Iby Blaufränkisch 2002

Hochäcker, Bergenland

www.iby.at

Intro:

When I read about this WBW’s topic, I immediately thought of a strange wonderful wine from one of my favorite Russian River Valley wineries, Acorn. http://www.acornwinery.com . They called it Blue Portugese, and only made a couple of barrels of it, and only for a few years. They made this wine with grapes from their own few vines (3 remain) and their neighbor, Saralee Kunke who had 17 vines. She since pulled out all of hers so there is not enough to sell. Bill Nachbaur at Acorn told me that this grape was different than Blaufrankish, but I’ve seen some others say it is. The principal region for this grape in the U.S., is Washington State, where it is known as Lemberger. Alas, my brother still has a couple of bottles of the Acorn, but I couldn’t get to any to taste. Perhaps as an epilogue...

I, like Alder from www.vinography.com looked for something that I hadn’t tried before, and turned to the Germanic world. I have become a fan of Austrian whites, but haven’t ever had any of the reds, so I read up in Karen MacNeil’s Wine Bible, and found a few producers in Bergenland to look for on the web . Her recommendations are:

Ernst Triebaumer

Gesselmann

Hans Iby

Hans Nittnaus

Hermann Krutzler

Umathum

I eventually found some good ones over at K&L in San Francisco.

Tasting Notes:

Pretty astounding color, like a syrah. I fully expected something with less body and lighter color. This shows nice clove and blackberry, bright cherry. The wine is very full on the palate, and a lot like a nice blended Cote du Rhone. Wild blueberries and herbs round out the flavor. It is not for the unadventurous, though, as it really has a different kind of spice to it than say, a nice zinfandel. I paired this with a nice burger and it had great acidity to cut through the natural fats in the meat. I would recommend this, especially for the $12.00 US I paid for it at K&L in San Francisco.

Misc. Web Research: (Click on the image above to be taken to the Austrian page of Weimax in Burlingame)

Blaufränkisch has often been confused with Gamay, but it was probably brought from Hungary as opposed to France. The wines tend to be light in body, though certainly fuller than most Gamays. As with many Austrian reds the use of new oak barrels is not uncommon, and the ripe raspberry qualities of the grape tend to incorporate the spice of the wood in an attractive way. Blaufränkisch also tends to be lighter in tannin and quite accessible upon release. As for Saint Laurent, the Austrians tend to think that it is a member of the Pinot family, and its characteristics lend some credence to this theory. Indeed, Saint Laurents, like Pinot Noirs, are lighter in body, with ethereal, heady, and exotic bouquets. Though tricky to grow, successful examples are consistently among the finest Austrian reds.

Best Producers:

http://www.tastings.com/insiders_club/best_producers.lasso?na=Austria&ty=Austrian%20Red%20Wines

From K&L:

The Iby wine estate has been growing wine in the town of Horitschon, located in the Austrian wine region of Mittelburgenland, since the beginning of the 20th century. They cultivate exclusively red wine varieties on their 20 hectares of vineyards. By severely pruning their vineyards during the growing season, they produce wines that are rich, harmonious, with exceptional fullness and concentration. Mittelburgenland, in the center of the Austrian wine region, extends to the Hungarian border and is sheltered by hills. This area is well known for red wine grapes, which comprise 70% of the total grapes planted. Iby is a member of the Verband Blaufrankischland, a group of winemakers dedicated to extracting maximum quality from the Eastern European grape, Blaufränkisch.The wine shows wonderful aromas of Bing cherries, red berry fruit, smoke and spice. The palate shows more cherries with black berries and a hint of vanilla and the finish is long and rich. Although dry, the lovely fruitiness and soft, ripe tannins, make this just a pleasure to drink. Drink now and over the next 5-10 years.