2012 Pittnauer Blaufränkisch Rosenberg

Pittnauer

Austria / Burgenland / Pittnauer

Dense and richly fruited but balanced. Meaty with lovely spice. Beautiful spicy, grippy tannins. Fresh acid, long and fine.

September, 2015

Joel B. Payne

Vinous Media

93 points

Inky ruby. Cassis, coconut and herbal spices on the seductive nose. Supple in texture, with charming flavors and silky tannins reminiscent of Pinot Noir. The 2012 Rosenberg is pure elegance, finishing on blackberry and herbal spice flavors complicated by lingering notes of iron and cedar. Some may find the denser, more structured Ungerberg the better of these two Blaufränkisch bottlings, but I value the finesse of the Rosenberg.

May, 2016

Jane Faulkner

Halliday Magazine

93+ points

Rosenberg is a single vineyard and a warmer site, which Blaufränkisch needs to ripen so no problem with the 2012. It's heady, an amalgam of blue fruits, warm earth, almost a daikon-root vegetable character that's very appealing, woodsy spice and menthol. Tannins are ripe, grainy and detailed with zesty, refreshing acidity keeping this just shy of full-bodied. It's incredibly youthful and somewhat shy - needs more time in bottle, but already promising to be an excellent drink.

Standard Bottle Out of Stock

About Pittnauer

It's 20-odd years since Gerhard and Brigitte Pittnauer took over the winery in Gols near Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland, bordering Hungary at the eastern edge of Austria. Over that time they've pushed the boundaries of Austrian red winemaking, in particular with St Laurent and Zweigelt. But then there's the Blaufränkisch and - have you ever tried Burgenland Pinot Noir? You must. In 2001 the construction of the fittingly striking production hall in the middle of the vineyards allowed for a quantum jump in quality and quantity.

About

Pittnauer's wines are elegant, structured, complex and beautifully drinkable - qualities that were highlighted when Gerhard was named 2014 Winemaker of the Year by Falstaff magazine. This, the highest accolade in Austrian wine, shows just how far the Pittnauers have come. It also goes some way to showing what a fiercely gifted individual we have on our hands. But then everything -from the Pitti blend, through the vivid addition-free wines and right up to the devastatingly good single vineyards - will pretty much tell you the same thing.