Blaufränkisch

Blaufränkisch most likely comes from Slovenia. VIVC records Slovenia as its country or region of origin and gives its pedigree, confirmed by markers, as Zimmettraube Blau x Heunisch Weiss (Gouais Blanc). WineWiki's VIVC-derived lineage data list two offspring, Blauburger and Zweigelt, and half-siblings that include Aligoté, Auxerrois and Chardonnay.

• VIVC prime name: Blaufraenkisch; VIVC variety number 1459; country or region of origin: Slovenia
• Pedigree confirmed by markers: Zimmettraube Blau x Heunisch Weiss (Gouais Blanc)
• Offspring: Blauburger and Zweigelt; half-siblings include Aligoté, Auxerrois and Chardonnay

Blaufränkisch has its origins in what is now northeastern Slovenia: a 2016 study conducted in Germany found that it probably did not originate in Germany or Austria. Its presence in Austria is documented from the second half of the 18th century. The name Blaufränkisch was not explicitly documented until 1862, at a fair in Vienna, though the grape is likely centuries older. The name means "blue Franconian": since the Middle Ages, a suite of quality cultivars has been given the description Fränkisch, meaning from Franconia. Philosophies toward producing Blaufränkisch began to shift in the 1970s and 1980s, when wineries began vinifying more premium examples, and more recent producers have turned to site-specific wines guided by more measured hands in the cellar.

• Blaufränkisch is documented in Austria from the second half of the 18th century and made its way to Württemberg in Germany in the 19th century
• Zweigelt, Austria's most planted red grape, is a crossing of St. Laurent and Blaufränkisch achieved by Friedrich Zweigelt in 1922
• Mittelburgenland is known colloquially as Blaufränkischland

Blaufränkisch is cultivated in many regions of Europe, but hardly anywhere else does it have such a strong significance as in Burgenland, Austria's easternmost province. Mittelburgenland is enclosed like an amphitheatre by three mountain ranges, and the Pannonian climate influence dominates on its predominantly loamy soils, which store moisture well. The soils of the Eisenberg in southern Burgenland are ferruginous loam and slate. Leithaberg DAC Blaufränkisch, grown in limestone soils in the foothills of the Leitha Mountains, is lighter, more acidic and more restrained than many Burgenland examples. In Lower Austria, Carnuntum DAC has made important strides with the variety, and Blaufränkisch grown along the Spitzerberg yields some of Carnuntum's most elegant wines. In Germany it is grown almost exclusively in Württemberg, where it is called Lemberger. In North America it is grown in Washington State and in New York, which has become Blaufränkisch's most important American region, with a home in the Finger Lakes.

• Mittelburgenland Blaufränkisch, grown in heavy loam soils, is rounded with a firm core of tannin and among the most powerful and ageworthy Austrian examples
• Some of the spiciest, most savoury Blaufränkisch grows in the comparatively cooler climate and iron-rich schist soils of Eisenberg DAC
• Leithaberg, on the western shore of Lake Neusiedl, is a mountain range that shields the area from the cool and humid currents of the Alpine-Atlantic climate
• In 2023 the German Wine Institute (DWI) counted 1,917 hectares of Lemberger in Germany, 1,757 of them in Württemberg, up from 400 to 500 hectares in the 1980s

Great Blaufränkisch is laden with spice, earth and fresh berry flavours and finds a deceptive power in a taut spine of tannin. Body varies: GuildSomm describes great Blaufränkisch as light to medium bodied, while Decanter's Stephen Brook finds full-bodied wines of richness and weight on Mittelburgenland's rich clay slopes. The grape has high natural acidity, so it has to be picked at good ripeness to avoid astringency. Caroline Gilby MW notes a bright freshness of cherry and cloves or violet that it keeps even when blended with a big Cabernet. It has a marked ability to communicate its site.

• Typical wines are lively, fruity and sometimes peppery
• The best Burgenland examples have sufficient substance to be worth oak ageing
• Winegrowers are quick to liken Blaufränkisch to Pinot Noir
• German Lemberger can be greener and more herbaceous than Burgenland Blaufränkisch, with tighter, more angular tannins that benefit from either age or air

In the 1990s, Blaufränkisch in Burgenland got bolder, with more extractive examples heavily influenced by new oak and sometimes blended with Bordeaux varieties. The more recent crop of producers, epitomised by Roland Velich's wines at Moric, has swung the pendulum back toward site-specific wines guided by more measured hands in the cellar. Lighter versions are aged in casks or tanks to preserve the primary aromas and fruit, while Blaufränkisch is also often aged in barriques.

• In the 1990s it was fashionable in Burgenland to use as much new oak as possible

In GuildSomm's account, Roland Velich, owner and winemaker of Moric in Burgenland, has been a leader in establishing Blaufränkisch as a variety of the highest calibre since Moric's inaugural 2001 vintage. Weninger is among several producers that own vineyards on both sides of the border between Burgenland and Hungary's Sopron. Weingut Gesellmann makes Mittelburgenland Blaufränkisch. In Südburgenland, the efforts of Hermann Krutzler in the 1970s and 1980s helped tie the area to Blaufränkisch, and his son Reinhold Krutzler is one of the protagonists on the Eisenberg. Stephen Brook's Südburgenland picks for Decanter are Krutzler and Schiefer. In Carnuntum, Dorli Muhr, owner of Weingut Dorli Muhr, is a key voice on Blaufränkisch, and GuildSomm calls her Ried Spitzerberg Obere Roterd a benchmark for the variety.

• Moric's Lutzmannsburg Alte Reben comes from 80- to 100-year-old vines; GuildSomm calls it "a resounding testimony to Blaufränkisch's potential for making world-class wines"
• Weninger owns vineyards on both sides of the border, in Burgenland and in Hungary's Sopron

Great Blaufränkisch is cellar worthy. A concentrated, sensitively oaked Blaufränkisch is a wine of character, complexity and staying power. In Mittelburgenland, Blaufränkisch grown in heavy loam soils is among the most powerful and ageworthy of Austrian examples.

• In Germany, a sufficient acid structure, extracts and tannins make the slightly dry Lemberger last for a long time
• Lighter cask- or tank-aged versions make refreshing, zesty reds for relatively early consumption

Primary sources: https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=1459 ; https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/grape-varieties/grape-variety/89/lemberger Reference sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/grape-varieties/red/blaufrankisch ; https://www.guildsomm.com/public_content/features/articles/b/bryce-wiatrak/posts/blaufrankisch-central-europe-promise ; https://magazine.wein.plus/terroir-and-landscapes-in-burgenland-at-the-centre-of-the-blaufraenkisch-universe ; https://www.decanter.com/features/undervalued-wine-regions-268132/6/ Last verified 2026-10-19