#WinePW bloggers are going (wine) geeky with Cam from Culinary Adventures with Cam to kick off 2020, exploring the #Godforsakengrapes. Well, I have a bottle of Blaufränkisch from Austria readily available. Let’s see if this grape is geeky enough to make the #Godforsakengrapes list…
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| Got 2 bottles of Blaufrankisch (5th from the right) out of 35 bottles of mystery wines ordered online |
Jason Wilson is an award-winning journalist and the author of Godforsaken Grapes. I didn’t read this book but as the name of the book suggests, ‘Godforsaken Grapes: A Slightly Tipsy Journey Through the World of Strange, Obscure, and Underappreciated Wine’, the grapes that we feature in this post should be somewhat strange and outside the norm. Well, lucky me, a few hours before this blog is due, I found out Blaufränkisch is in fact listed as one of the 100 Godforsaken Grapes. Also, I spent zero effort in locating this bottle as it was one of the 35 bottles of wines out of two mystery boxes I purchased online in December. Another lucky aspect of this blog is that I already have a book called, ‘Austrian Wine in Depth’, which was a present of Austrian Wine from last year’s VinExpo in New York. I can’t believe the process of hunting down the wine and gathering information for this month’s post was so effortless!
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| Blaufrankisch - Photo Credit: www.austrianwine.com |
Blaufränkisch (pronounced blouw-FRANN-kish) is a red grape grown mainly in Austria, but also in Germany and in New York's Finger Lakes (it is called Lemberger or Limberger there), and Hungary (called Kékfrankos). It is the second most grown red grape by the total in hectares after Zweigelt in Austria.
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| A vineyard in the Burgenland Wine Region - Photo Credit: www.austrianwine.com |
Blaufränkisch was first documented in the 18th century in Austria, back then Germany. This grape is a natural crossing of the Heunisch and the Blaue Zimmettraube grapes. Blaufränkisch has since been used as a crossing grape for Austrian new grape breeds like Zweigelt, Blauburger, Roesler, and Rathay.
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| Burgenland Wine Region (red zone) - Photo Credit: www.austrianwine.com |
Blaufränkisch is found especially in the winegrowing regions of northern, middle and southern Burgenland as well as in eastern Niederösterreich.
The Bruna Weingut 2017 Burgenland Blaufränkisch has pronounced peppery, blackberry, allspice, and dark chocolate notes. While it’s densely structured, the weight is surprisingly medium-bodied. I enjoyed this Blaufränkisch on its own so much that I almost forgot to cook a dish to match this wine until there was only one glass left.
Without brainstorming too long, I saw some chicken legs…let’s roast them in a dry rub - Montreal seasonings and some extra coarse sea salt and see how they pair with the wine. I roasted the legs at 325 degrees for the initial one-hour and then broiled them in high heat for 15 minutes. The meat from the legs fell off the bone, and the skin of the legs was so crispy when all the fat was rendered. The peppery note of this Blaufränkisch really worked well with the charred Montreal seasoning – pepper, dried garlic powder and onion flakes on the leg skin. The dry and crispy skin tastes like a crispy oily cracker without the excessive fat. The allspice and chocolate flavors mingle well with the savory leg meat. Who would have thought that a pairing to a strange wine can be so effortless yet successful!
Check out other bloggers' #Godforsakengrapes posts:
Pinny, thanks for joining the party this month. And thanks for pouring a grape I haven't tried. Love the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting. So organized and it was a brilliant idea to post the list of obscure grapes for easy reference.
DeleteHow nice that you had a bottle of "Godforsaken" wine on hand. It sounds like a lovely pairing.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it - the bottle got shipped to me out of two big boxes. Most of the wines went to teachers and friends. I kept the Bruna hoping it's strange enough for this month's blog and it in fact is.
DeleteI am familiar with Blaufrankisch being from the east coast. It wass interesting to try one from Austria to compare and contrast. Oh, and I love Gruner Ventliner!
ReplyDeleteI have seen Blaufrankisch from Finger Lakes, but never tried it. Glad my first try was a great experience through this Austrian wine.
DeleteI recently discovered blaufrankisch and loved it. Mine had a sweet note to it, so I thought it would pair with teriyaki. Sounds wonderful with chicken legs too. Those chicken legs look so good!
ReplyDeleteThe Bruna blaufrankisch is dry but I totally see teriyaki would go well with it too.
DeleteI've really grown to love Blaufränkisch , partly b/c as you put it, it tends to work so effortlessly. Glad it was so effortless in every other way as well!
ReplyDeleteYes, very easy, breezy, beautiful this time!
DeleteIt's encouraging that you easily found a godforsaken grape. I didn't have any problem either. Goes to show we really can expand our horizons if we want!
ReplyDeleteYes always need to try something new
DeleteYour Blaufränkisch sounds like a great pairing with your dry-rubbed chicken legs (especially with its peppery notes and the Montreal seasoning on the chicken) Cheers!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good match!
DeleteInteresting article and tasty pairing! I'm not sure if I've had this grape from Austria, but I have had Lemberger from NY, didn't know it was the same thing. Thanks!
ReplyDelete