I can’t resist it when one of my producers comes up with a new Euro variety with a 13-letter name. I went to Jancis’ Wine Grapes to get a sense of what I was drinking:
Dark-skinned, dark-fruited Austro-Hungarian variety increasingly well grown and vinified, gaining ground.
My note: Dark ruby red. More expressive on the palate than the nose. 12.25% alcohol. Lush mouthfeel. Black cherries highlight a deep and pure palate impression. Lingering aftertaste. No real idea how this variety might age, but this is a very distinctive and attractive wine.
Simultaneously rich and light on its feet. Pax is one of the trail-blazers out there who doesn’t get enough credit. I encourage folks to give this one a try.
Mine arrive Friday. The grape is not new to fans of Austrian wine. It also goes by the name Lemberger, and has shown up here and there in the new world.
You’re very late to the game, Mike. Ken Volk first started making Blaufränkisch when he was at Wild Horse years ago, and they have produced one since the early 2000’s if not earlier. Ken has made some under his own label too. He’s the true trailblazer.
The vines that this come from were planted in the 70’s as well. Whoever planted them was certainly channeling his California antecedents from a century before who were planting just about anything to see if it worked it California.
And Pax is the bomb. His wines are usually stupid good, and even when not they are thought provoking and interesting.
Thanks for the preview. Missed out on the 2010, which sold out in a couple of hours if IIRC, so jumped on my two 2012’s this time. Good thing, as I notice they are sold out again. Shipping notice indicates they’ll be here tomorrow, but will probably hold off a couple of weeks and try one around Thanksgiving.
Well…my WindGap Blaufrankisch arrived early ystrday afternoon but I, unlike others , had the patience & self-control not to crack one open already.
And, then, a few hrs later my Forlorn-Hopes arrived w/ a btl of the StLaurent. Should be an interesting comparison. Along w/ Jed’s
ShootingStar BlauFrank. That label is always so interesting. It always has someone’s slightly obscured visage in it. Don’t recognize the
current one. One of the early ones had DougNalle’s mug on it.
You used to see a fair number of Lembergers from up in WashState, but don’t seem to see as many nowadays. I particularly liked
the one JimHolmes made. They always reminded me more of ripe Calif Zin/RRV than Austrian Blaufrankisch.
Tom
What surprises me about this wine is the accessability. I think it has something for both the wine geek and novice. Sould work well with savory food and as a stand alone.
Questions: How does this variety age? Is the Wind Gap version representative? Hat’s off to you early adopters. Not sure how I missed this.
Regarding aging: in Austria these are early drinkers, a huge percentage of the reds and every white I saw were under screwcap if that’s any indication.
You are not looking in the right places. Whilst the Austrians do prefer to drink their reds at a younger age, Blaufrankisch can go for years in a cellar and tend to evolve much like Barolos.
Mine lasted the length time it took to grab a corkscrew after the truck dropped it off!
As Morgan mentioned, this wine comes from an exceptionally fine, very prime old vineyard. Pax makes miniscule quantities of this wine - if I had known what I was ordering, I would have taken more (I forgot what my allocation was). As it is, I’ll try and give my final bottle at least a couple of years to develop.
Whenever I’m in Washington I pick up a couple bottles of Kiona’s Lemberger. Pretty good stuff at only about $10 a bottle and available widely at most grocery stores in Seattle.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
, had the patience & self-control not to crack one open already.