Went to upscale pre theatre dinner Friday in NYC. Wine by the glass $ 13.00 and up, up, and up. Tried this grape for the first time (Channing Daughters producer on the Island) and frankly never heard of it before, but my curiousity got the better of me. Very tasty. Light red fruits, earth, pepper and spice. Reminded me of a grenache. Since learned that a lot of this is produced in Austria. Any recommendations? Not that I will ever find any in PA (take it back, a quick search on PA web shows 13 different Austrian bottlings in the system). As an aside, saw Hamilton which I really enjoyed, but next time one complains about escalating wine prices, consider row P side orchestra seats at $ 177.00 per.
I’ve enjoyed a couple vintages from Wind Gap but haven’t seen any Euro version out here at retail. Different, but doesn’t push me to seek out others.
Ken Volk has been making Blaufrankisch for many years, might be a little easier to find than Wind Gap.
I would search out Moric from Austria…hard to find but worth the price
Welcome to the world of BlauFramkisch, Robert. One of my favorite grapes. StLaurent also makes a very similar wine to Blaufrankisch.
There are precious few Blaufrankisch made in Calif. WindGap is certainly one.
There is also a fair amount produced in WashState where the grape is called Lemberger. Kiona is one of my favorites. JedSteele makes a
very pretty one under his ShootingStar label. If you liked the ChanningDaughters version, you might start w/ this one.
The Austrian versions tend to have more of an earthy/dusty/loamy/plummy character to them. Bigger & richer than the ChanningDaughters, as a rule.
Some of my favorites are Prieler/Sattler/Glatzer/Heinrich. And, by & large, they’re pretty reasonably priced.
Happy hunting.
Tom
I’ll second Austrian versions, especially Sattler’s Reserve bottling that should be sub-$30 for a pretty excellent wine.
Schnaitmann (Germany/Wurttemburg) makes a very good one, they use the Lemberger name. This does well in the Finger Lakes and if you see one from a reputable producer it’s definitely worth a try. Hosmer and Damiani are both reliable.
It’s largely grown in central Europe. It’s all over Hungary and Austria (don’t forget that today’s national boundaries are very recent). The best versions I’ve had have come from Hungary but none of them are imported. It does best in relatively cooler conditions. Where it’s warmer, it tends to have less personality. The only one from the US that I’ve been impressed by is from Michigan, which seems to be a perfect place for it.
At its best, it’s not dissimilar to a N. Rhone Syrah - tart and peppery. From warmer conditions it’s darker and lacks the pepper and spice and isn’t particularly interesting. As for the Moric wines, they can be really pricey but fortunately, the best one IMO is the cheapest one. When I’ve put those wines in blind Blaufrankisch tastings, the cheaper one always comes out on top.
I could name you dozens of good producers, but I´ve no idea what´s available in your area …
No, Blaufränkisch (Lemberger in Germany) is a genuine Austrian variety - and is not similar to Grenache, but there are different styles. Usually it´s dark coloured, nose of dark berries and heart cherries, quite pronounced acidity that adds a rustic component with a good bite, but there are also examples with more or less new oak … and it´s often used in acuvee with Merlot, Zweigelt, CS and others.
Most good examples are from the Burgenland in Austria, the middle-Burgenland is the heart of the grape.
This I very much doubt. Many Hungrian producers are old-fashioned and not up-to-date technically …
Sankt Laurent is more similar to Pinot Noir than to Blaufränkisch.
Kekfrankos in Hungary I think. 1 or 2 kekfrankos are generally available in LA. And chambers often has a cpl of Austrian blaufrankisch.
I’m not an expert, but I will echo the support for Moric’s Blaufrankisch. If I see it on a wine list, I go for it.
Kobal in Slovenia makes a delicious one, I’ve been drinking a lot of the 2013 recently.
Anthony Road, in the Finger Lakes, has a Cab Franc/Lemberger blend (approx. 50/50) @ $22 from the winery. Nice wine.
Damiani’s is as serious as it gets for ‘Lemberger/Blaufrankisch’ in the new world - I love Red Tail Ridge’s out of the Finger Lakes as well - VERY ‘Germanic’ in style compared to Damiani’s ‘West Coast’ style -
Not surprised. This pretty much chimes with my experience.
Nope. Not a fan.
+2. I’ve also liked Gerhard Markowitsch, Schiefer, and (Hungarian) Peter Wetzer. I often find some salinity in these wines, which I like (as well as the acidity and black pepper others have mentioned); one of those kinds of wine that I would drink more of if more were available.
This I very much doubt. Many Hungrian producers are old-fashioned and not up-to-date technically …
That is true Gerhard. Much of it is terrible.
But this is 2015, not 1995. Today there are some producers that are very much up to date, having spent tens of millions of Euros to build state-of-the-art wineries and who have worked in other wine making countries and areas, including Napa, Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhone and South Africa. So it all depends on who you’re talking about.
Johan in the Willamette Valley makes a really delicious version. Great example of weightless power, very pure and beautiful.
That´s true, some of them are good, some not so (I participated in a tasting of some of the best Hungarian wines 1.5 years ago in Vienna), but I´ve not taste one from Hungary that is on the level what Heinrich, Gesellmann, Markowitsch, Pöckl, Preisinger, Nittnaus, Umathum, Achs, Kollwentz, Wieninger, Gager and Moric (by far incomplete list) are producing in Burgenland and Lower Austria (some are cuvees). BTW some of the better Hungarians were from Austrian producers or in cooperation …