DAN'S WINE BLOG- BLAUFRANKISCH

Friday, September 10, 2021

This week’s Blog is about the very exciting, lighter style, native Austrian red variety – Blaufr?nkisch, or as one of my more Ocker mates calls it,?“Blow-Frank’s Quiche”.

I fell in love with Blaufr?nkisch in 2015 when thanks to the Austrian Wine Marketing Board I was part of a group of international wine journalists who toured many of the wine growing regions of Austria. Before the trip, I had not tasted any Austrian red wines other than their Pinot Noir, so it came as a great and pleasant surprise to me when I tasted Blaufr?nkisch, Zweigelt and St. Laurent, the main three native Austrian red varieties.

I was smitten by Blaufr?nkisch, which I like to describe as a Pinot Noir that has been working out seriously at the gym. It is just that bit beefier/bigger bodied and more sinewy than what Pinot is. As Jack Simmonds from Hahndorf Hill describes it,?“Pinot with stubble”.?In parts of Europe it is referred to as?“The Pinot of the East”?but the Austrians prefer to refer to Pinot Noir as?“the Blaufr?nkisch of the West”?in a bit of friendly rivalry.

Having tasted a considerable number of Blaufr?nkisch wines since my first visit to Austria, I believe that one of the variety’s assets is the fact that the vast majority of the wines I have tasted had a strong varietal commonality, with basic characteristics rarely varying. This is in contrast to many emerging varieties where the taste can vary significantly/wildly from one producer to the next. Yes, the taste of the wine varies, but like with its Austrian native “partner” the white variety Grüner Veltliner, Blaufr?nkisch has a consistent inner core of flavour that is constant. This helps to convert drinkers over to the variety as every wine they try will have the same basic characteristics.

Blaufr?nkisch is a bit of a bastard, because one parent is known to be Gouais Blanc, however, the other parent is unknown, i.e. it is the bastard daughter/son of this unholy union. It is known as Lemberg in Slovenia and parts of Germany but its officially recognised name is Blaufr?nkisch.

In the vineyard it is an early budding variety which is therefore susceptible to early spring frosts, and yet it ripens quite late, thereby needing a sunny site to reach full maturity, which is why it is predominantly planted (75% of plantings) in the south-east corner of Austria called, Burgenland. It tends to be very productive and without lots of strict discipline and TLC it can yield large volumes of insipid wine.

Apart from residing in Austria, Germany, Slovenia and Hungary, more recently Blaufr?nkisch has flown over to the USA, Japan and most importantly, Australia. Here in Australia, the first wine was produced by the Adelaide Hills’ Hahndorf Hill Winery in 2008.

At present the only other winery making Blaufr?nkisch that I am aware of is Mt Bera Vineyards from the Adelaide Hills that make a delightful and very elegant Shiraz Blaufr?nkisch blend – well worth checking out.

All the wines in the tasting (see?This Week’s Wine Review) were eminently drinkable and delightful wines making this is a brilliant example of vintage variation, as the grapes come from the same paddock and the wines were all made by the same winemaker, ergo the difference between them is the variation in vintage conditions.

This consistency augurs well for the variety’s future here in Australia as consumers gradually swing towards lighter styles of red wines and other cool-climate winemakers hop on board with this exciting, enticing and even possibly sexy, Austrian Emerging Variety.

Have a great week, stay safe and enjoy fabulous Aussie?#emergingvareties?wines.

Winery Links:

www.hahndorfhillwinery.com.au

www.mtberavineyards.com.au