18 March 2022 / Sue Tolson
If you fancy a glass of vibrant, spicy red wine, then you should set your sights on Kékfrankos. So let’s find out a little about the variety. Hungary’s most widely grown variety is black variety Kékfrankos, known across the border in Austrian Burgenland as Blaufränkisch as well as a myriad of other names throughout Central Europe. Hungary actually has more of the variety under vine than neighbouring Austria; however, many people outside Hungary will know the variety under its Austrian name. Yet Burgenland and the Sopron Wine District are essentially the same terroir, and once belonged together, the climate tempered by shallow Lake Fertő (Neusiedlersee, as it is known in Austria). Sopron effectively juts into Austria and is known not only as the loyal city as it decided in a referendum to stay in Hungary, but also as the ‘Capital of Kékfrankos’ as the Sopron Wine District boasts the biggest swathes of Kékfrankos in the world.
As with many grape varieties, its origins are not completely known, but it seems most likely to have originated in Lower Styria, now part of Slovenia. The first mention of Kékfrankos in Hungary was in 1890, as Napoleon’s soldiers paid the Sopron winemakers for their wine with the more valuable ‘blue franks’, and it seems that most Central European names for the variety are somehow related to ‘blue’ and ‘frank’, although it is known as Lembrger in Germany, where it was first mentioned. The variety was also commonly mistaken for Gamay Noir and Pinot Noir, so boasted another name ‘Nagyburgundi’, meaning ‘great Burgundy’.
Hungary’s most widely planted variety, with almost 8,000 hectares; indeed, nearly half the world’s Kékfrankos is found in Hungary. It’s planted pretty much everywhere in the country, except for white strongholds like Tokaj, Badacsony and Somló. However, it’s most important in Sopron, Szekszárd and Eger, although it is also planted in large quantities in the Kunság. And, of course, it’s the backbone of Hungary’s most popular blend, Bikavér, from both the Eger and Szekszárd Wine Districts. Moreover, Kékfrankos is one of the mainstays of Hungarian rosés, either alone or blended with other varieties. Kékfrankos is a pretty flexible variety. In the past, it produced lots of cheap and cheerful wines sold on tap across the country but now winemakers are getting to grips with its qualities, and high-quality, elegant, balanced wines are being crafted with fresh acidity and prominent yet velvety tannins that become supple with age. They generally boast appealing, crunchy black and red cherry and raspberry fruit and have a spicy kick, sometimes even a lovely floral, violet note. Kékfrankos comes in range of styles from light, fruit-forward wines with medium tannins to more full-bodied wines spending 6-12 months in Hungarian oak.
It's also a great reflector of the characteristics of its terroir, so Kékfrankos will be quite different in style depending on where it’s planted. It needs warm conditions to fully ripen, so thrives in Szekszárd and Villány, producing structured yet elegant, playful wines. The Szekszárd winemakers take it pretty seriously and it’s one of their three flagship wines, along with Kadarka and Bikavér, while in Villány, it’s often used as part of Hungarian style Bordeaux blends, along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Cool-climate versions in Sopron, Eger and Mátra are also increasingly coming the fore with high acidity, concentrated fruit, silky tannins and fresh raspberry and violet aromas. Even the mini Tihany peninsula sticking out into the Balaton is making some great Kékfrankos, where its volcanic soils yield fresh, mineral reds. The more quantity-oriented Kunság Wine District produces light, fresh, fruity reds as well as eminently quaffable rosés. Kékfrankos is also a parent as it was crossed with St Laurent to produce Zweigelt and Portugieser to produce Blauburger.
So, while Kékfrankos is Hungary’s favourite black grape, Olaszrizling is probably its most popular white. Although it’s not the most widely planted white, that title goes to Bianca (which often ends up in blends), and it often also vies for second place with Cserszegi Fűszeres, Olaszrizling has to be Hungary’s everyday white. It’s grown pretty much everywhere except Tokaj. So it’s a variety you really have to try.
It may well be the typical house white of many Hungarian eateries and often used as a basis for Hungarian wine spritzer, fröccs, but it is actually a pretty flexible variety that can be used to produce many styles. It can make sparkling, light and fruity, oaked and more full-bodied and even botrytised sweet wines. However, in Hungary, it’s most typically found as a dry still wine in varying levels of quality.
It's found all over Central Europe and the Carpathian Basin with a wide variety of names. Although it’s called Rizling, it has nothing to do with Riesling and its prefix ‘olasz’, meaning Italian, also says little about its roots. The Austrian name Welschriesling distinguishes this ‘foreign’ Riesling from Rhine Riesling, while Croatia, the variety’s real stronghold with 5,000 hectares calls it Graševina, which seems to have become the internationally accepted name. The Hungarians tried to remove this confusion a few years ago, by giving it a new name – Nemes, Oris and Mandula were the options – but this never took off, so Olaszrizling it remains.
There are 3,800 hectares in Hungary, most of which are around Lake Balaton, where it dominates the vineyards on the northern shore, especially in Balatonfüred-Csopak Wine District, which boasts its own PDO and the Csopak Codex quality classification, which is essentially only Olaszrizling but can contain up to 15% Furmint. We could say it’s Lake Balaton’s wine, drunk around the lake, neat or in fröccs, by holidaymakers, simple and quaffable. However, as the local winemakers have decided to make it their grape, they are trying to improve the quality and give it a better image. As it can produce different quality levels – from easy-drinking quaffable wines to more serious terroir-driven wines, that’s what they’ve decided to do. They’ve created a uniform, entry-level brand that can be produced by anyone around the lake (if it meets certain requirements and passes a tasting panel) called BalatonBor. Then there are wines coming from individual ‘hills’, as wines were sold in the past, particularly in Badacsony where there are lots of individual volcanic hills. And finally, single vineyard hills that can really show Olaszrizling’s talents. The volcanic basalt hills of Somló and Badacsony produce wines with great depth, but its spiritual home is further along the shore in Csopak.
You’ll find wines from this often maligned quite neutral variety in very diverse styles – from light fresh, crisp citrus wines to oily-textured, full-bodied wines with saline mineral notes and soft acidity. You’ll find aromas of peach and mandarin, almond, almond blossom and green apple. And, as previously mentioned, it can also yield rich, terroir-driven, refined single-vineyard dry whites, particularly from Csopak, Badacsony and Somló. So watch out, Olaszrizling is not always as simple as you might expect!
