2006 Blaufrankisch Reihburg

From a single site with old vines on the Eisenberg Schiefer’s 2006 Blaufrankisch Reihburg (which was brought in the third week October, finished at 13.6% alcohol, and of which there are 7,200 bottles – a sizeable yield for him) is fermented and matured in the same manner as his Szapary (which comes from higher, steeper slopes), except for a much higher percentage of new wood. Machine oil, wood smoke, and ripe black fruit fruits in the nose introduce a wine with terrific and uncanny balance between vivacity, brightness and fresh fruit on the one hand and a creamy, soothingly-rich texture, high glycerin and sheer ripeness of flavor on the other. Rich and piquant, with chestnut puree, mocha, walnut oil, mulberry and blackberry saturating the palate, the wines notes of peat, black tea, iodine, pepper, and crushed stone suggest a depth of mysterious mineral mass that can keep you shaking your head in wonder over your glass for hours, or off and on for a decade or more. I wrote extensively in issue 177 about Uwe Schiefer and his remarkable and distinctive Blaufrankisch from the once-famous Eisenberg area on the Hungarian border in South Burgenland. His 2006 collection almost certainly represents the best of his eight to date, hence some of the most exciting red wine ever produced in Austria. Despite his relatively brief history, Schiefer’s conception of Blaufrankisch as a wine with site-sensitivity and finesse comparable, and best handled in a manner akin to that of Burgundian Pinot Noir and not a wine of, as he puts it, “tannin and power,” or one best marked by small toasty barrels, has begun to resonate within Austria, not least in the exciting Moric wines of Roland Velich (the 2006s of which are reviewed in this report). Importer: Weygandt-Metzler Importing, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800