Black Friday: Save 20% on Annual memberships for a limited time! Join now

Der rote Faden – Burgenland's Blaufränkisch

A bunch of ripe Blaufränkisch, photographed by Steve Haider

The cool beauty of Austria’s most championed red.

As Jancis points out in Blaufränkisch goes uphill, regionality and appellations are a lively topic of discussion in Austrian wine circles these days – particularly in Burgenland. There, on the far eastern edge of the Hungarian Plain, the red grape Blaufränkisch is king.  

Blaufränkisch is a grape of promise, poise and, perhaps above all else, potential, more than capable of securing its place in the noble grape canon, even if for many it is Not. Quite. There. Burgenland’s continental Pannonian climate, steep, barren slopes and mineral-rich soils, however, deliver expressions...