RoterfadenLemberger Endschliefe (750ml)

German Blaufränkisch? Hell yes. Grapes don’t recognize our silly political borders; if the vine is healthy, then the vine is at home. 

Olympia and Hannes are Roterfaden. They started in 2014 with half a hectare of Lemberger from a parcel planted by Hannes’ grandfather. They have now grown to about four hectares while working organic and certified Bio-dynamic, making their own teas and extracts. Everything is done by hand; the vineyards are beautiful, stunning even, an ancient, terraced amphitheater surrounding a tiny village. I don’t know how else to describe it.

While the world chases the 263 bottles that Cornas produces each year, we have in certain parts of Württemberg sinewy, nervy reds perfumed of game and flower. The best are clear, beautiful and primal, sometimes a touch brutal in structure, yet also elegant in mineral honesty and clarity. Oh, and this Swabian Cornas trades at 10 percent the tariff of Cornas-Cornas. No one seems to care, not yet at least. Compared to the northern outpost of Württemberg, Austrian Blaufränkisch feel unapologetically fruity, lavish, expansive and heady. 

In the Teutonic analogy I’m weaving here, Württemberg is something like the Northern Rhône and Austria is the Southern Rhône. Sure, this analogy is a bit nuts, but it’s also a bit true.