Blaufrankisch Article

Interesting article by DarrelJoseph (who he?) on WineSearcher on Austria's Blaufrankisch wines:
BlaufrankischArticle

In it, we learn that one of the reasons Blaufrankisch grape make such great wines is because it reflects its terroir more than other grapes. Hmmmm....where have we heard that line before???

There is actually more of the variety grown in Hungary...where it is known as Kekfrankos. We don't seem to see many of those around. Actually, the Burgenland was once part of Hungary until the end of WWI, as HeidiSchrock related to me this weekend as the reason for her interest in Furmint. And it's also grown in Germany's Franconia region, though I've never seen one from there.

In the Burgenland, they also grow a lot of StLaurent, which I think makes a very interesting wine. MattRorick's Forlorn-Hope StLaurent is probably the best one I've had. ErichSattler related to me Sat (there was a bunch of TerryTheise winemakers in town this weekend) that there is some StLaurent grown in Oregon as well. But I can't find the producer, though.

And Blaufrankisch is grown in WashState under the Lemberger name. I don't see a whole lot of WashState Lemberger like I used to afore the rise of Syrah up there.

Anyway..an interesting read.

Tom

Interesting article by DarrelJoseph (who he?) on WineSearcher on Austria's Blaufrankisch wines:
BlaufrankischArticle

In it, we learn that one of the reasons Blaufrankisch grape make such great wines is because it reflects its terroir more than other grapes. Hmmmm....where have we heard that line before???

There is actually more of the variety grown in Hungary...where it is known as Kekfrankos. We don't seem to see many of those around. Actually, the Burgenland was once part of Hungary until the end of WWI, as HeidiSchrock related to me this weekend as the reason for her interest in Furmint. And it's also grown in Germany's Franconia region, though I've never seen one from there.

In the Burgenland, they also grow a lot of StLaurent, which I think makes a very interesting wine. MattRorick's Forlorn-Hope StLaurent is probably the best one I've had. ErichSattler related to me Sat (there was a bunch of TerryTheise winemakers in town this weekend) that there is some StLaurent grown in Oregon as well. But I can't find the producer, though.

And Blaufrankisch is grown in WashState under the Lemberger name. I don't see a whole lot of WashState Lemberger like I used to afore the rise of Syrah up there.

Anyway..an interesting read.

Tom

Tom:

It's grown in the Finger Lakes under both names, Blaufrankisch and Lemberger. Blended with Cabernet Franc (Fox Run Vineyards) it produces quite a nice wine.

Of course, that's because it expresses the local terroir better than any other variety--oh wait, that's what Riesling does in the Finger Lakes...

Interesting I tasted some 2012 Kiralyudvar Tokaji Furmint sec a week or so ago and found it to be a very pleasant white wine. Hard to describe, more in the texture of Sauvignon Blanc than say chard. This particular wine is brought in by Rare Wine. I usually don't like the expression food wine but it has a nice acidic tang.

Lemburger, I remember one from Kiona Washington?

Shockingly (to me anyway), blaufrankisch is also grown in the mid-Atlantic. I recently had one from Otium Cellars in northern Virginia that I thought was terrific, and another from Cove Point Winery in southern Maryland, that's more pedestrian but still nice (and good value).

Lemburger, I remember one from Kiona Washington?

We had the 2006 a few years ago in a Lemberger tasting and it didn't fare well. http://forums.wineloverspage.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34657&p=292331

In my limited experience, Blaufränkisch produces delicious wines for the superior quaffing slot in the same way as, say, Beaujolais or Dolcetto, but with a different flavour profile. I have yet to be convinced by the more up-market versions which have come my way. I had the opportunity several times of tasting the Moric (Roland Velich) ranges from the late 90s and early 00s but was overwhelmed by the high prices and underwhelmed by their taste largely because of big oak. So it's good to learn that Roland Velich is dialling back on the oak and that David Schildknecht, one of the few from WA whom I respect, likes the results. I guess that the prices remain high, though.