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Austria is well-known for its white wines, significantly its native Grüner Veltliner, however the nation’s reds have quickly gained floor just lately, with crimson grape plantings doubling over the previous twenty years. Whereas Zweigelt stays essentially the most broadly planted crimson selection in Austria, it’s the runner-up, Blaufränkisch, that’s garnering acclaim each at dwelling and overseas.
“If any crimson selection from Austria can match the recognition of our Grüner Veltliner, it will likely be Blaufränkisch,” says Austrian native Aldo Sohm, proprietor of his eponymous wine bar and wine director at Le Bernardin in New York Metropolis.
Buoyed by an elevated understanding of the variability and subsequently larger high quality, plantings of Blaufränkisch—which works by aliases equivalent to Lemberger in Germany, Kékfrankos in Hungary, and Frankovka in Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia—are rising in pockets around the globe. Vintners within the historic areas of Burgenland in Austria and Württemberg in Germany are refocusing on Blaufränkisch, whereas producers in cooler New World areas just like the Adelaide Hills, New York State, and New Jersey are discovering how properly the grape performs of their vineyards as properly.
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As soon as a defining grape of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Blaufränkisch is making a comeback—and it’s going international.
New Energies in Basic Areas
The early-budding, late-ripening Blaufränkisch loved a sterling fame within the nineteenth century Austro-Hungarian Empire, when varieties that represented good high quality had been collectively known as “Fränkisch.” However the grape fell out of favor in post-war Europe, when advances in know-how and mechanization turned grape-growing right into a race for quantity slightly than high quality. The ensuing Blaufränkisch wines had been skinny and lacked construction, taste, and stability.
This modified in 1986 when the Ernst Triebaumer vineyard in Burgenland produced Ried Marienthal, a single-variety bottling of Blaufränkisch that’s now thought-about legendary. Triebaumer established that Burgenland Blaufränkisch had the potential to face as much as worldwide classics, however collectively, Austria’s reds nonetheless had plenty of catching as much as do.
With the recognition of worldwide varieties and new oak-aged types, the Blaufränkisch wines of the late Nineteen Eighties and Nineties had been typically robust, overpowered by tannins derived from the grape’s thick skins.
“I come from Eisenberg, in Burgenland, and infrequently needed to point out my colleagues [while working as a sommelier] what my area can do with Blaufränkisch, however many examples had been rustic,” recollects Uwe Schiefer, the proprietor of his eponymous winery in Burgenland, who produced his first classic in 1994.
Schiefer is without doubt one of the masterminds answerable for Blaufränkisch’s revival on its dwelling turf, along with winemaker Hans Nittnaus and Moric’s Roland Velich. For the reason that late Nineties, the three have showcased and outlined the grape’s potential, in addition to the various types that it may well produce relying on the place it grows and the way it’s vinified.
“After I met with Burgenland winemakers a decade in the past, Blaufränkisch was their favourite grape to make site-specific wines inside that area,” says Mike Beneduce, Jr., winery supervisor and winemaker for Beneduce Vineyards in New Jersey, who has 5 acres of mature Blaufränkisch vines planted.
With extra apply and understanding, the general type of Austrian Blaufränkisch has change into medium-bodied, silky, and vibrant, slightly than robust and tannic, and plantings have grown from simply over 2,600 hectares in 2000 to virtually 7,500 hectares in 2019.
“[Blaufränkisch] has the flexibility to offer you plenty of components that may be appreciated, from silky, elegant types like Pinot Noir, to medium-bodied, spicy reds like Syrah, to bolder, extra strong types.” – Hai Tran, Sommation
However Austria isn’t the one traditional area that has directed renewed energies in direction of the variability. Although Blaufränkisch (domestically known as Lemberger) was first launched to Germany’s Württemberg area within the nineteenth century underneath a plan to switch high-yielding grapes with noble ones, plantings have almost quadrupled for the reason that Nineteen Seventies, from 500 hectares to 1,900 hectares. Immediately, Lemberger accounts for 16 percent of the entire winery space in Württemberg.
Lemberger works so properly within the comparatively hotter Württemberg local weather that it’s permitted to hold the Grosses Gewächs (GG) designation on this area alone. “It’s a native crimson selection for prime quality crimson wine,” says Jochen Beurer, winemaker of his eponymous winery, who loves his Lemberger grown in crimson marl soils. “It isn’t as tough to develop as Pinot [Noir], nevertheless, it’s important to decide it on the proper time as a result of someday too late can flip it right into a jammy wine.”
Potential in Cooler U.S. Vineyards
Although Blaufränkisch is usually related to the hotter areas of Austria and Germany, in comparison with the wine world as a complete, these areas are nonetheless comparatively cool to reasonable, making the grape a great match for U.S. areas the place situations have traditionally been extra appropriate for white grapes. Blaufränkisch is kind of hardy, with the flexibility to face up to lengthy, chilly winters and address wind, drought, and even warmth.
The primary industrial bottling of Lemberger within the U.S. was produced by Kiona Vineyards within the Crimson Mountain AVA of Washington State in 1980, and at one level, the state was dwelling to round 250 acres of Lemberger. “Within the Nineteen Seventies, the mind belief latched onto Lemberger as a sensible choice in Washington State,” says JJ Williams, the vineyard’s basic supervisor. “It’s resilient, but it produces a tasty crimson wine that doesn’t require plenty of oak remedy and is pretty cheap to supply—it was presupposed to be Washington’s Zinfandel!”
In line with Williams, Kiona Vineyards has virtually a cult following of the wine. Their plantings have elevated from 2 acres in 1976 to 13 acres in the present day, and so they even promote a few of it to different native producers. However as extra recognizable crimson varieties like Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon—which might reliably ripen in Washington—the state’s Lemberger plantings declined to under 60 acres in the present day.
Extra just lately, East Coast vintners have newly embraced Blaufränkisch, significantly in New York and New Jersey, the place wines could also be labeled both Blaufränkisch or Lemberger, relying on producer choice. Whereas tiny quantities will be discovered on Lengthy Island (due to Channing Daughters Vineyard), it’s discovered a distinct segment following within the Finger Lakes, the place it was initially planted for its hardiness.
“When our neighbor began rising Lemberger, I watched the vineyards within the fall and was impressed with how good the fruit held up,” says Chris Stamp, the winemaker at Lakewood Vineyards within the Finger Lakes. “It is vitally robust and disease-resistant, apart from powdery mildew.” Lakewood has been working with the grape since 2007, producing their first single-variety Lemberger in 2009, and Stamp believes the grape has nice potential within the area due to its consistency and talent to supply high quality wine even in robust vintages.
Nancy Irelan, the winemaker and associate at Red Tail Ridge Winery within the Finger Lakes, first labored with Blaufränkisch as a part of a analysis winery she established for E. & J. Gallo again within the Nineties, assessing the viability of obscure European vinifera varieties. Blaufränkisch was a type of that didn’t succeed, producing “fats, flabby, uninteresting” wines within the scorching local weather.
“Once we determined to make the transfer to the Finger Lakes, we needed to decide on the very best reds for a shorter, cooler rising season,” says Irelan. “Wanting on the heritage of Blaufränkisch, it appeared completely suited.” She has been working with the variability for over 14 years and considers it a key grape selection within the area.
Although the general local weather is hotter than the Finger Lakes, the small, rising New Jersey wine business has developed a distinct segment affinity for Blaufränkisch as properly; the Garden State Wine Growers Association estimates that about 20 acres of the variability are planted. Beneduce determined to work with the grape after inspecting historic information from his Pittstown, New Jersey web site and noticing that it was “virtually similar” to Burgenland.
“It might be one of many grapes our complete business rallies round,” he says. “There aren’t plenty of locations that do Blaufränkisch properly, however we’ve the sources, local weather, and soils to essentially do it and set us aside as an rising wine area.”
A Extra Adventurous Client Base
It’s now not a query of whether or not Blaufränkisch can create high quality wines, and certainly, the wine commerce has gotten on board.
“To me, it is without doubt one of the most terroir-driven crimson varieties and I all the time get good suggestions,” says Clara Dalzell, the final supervisor of Flatiron Wines & Spirits in New York Metropolis. The workers jokes that Dalzell’s love for the grape has turned the retailer right into a “Blaufränkisch store.”
“[Blaufränkisch] has the flexibility to offer you plenty of components that may be appreciated, from silky, elegant types like Pinot Noir, to medium-bodied, spicy reds like Syrah, to bolder, extra strong types,” says Philadelphia-based sommelier Hai Tran of Instagram neighborhood Sommation. Moric’s Velich compares Blaufränkisch to a cross between northern Rhône Syrah, Nebbiolo from Piedmont, and crimson Burgundy.
However shopper consciousness stays a problem, which isn’t helped by the grape’s a number of aliases and tough pronunciation. “The hurdle that I’ve seen is model identification,” says Irelan. “Of us had been unfamiliar with the variability, and even trying to pronounce the title of the variability.”
For rising areas, some see lack of title recognition as much less of a priority. “Individuals don’t have any expectations once they stroll right into a New Jersey vineyard, so we’ve a clean slate,” says Beneduce. “Let’s develop the grapes that make the very best wine high quality.”
As a complete, nevertheless, Blaufränkisch has been aided by altering shopper attitudes in direction of unfamiliar grapes. “Wine drinkers are getting extra adventurous, searching for worth in numerous pockets of the wine world,” says Tran. “Usually, people have gotten way more open and explorative with their tastes,” provides Irelan.
Cole Wilson, the director of operations for Damiani Wine Cellars within the Finger Lakes, has observed a marked distinction within the vineyard’s Lemberger gross sales. “Twenty years in the past, it was a really onerous promote, however now individuals purchase it by the case,” he says.
The everyday quality-to-price ratio additionally makes it simpler to persuade customers to dip a toe within the Blaufränkisch pool. “Within the $15 to $25 vary, individuals are not afraid to experiment, and once they attempt [Blaufränkisch], they all the time give good suggestions,” says Steven Sherman, the proprietor of William Cross Wine Merchants in San Francisco, who notes that high-end bottles over $100 are nonetheless tough to maneuver.
Whereas it’s unlikely that Blaufränkisch will ever change into as common as Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon, it has established itself as extra than simply an obscurity. With its skill to supply high-quality, nuanced wines even in unfavorable situations, anticipate extra tremendous examples—from Austria to the USA—sooner or later.
Aleks Zecevic is a wine specialist for the Sotheby’s Wine public sale home. Beforehand he labored at Wine Spectator, the place he lined the wines of Austria, Germany, South Africa, and France’s Loire Valley. Having household in Austria, Aleks has visited the nation and its vineyards many occasions, however particularly as a journalist.
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