A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a tasting of about 35 Austrian wines, most of them made from the red grape known in Austria as blaufrankisch (and known in other places as lemberger, among other names). This was my first extensive look at blaufrankisch, and I came away both impressed by the high level of quality in the wines, and the wide range of styles represented. At one end of the spectrum, the wines presented by Moric reminded me very much of red burgundies – showing earthiness and funk, and reddish fruits, if not quite the lightness of pinot noir, owing to the somewhat denser feel of blaufrankisch. At the other end of the spectrum, producers like Prieler and Schiefer showed very dark-fruited, tannic and structured wines that would please fans of brawny wines like big California cabs. The versatility of blaufrankisch impressed me given the high level of quality displayed throughout this spectrum. My snapshot notes from the tasting can be found at the bottom of this post, for those who want the particulars.

There are also very good accounts of these wines in blog posts by Eric Asimov of the NY Times and noted blogger Brooklynguy.  Mr. Asimov’s post in particular piqued my interest as I prepared this post for publication, mostly because of passages like:

“…this tasting demonstrated convincingly that when treated properly in the vineyard and the cellar, blaufränkisch can make some gorgeous, graceful wines that are wonderfully expressive of their vineyards.

What does it mean to treat the grape properly? A relatively cool climate, for one thing, as well as interesting vineyard sites, and a restrained hand in the cellar. Many of the wines that I’ve had in the past have been made in a more heavy-handed way, with heavily extracted flavors and plenty of new oak. It was as if winemakers treated blaufränkisch as though it were cabernet sauvignon.

But another style of blaufränkisch has emerged, in which winemakers look at the grape as if it were pinot noir, handling it more gently while aiming for grace and elegance rather than power.” [From: The New York Times - The Pour, January 15, 2010, by Eric Asimov]

The thing about this post that got me interested was the verbiage “treat the grape properly”. It’s one thing to say you don’t like a wine, as he did elsewhere in the post, saying of the more powerful wines at the tasting, that he was “unmoved”.  But it’s another thing to go further – was Mr. Asimov implying that those producers were actually treating the grape improperly? That got me thinking, “when has a wine critic gone too far?”  Should they go beyond rating the wines, to telling winemakers how they should be making the wines – what’s “proper”?

Now, my point is not to pick on Eric Asimov – of all the wine commentators in the mainstream press, he’s one of my favorites. I appreciate that his viewpoint often favors wines of subtlety, restraint, artisanal methods, and expression of terroir. And as Robert Parker could attest to, he’s certainly not the only wine critic who has caused some to wonder if they’re telling winemakers how to make their wines. (As an aside, did you all catch Asimov’s recent tweet challenging Parker on “false choices”? Some interesting stuff, that might only happen on Twitter).  And what’s more, with regard to this tasting, I agreed with Mr. Asimov- the Moric wines were my favorites. But, as I read his post and thought of some of the other wines I tasted, something just didn’t sit right with me.

After all, I had just tasted a number of wines that I probably would consider to be fairly extracted, and generously oaked, but I also found them to be very good wines. Mr. Asimov, perhaps out of a sense of decorum, did not name the wines he didn’t care for, and we attended different tastings, so I can only guess which wines he was referring to.  If he was talking about some of the very dark fruited, structured wines from the likes of Prieler and Uwe Schiefer, then certainly his comments raised questions in my mind.  I’d only tasted the wines once, briefly, but I trust my palate on this one; these were wines of merit, not merely pedestrian wines, but wines I would confidently recommend to fans of big, dark-fruited, tannic cabs or malbecs, say.  I can certainly see that they might not suit everyone’s taste, but implying that these wines were not a proper treatment of the blaufrankisch grape would seem far too harsh of an indictment.

I then thought, “why would he write this?”.  His reasoning in his post seemed to focus on the degree to which wines were expressive of their vineyards, so could that be it? Was Mr. Asimov so knowledgeable about blaufrankisch, the variety, or the specific Austrian terroirs in question that he should be telling the winemakers who live and work the land whether the wines they were churning out were properly expressive of the grape and the vineyards they came from?

Perhaps he felt with his post that he was taking a much-needed stand against a burgeoning tide of wines globally that are migrating toward an extracted, oaked, “international” or “modern” (some might say “Parkerized”) style. And I certainly would empathize with that; I myself worry about things like what I’d do if Lopez de Heredia, profiled recently on this site in a video episode, abandoned the traditional Rioja style that I love and went modern like other producers have.  So, expression of terroir is certainly a valid criterion for judging wines. I’d probably even grant to Mr. Asimov, or Terry Theise, or any number of terroir-advocating wine luminaries whom I greatly respect, that it’s the best criterion by which to judge wines.

But it’s certainly not the only valid criterion to judge wines. The exaltation of terroir is a learned behavior among wine geeks. Among laypersons, it would seem to me, the most natural criterion to judge wines is: “does it taste good?”

And on that basis, even the more powerful wines from Prieler, Uwe Schiefer and Umathum do taste good. I take Mr. Asimov at his word that he doesn’t think they taste good, but if those wines don’t fit his stylistic preferences, does that make them improper? Not a valid choice of site or expression by the winemakers?

So, what do you think? Should a wine critic merely judge the wines based on what’s in the glass only? Should he or she also add context, not just about the place where the wine comes from, but also take into account things like where the wine falls in the range from “international-style” to “terroirist” wines?  Should he or she go a step further into being prescriptive, advocating for what the wines should (or should not) be? I can see a time and place for any of these – what do you like to see in wine writing?  -Alan

BLAUFRANKISCH TASTING – New York (1/15/2010)

Warmup white: gruner veltliner

• 2008 Schiefer Grüner Veltliner Tschaterberg – Austria, Burgenland, Südburgenland
  nice fresh and herbal palate

Moric

• 2008 Moric Blaufränkisch – Austria, Burgenland, Mittelburgenland
  Beautiful burg-like nose of earth, mossy funk with gamay-like red fruit. Palate is tannic, savory, interesting. 89ish (89 pts.)
• 2007 Moric (Reserve) – Austria, Burgenland
  Nose is beautiful; again burg-like with earth; palate is richly concentrated, with nice tart acidity underlying the fruit with a red-to-slightly-darker fruit profile 91-92 (91 pts.)
• 2007 Moric Blaufränkisch St. Georgener – Austria, Burgenland, Mittelburgenland
  The bottle I had actually read “Sankt Georgen” but I assume this is the same wine. Nose of red fruits, slight hint of volatile acidity, and a touch of talcum powder. Very pretty. Palate has medium dark fruits and a bit of peppery spice. Nice. 91-92 (92 pts.)
• 2007 M. Jagini Blaufränkisch Zagersdorf – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Very concentrated, dark peppery nose with hint of dirt, rock almost kitty litter funk; similar on palate. Dark brooding style, very primary. (91 pts.)
• 2007 Moric Blaufränkisch Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg – Austria, Burgenland, Mittelburgenland
  Dirt and funk hints on a gentle reticent nose. Palate is smooth, with pepper on the finish. Very juicy fruit, lovely to drink. 93-94. My favorite wine of the tasting. (94 pts.)
• 2007 Moric Blaufränkisch Alte Reben Neckenmarkter – Austria, Burgenland, Mittelburgenland
  Again, funk and dirt on nose. More sweetness on the fruit here. More tannic than the Lutzmannsburg, also quite concentrated. Long finish. 92-93+

A few more whites

• 2008 Muhr-van der Niepoort Grüner Veltliner Pellenkirchen – Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum
  Richer color and nose than the Schiefer gruner. A shade buttery on the palate. 87-88 (87 pts.)
• 2007 Weingut Familie Prieler Pinot Blanc Seeburg – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee Hügelland
  Aged sur lie, stainless steel only- nice balance of unctuousness and acidity. Smooth. (88 pts.)

Paul Achs

• 2007 Paul Achs Pannobile – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  I was told this was chard. 14 mos in French oak. Nose shows the oak strongly, opulent. Palate very buttery, this is young. Pretty fruit underneath though. Hard to tell for sure if this will age, but certainly has similarities to, say, a 1er cru white burgundy. Approachable now if you can handle oak. Paul Achs estimates this has a 10+ years window. (92 pts.)
• 2007 Paul Achs Blaufränkisch Heideboden – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Oak apparent – fruity, bit of spice and oak (older barriques)
• 2008 Paul Achs Blaufränkisch Edelgrund – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Bit of dirt on the nose. Concentrated palate – smooth, balanced 91-92 (91 pts.)
• 2007 Paul Achs Blaufränkisch Ungerberg – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Beautiful nose- this is Achs’ premier vineyard. Tasty fruit here, with sweet tannins, and some oak shows here too. The winemaker recommends to wait 5 years. Tannic but tasty now. 92-93 (92 pts.)
• 2009 Paul Achs Blaufränkisch Altenberg – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Barrel sample – the dark, primary fruit reminds me of a young Barolo – slightly porty estery nose. Palate is dark and tannic; not a lot of spice, more of a fruitier fresher style.

Prieler

• 2007 Weingut Familie Prieler Blaufränkisch Johanneshöhe – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee Hügelland
  Darkish, slightly figgy nose, hint of dirt. Palate also shows dark fruits and tannins. Needs some time, quite structured. (87 pts.)
• 2007 Weingut Familie Prieler Blaufränkisch Leithaberg – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee Hügelland
  Aromatic dark fruits on nose- very concentrated, dark, powerful. Very structured. Nice 92-93. Recommended window begins 5 years from now. (92 pts.)
• 2006 Weingut Familie Prieler Blaufränkisch Goldberg – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee Hügelland
  Produced only in the best years- from a terroir characterized by schist, hot days, and flinty soil. Like the other Prieler wines, this is dark and structured, with sweet tannins setting this apart from the other bottlings. 93-94. (94 pts.)

Uwe Schiefer

• 2008 Uwe Schiefer Blaufränkisch Konisgsberg – Austria, Burgenland, Südburgenland
  Cooler climate flavor here, a bit more herbal. Some pepper, almost syrah-like. (88 pts.)
• 2008 Uwe Schiefer Blaufränkisch Eisenberg – Austria, Burgenland, Südburgenland
  Similarly cool-climate in feel, with a bit more pepper (quite spicy). 88-89 (88 pts.)
• 2007 Uwe Schiefer Blaufränkisch Pala – Austria, Burgenland, Südburgenland
  A bit of kitty litter funk here. Structured palate, dark fruits, tannic. Good length here. (92 pts.)
• 2007 Schiefer Blaufränkisch Szapary – Austria, Burgenland, Südburgenland
  A single vineyard wine of Eisenberg, I was told; very fruity and powerful. So concentrated, with good fruit. Window: 5-8 yrs (93 pts.)
• 2007 Schiefer Blaufränkisch Blaufränkisch “Reihburg” Uwe Schiefer – Austria, Burgenland, Südburgenland
  Bottled just 3 mos. prior – lots of structure here. 40-80 yr old vines. Smoky nose, high quality depth and sweetness to the fruit on the palate. Needs serious time. 10+ years from vintage was the winemaker’s recommended window.
• 2000 Schiefer Blaufränkisch Blaufränkisch “Reihburg” Uwe Schiefer – Austria, Burgenland, Südburgenland
  I was told the winery used more new French oak/high toast back in this vintage. Heavy kitty litter nose. Palate still very young and tannic, not quite as good at the more recent efforts, it seems. (90 pts.)

Muhr-van der Niepoort

• 2007 Muhr-van der Niepoort Syrah Carnuntum – Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum
  Dark fruit nose and a bit of kitty litter stink. Peppery on the palate. (86 pts.)
• 2006 Muhr-van der Niepoort Blaufränkisch Carnuntum – Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum
  Funk similar to what I got on their syrah, with a bit of smoke. Oak apparent on the palate. Some acidity that feels a shade disjointed here. (84 pts.)
• 2007 Muhr-van der Niepoort Blaufränkisch Carnuntum – Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum
  A hotter year than ’06 – yielding a wine that seems more round- I still feel the oak here. Smooth but a bit simple. (87 pts.)
• 2006 Muhr-van der Niepoort Blaufränkisch Spitzerberg – Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum
  Apparently the “top wine” from this producer. Young, round, and mostly smooth (but a bit of tannin here). This is a bit more complex than the rest of the range. 88-89 (88 pts.)
• 2007 Muhr-van der Niepoort Blaufränkisch Spitzerberg – Austria, Niederösterreich, Carnuntum
  Nice, round; fruit here is a bit more pleasing than in the ’06. (90 pts.)

Umathum

• 2008 Umathum Gelber & Roter Traminer – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Interesting – some sweetness, plus a dry chalky edge too.
• 2008 Umathum Blaufränkisch – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Funk on nose; reddish dark fruits on palate. (88 pts.)
• 2007 Umathum Blaufränkisch Joiser Kirschgarten – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Sweetness on the nose and palate – almost candied. Enjoyable if you like it sweet. 91-92 (91 pts.)
• 2006 Umathum Blaufränkisch Joiser Kirschgarten – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  A bit less sweet and more balanced than the 07 right now.
• 2004 Umathum Blaufränkisch Joiser Kirschgarten – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Showing a bit of oxiation on the nose; otherwise, wears its age well. Very concentrated; some oak shows in all of these Kirschgartens. 92-93 (92 pts.)
• 2002 Umathum St. Laurent Vom Stein – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  Lighter style; pretty, aged, sweet fruit on nose.
• 2007 Umathum Blaufränkisch Reighberg – Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee
  I couldn’t find this wine in the CT database or in a Google search so I may have mangled the name somehow. Anyway: bit portier than the Prieler Goldberg, and sweeter.

The wines written about in this post were tasted free of charge at a tasting organized by several importers representing the various producers present, which was open to various members of the wine trade and a limited number of other guests; the tasting I attended was not at a lunch, so this was not the same tasting as that written about by Mr. Asimov.

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