Tim Atkin | Youthful, vigorous purple. Dense, tightly wound nose, compact and still closed. Slightly reductive, but this is a serious wine, made to age for another three to five years. Sweet, brambly fruit, good acidity, with an overlay of sweet oak, firmish tannins, some clove spice, and the and that same touch of reduction. The oak seems less marked on the palate, suggesting older barrels. The emphasis is very much on fruit, with good length and a balanced, tapering finish. Drink over the next five years. | 17

Alex Hunt | Deeply colored, with quite a complex nose, showing a fine balance of fresh black fruit, toasty oak, floral notes, and some sous-bois evolution. The palate is quite marked by acidity, though it shows good depth; there is an impression of focus, though the flavors are actually not that clearly defined. At an adolescent stage, this wine seems to need a bit more time to open out texturally. | 15.5

Stephan Reinhardt | Dark ruby. Intense and elegant aromas of ripe blackberries and cherries and earthy notes; also some hints of leather. All in all, the nose clearly announces a big and powerful wine. Rich and round on the palate, with intense flavors of dark cherries and black forest berries, quite silky tannins, and a very good and fresh length with some mineral undertones. Well balanced, in a rather international style. | 16.5 16.5 Wellanschitz Blaufränkisch Sonnensteig (13.5% ABV) TA | Saturated, dense color. Rich, oaky, and concentrated on the nose, with red fruits, some forest-floor notes, and plenty of sweet, toasty oak. The overall effect could be clumsy, but it’s sustained by acidity and freshness, with attractive Asian spices, a hint of smoky reduction, and good length. Serious wine. | 16.5 AH | A dense color, but more garnet than some, and aromas that are heading resolutely into mature, forest-floor territory, with appealing autumnal fruit (plum, apple) behind, adding an impression of succulence. There is a touch of creamy-caramel sweetness on the palate, but otherwise the aromas carry through. Overall, a wine of delightful harmony. | 16.5 SR | Dark ruby, seemingly more mature than the other 2009s. Quite sweet and rather plummy flavors dominated by chocolate, and nutty but also earthy flavors. Quite alcoholic and very rich to smell. Very chocolaty, powerful, and rich on the palate, too, but also silky and vibrant, with remarkable freshness and minerality. Good aging potential. | 16.5 16 Schiefer Blaufränkisch Reihburg (13.5% ABV) TA | The densest wine of the tasting. Very concentrated. Aromatic, spicy, and slightly reductive, with pepper spice and clove. Fresh acidity, some ginger notes, very mineral, with subtly integrated oak. Good length. Smart wine. Dense and compact and well balanced. | 17 AH | Some sleek black-fruit aromas, but also a distinct rubbery/latex character. Tough, bitter palate—strikingly so, as if Campari had been added. Coherent on its own terms, but a hard-core example. | 14.5 SR | Deep and dark ruby. Leather aromas, slightly reductive, but intense in its dark fruit aromas. Vibrant, grippy, very powerful, yet reductive, extremely ripe fruit flavors, silky, very long and powerful, might have good potential. Still seems very young. | 16.5 Savor Blaufrankisch; Issue 44 - June 2014; World of fine Wine 190 30/05/2014 11:29 THE WORLD OF fine WINE | ISSUE 44 | 2014 | 191 Tim Atkin TA | Alex Hunt AH | Stephan Reinhardt SR laying down: 2009 burgenland blaufrankisch potential to develop in bottle. Lacks a little charm for now. | 14 AH | Initially, lovely freshness and aromatic precision here, with fresh blueberry, apricot, and herb notes. Herbal-vegetal notes start to dominate over time, and the herbal aspect is a little prominent up front, though fruit reemerges on the mid-palate. Fine-grained and keenly textured, but something medicinal and farmyardy (Brett?) is skewing this. | 13 SR | Dark purple. Very reductive on the nose, but also intense and ripe aromas of dark fruits with fascinating earthy flavors, as well as tobacco leaves and black tea. There is a certain purity but the reductive style of this wine demands a lot of patience. Very pure on the palate, silky and elegantly textured, very intense (reminds me of Matassa), with licorice and leather in the long and pure finish. Does not show well now but I am sure this is a wine with a great potential. | 17.5