BALLA GÉZA | Stonewine | Blaufränkisch | 2016
blaufränkisch

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The wine we are are going to review today is special and unique in its own way, as this is a single-varietal blaufränkisch wine from the relatively unknown Minis region in Romania – Stonewine Blaufränkisch 2016 by ‘Wine Princess’ Balla Géza. Blaufränkisch is a very old, austrian grape variety – a cross between blauer zimmettraube and weißer heunisch. It was previously widely-planted throughout the Habsburg Monarchy, and is the most important variety in Mittelburgenland, called Blaufränkischland in Austria. Blaufränkisch can yield wines with dense structure and prominent tannins. The wines are often impetuous in their youth, but develop velvety facets when sufficiently ripe. Blaufränkisch shows an almost cabernet sauvignon like ability to adapt to different terroirs and to shows well, both as fruity, high-volume wines and as intense, full bodied, single vineyard examples. It is called limberger in Germany, lemberger in Washington state, franconia in Friuli, gamé in Bulgaria (it was once confused with gamay), kékfrankos in Hungary, burgund mare in Romania, frankovka modrá in Slovakia, modra frankinia in Slovenia and frankovka in Croatia and Czech Republic – internationally also known as the ‘Blue of the Danube‘. The late harvest grapes for this particular wine were sourced from the south-facing slopes of the Minis region, grown on old, rocky and granite soils (hence the name ‘Stonewine‘). The wine has been aged for 24 months in hungarian oak barriques and another 12 months in the bottle before being put on the market. But enough theory – that said and without further ado, let’s take a look at the wine tasting results.
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Take a look at the tasting notes below and our detailed assessment of the wine:

//Visual
colour: deep & opaque garnet
clarity: hazy garnet shades

//Olfactory
intensity: powerful & clean
fruit profile: black fruits
__black fruits: black cherry | black plum | blackcurrant | blackberry
fruit character: overripe & dried

//Flavor
non fruit: spice | oak | earthy | other
__spice: black pepper | cloves | anise
__oak: roasted oakwood | liquorice | tobacco | cigar box | hints of vanilla
__earthy: black soil dust | gravel | compost | black tea
__other: dried black cherry | dried black plum | hints of violets
primary layer: fruit

//Palate
sweetness: dry
acidity: high
alcohol: high
tannin: medium
__grip: ripe
balance: good
__dominant: acidity
body: round & firm | medium+

//Taste
fruit profile: black fruits
fruit character: dried
non fruit: spice & oak
finish: medium+
aftertaste: seedy-crisp

//Scoring
BALLA GÉZA | Stonewine | Blaufränkisch | 2016
variety: blaufränkisch
country: Romania
region: Minis
rating: 93.5

//Conclusion
maturity: in its prime | can age for 2 more years
verdict: great | a must try wine
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This is definitely a great wine of Romania and, with a total of 93.5 points scored, this wine is right there, among the best wines we’ve rated so far. Check our complete database on the wine rating page, where you can find all the wines that we have tasted and reviewed or go to the about us page and find out more about our exquisite rating system.

Verdict: this is a really amazing blaufränkisch wine – fruity-earthy, crisp and grippy – a wine that is right there, at the peak of its prime form, yet one that can withstand another 2 years of bottle ageing. It feels firm, rich and round, with overwhelming acidity, ripe tannins and a touch of alcoholic warmth on the mouthfeel, which leads to a quite seedy and slightly tart finale. On the nose, the wine delivers overripe and dried black fruits in the foreground, supported by a pronounced earthy background and a spicy-oaky layer in between. All in all this is a very well structured wine, rich and very appealing, with a medium+ body and a very pleasant tannic seediness on the palate – definitely a wine that has its own distinctive personality and the footprint of the Minis terroir. This is the wine that made us fell in love with the blaufränkisch variety and the Minis wine-growing region, which was relatively unknown to us before.

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