegant single-vineyard Blaufränkisch, which he first made in 2019.

Nestarec Forks & Knives 2020 Czechia
Sandy soils. That’s from a young-ish 20 12 months earlier vineyard, and it’s his village diploma. Stunning aromatics of raspberry and redcurrant with good freshness, and some iron notes. Juicy and linear with good acidity. That’s pure, mild and direct. 94/100

Nestarec Postmoderna NV Czechia
That’s from seven vintages, 2016-2022. Single plot with loess soils, that’s one barrel each basic. Very shiny, expressive with up to date redcurrant and raspberry fruit displaying good acidity. This has stunning fruit depth and some chalky mineral undertones. So textural and refined. 95/100

Nestarec Jil 2019 Czechia
Very good with stunning purity and good acidity. Harmonious with textured cherry and strawberry fruit and just a little little bit of raspberry crunch. So stunning. 95/100

Markus Altenburger

Markus Altenburger depends inside the village of Jois on the western shores of Lake Neusiedlersee. Has labored on single vineyard web sites in Jois for practically 20 years significantly with earlier vines on Ried Gritschenberg however moreover on the schist island Ried Jungenberg.

Markus Altenburger Cric 2022
12% alcohol. This spends 10 days in picket fermenters and is full cluster, from youthful vines on limestone. Supple and up to date with good acidity. Pure with stunning redcurrant and raspberry fruit, along with some pink cherry. Very good and glossy with beautiful steadiness. 94/100

Markus Altenburger Gritschberg 2021
13% alcohol. Mineral and good with a barely smoky edge to the fruit and some chalky undertones. Stunning pink cherry and raspberry fruit with precise finesse. Vibrant nonetheless with some depth. Very good. 95/100

Markus Altenburger Paradiesgarten 2021
Light, up to date and good. Pretty pale in shade, that’s sappy and mineral with good acidity and just a little little bit of development. Very pure, good and delicate with thrilling energy and magnificence. 95/100

Claus Preisinger

Claus Preisinger depends in Gols, most likely essentially the most northerly part of Neusiedlersee. His Blaufränkisch wines push the bounds of low extraction in a phenomenal means. Moreover has vineyards inside the Leithaberg along with his important web sites in Gols alongside the Parndorfer Platte.

Claus Preisinger Bonsai 2022
That’s from a plot with 9000 vines/hectare, all labored by hand, with very low vigour. They look like small bonsai timber, due to this fact the title of the cuvée. Pale in shade, that’s aromatic and spicy with some increase, and delightful pink fruits. Elegant and sappy and refined with pure pink cherry. Such energy proper right here, ending up to date and tapering. 95/100

Claus Preisinger ErDELuftGRAsundreBEN Blaufrankisch 2020
The title proper right here comes from the Edelgraben vineyard with limestone soils, and easily 1000 bottles are made. Light in shade, that’s refined, up to date and stylish. Juicy and mineral with such precision and a mineral edge, along with redcurrants and cherries. 95/100

Claus Preisinger Triple B 2021
That’s all the Bs he’s not allowed to positioned on the label. Excessive-quality, pure and refined with good acidity beneath the elegant cherry and raspberry fruit with stunning weight inside the mouth. Reveals good acidity, too. 95/100