No Blaufränkisch this time, but a Cabernet Franc from one of my most favourite Blaufränkisch producers. I am of course talking about Frettner from Weingut Weninger! The wine comes from his Hungarian vineyards near the town of Sopron. Here the soil consists of brown earth with deposits of alpine bed rock and limestone. After spontaneous fermentation, the wine was then aged for two years in large oak barrels.
After opening, I decided that the wine needed some air, so into the decanter it went for about 1 1/2 hours. It then presented itself with crunchy red fruit, think of cherries and raspberries, hints of brambles followed as well. Typical for Cabernet Franc, the savouriness soon came in full force. Here I smelled notes of grilled jalapenos, black pepper, wet earth and black tea. On the way out, notes of barnyard funk and crushed stones joined the fray.
The palate keeps following the pattern of the nose, juicy red fruit at first, soon followed by savoury and spicy aromas. Fresh acidity adds drinkability and the tannins add a fine structure. A finish of great length and character brings the wine to an end, showing notes of cured meat, grilled red peppers, black tea and elderberry.
Big fan of this wine, the tension between the red fruit and savoury/spicy notes is addictive. You can also clearly see Weningers handwriting here, as the wine shows the same tension and finesse that I love in his wines from the Blaufränkisch varietal.
by an_empty_sad_bottle
1 Comment
popped open Weninger’s Trilogie (red blend) the other week & really impressed how savory & spicy a Cab-dominated bottle could be. It has finesse but flavor too, which can be lacking in a lot of natural-style glou-glou reds. I’ll have to search out other wines of the domaine.