Burgenland Blaufrankisch Bonanza!

In conjunction with our annual allocation of Preisinger's cult pet nat DOPE, we'll be offering a rose and still red from a different producer farther south in Mittlelburgenland who are Blaufrankisch specialists, the Strehns. A great opportunity to compare Blaufrankisch expressions from the north and middle of Burgenland.

For those who aren't familiar, Claus Preisinger is one of the rockstars of Burgenland's natural wine movement who also has obtained several accolades and top scores from wine publications since being accepted into the renowned “Pannobile” association of wineries. Certified biodynamic, he makes several cult wines as well as more widely available expressions of Northern Burgenland Blaufrankish, Zweigelt, Pinot Noir, St. Laurent, Gruner and PInot Blanc. He only uses natural yeasts, ages his wines in large amphorae and uses no or minimal sulphur. Yet his wines are always clean and pure, not always the easiest balancing act in natural wine.

HIs Blaufrankisch Pet Nat DOPE always sells out, so grab a bottle as we have only been allocated 1 case! LIMIT 2 BOTTLES PER PERSON

Mittelburgenland, also called the Blaufränkischland, is farther south below the Hungarian outcroping of SOPRON into Burgenland below the southern shore of Lake Neusiedl. The terrain changes into massive rolling hills sloping towards the Hungarian border and has a significant diversity of soil types: heavy loam soils, loess, gravel, limestone and even chalk. Blaufränkisch vines thrive in this terroir where the diverse soil types imbue the wines with minerality and structure, fruit concentration and varietal character.

Here we find the Strehn winery up in the northeast corner. a hop skip away from Hungary. The winery was founded in the 50s and the most recent 3 children run it together with their mother. Patrick is the winemaker,  Pia manages the 50 hectare estate and the youngest, Andreas, is in charge of the vineyards. They recently converted to organic and plan to be certified biodynamic in the near future. The wines are spontaneously fermented and aged in Austrian and Hungarian oak.

The Strehns specialize in Blaufrankisch and  have an unusually extensive Blaufrankisch rose production with multiple cuvees (most don't make it stateside).  Pia fell in love with roses when living in Provence for a language program as a teen and spent the next 10 years tasting, with her mother, as many different roses as possible. Many cuvees later, they hit on the right formula; as Pia puts it so eloquently:

The "elephant in the china shop" was born. He trampled into our lives and turned everything inside out. The proportion of rosé in our winery is now 60%, which is kind of crazy ?? !!! So what's up with the elephants? Our design has won two 2 Red Dot Design Awards. The label shows the topographical lines deformed into animal silhouettes to communicate
the character. When choosing the animal silhouette for Rosé, we were undecided at first...?
That's when it occurred to us that elephants with their trunks raised are the oldest symbols of luck and wisdom and that we finally found our great fortune in rosé... All I want is world peace - and Blaufränkisch Rosé!

Rounding out the Burgenland Blaufrankisch trifecta is the last of Strehn's 2016 Mittelburgenland Reserve; showing just how elegant, structured, powerful and complex wines from this grape and region can be. Priced to move so grab a couple!

GISELLE HAMBURG

ALL WINES ARE PREARRIVAL AND WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PICKUP TUESDAY 9/27 AND FOR SHIPPING WEDNESDAY 9/28