Prieler
Blaufränkisch
Leithaberg 2016
Burgenland, Austria

$65.00

Fruit

Earth

Body

Tannin

Acid

Alcohol

Style: Red: Deep, dark and dense with savoury spice.

Producer: Prieler

Region: Leithaberg DAC, Burgenland, Austria

Grape: Blaufränkisch 100%

Vintage: 2016

Soil: Mica-schist & marine limestone soil

Farming: Organic

Oak: Combination of small barrels & large, old oak

Alcohol: 13.5%

Glassware: Burgundy stem

Decant: 30 minutes before serving

Serving Temperature: 16 – 18°C

The Wine: A very impressive wine. Leithaberg comes from the Ried Pratsche on the hill that rises directly behind Oggau from where you have a view over the reed belt to Lake Neusiedl. Deep dense and dark on the nose – concentration is the thing that first grabs your attention. With time in the glass the fruit unravels. There is baked plum, black cherry and mulberry working alongside mocha, coffee, chocolate, vanilla and black pepper. The palate is mouth-filling with some power. Again the density is a feature. A fresh line of acidity is very welcome, as is the intense lingering flavour. Sebastian Crowther MS

Producer Profile

The Prieler estate, in Schützen on the western side of the Lake Neusiedl, is a historic old farm, once dedicated to many types of agriculture but now specializing in grape growing. Two generations of the Prieler family now run the estate: Engelbert and Irmgard, who in 1972 focused the estate on quality production of several grape varieties, mainly blaufränkisch and Burgundian varieties. Their son, Georg, now heads the estate and continues working to best express the unique terroir of the Leithagebirge.
Prieler’s 20 hectares are currently cultivated in vineyards between the Leithagebirge, the last outpost of the eastern Alps that protect the vines from the western winds, and the Lake Neusiedl, which tempers the hot climate of the Pannonian plain. Soils vary dramatically in this area around the Schützen Stein. Seeberg vineyard contain fossil bearing limestone and are best suited, to Prieler’s outstanding Pinot Blanc. The iron-rich, brown loam of the Johanneshöhe on the slopes of the Leithaberg produces delicious blaufränkisch, while the Goldberg vineyard, filled with ‘glimmerschiefer’, or mica-schist, flecked with gold, produces one of the most important, world-class wines in all of Austria.
Prieler’s meticulous work in the vineyard and in the cellar has earned them awards from Falstaff Magazine (2009 “Vintner of the Year”), Vinaria Magazine (“Best wines of Austria” 2012/2013) and was among Jancis Robinson’s top picks for Austrian red wines. Peter Moser, editor-in-chief of Falstaff wrote, “We were extremely impressed by the Prieler family’s high standards in all wine categories and by their sensitive approach to the specific properties of the respective types of vine and the selection of just the right terroir.”