2017 Moric Blaufränkisch Alte Reben Lutzmannsburg

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 89.5 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View dalelefebvre's profile
  • Report Issue

  7/17/2022 - dalelefebvre wrote:

  Too young, needs to age

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View forceberry's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/4/2022 - forceberry wrote: 89 Points

  100% organically farmed Blaufränkisch from six old (80 to 110 yo) parcels in the village of Lutzmannsburg. The parcels are fermented spontaneously in oak fermentors, all separately, macerated with the skins for approximately three weeks. Aged in predominantly old 500-liter demi-muids for 8 months, then the best barrels are blended together and aged in exclusively old oak barrels for another 12 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 13,5% alcohol.
  
  Deep, somewhat translucent and quite dark cherry red color with a youthful purplish hue. The nose feels somewhat closed and slightly stuffy, not giving much. Aromas of dusty earth, some inky tones, a little bit of savory spices and stewed herbs, light rubbery notes of reduction, a hint of bilberry and a touch of gamey meat. The wine is restrained, rather dry and moderately concentrated on the palate with a full body and focused yet quite reticent flavors of juicy dark berries, some ripe black cherries, a little bit of tart lingonberry, light crunchy notes of crowberries, a hint of sour cherry bitterness and a touch of gamey meat. The structure relies mostly on the acidity that feels surprisingly high for the concentrated, ripe fruit, whereas the tannins come across as lighter and softer than seems typical for Moric Lutzmannsburg. The finish is lively, fresh and gently grippy with long yet somewhat reticent flavors of crunchy crowberries, some sour cherry bitterness, a little bit of tart red plum, light stony mineral tones and a savory hint of meat.
  
  A fresh and crunchy Blaufränkisch that feels quite closed and somewhat reductive at the moment, making the wine come across as a bit underwhelming - especially after a mini-vertical of older Lutzmannsburg vintages. Nevertheless, this vintage felt somewhat different to the others, coming across as surprisingly ripe, concentrated and full-bodied in character, showing a bit more weight than Moric wines usually do, yet the tannins seemed much lighter and softer than what I expected from the Lutzmannsburg bottling, normally perhaps the most tightly-knit label of Moric. Although this contributed to the silky texture of the wine, it didn't make the wine soft in any way, as the acidity was surprisingly high for a wine this ripe and concentrated. All in all, this felt a bit atypical a vintage for a Lutzmannsburg, but showing pretty good potential for the future development. At the moment the wine didn't feel particularly impressive, thanks to its rather reductive nature that didn't really disappear even with aeration - hence I'm not rating the wine as highly as the other vintages of Lutzmannsburg. However, I expect the wine will turn out just fine if given enough time - there's no need to open any bottles within the next 4-7 years. For immediate consumption the wine feels just heavily overpriced, both at the local retail price (94,81€) and the price one can normally find this internationally (approx. 75€).

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View snaff's profile
  • Report Issue

  8/30/2021 - snaff wrote: 90 Points

  Extremely taut and tannic. Bright red berry and cranberry notes. Lots of green herb character. Definitely has complexity lurking but hard to get past the youth. Needs a lot more time in the bottle.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.