2019 Moric Blaufränkisch Burgenland 750 ml

Seeing Moric’s Blaufränkisch on a wine list is a sign that the sommelier is committed to offering the finest bottles out there—and has the connections to secure an allocation of this hard-to-find Austrian gem. 

Moric winemaker Roland Velich has a magic touch with the grape, imbuing a variety known for rustic richness with the silkiness and elegance of top Burgundy. His wizardry has made him one of the one of the hottest winemakers in Europe right now, with his bottles featured on wine lists like Eleven Madison Park, LA’s Angler, and Danny Meyer’s Manhatta.

With beautiful aromas of dark fruit, pepper, and violets backed by remarkable freshness and tension, this wine is a thrill to drink—especially from a top vintage like 2019. This edition of the Blaufränkisch was named one of Decanter’s Wines of the Year 2021.

Velich works in Burgenland—an area an hour from Vienna that’s known for rolling green hills, lots of sunshine, and some of the finest red wines in the country—and he’s put together one of the finest collections of vineyards in the region.

This bottling is sourced from organically farmed sites across his holdings. Its grapes come from vines planted on a variety of soils—limestone, volcanic rock, and loam—which all bring different qualities to the wine and build complexity. Once the grapes have been hand-harvested, Velich is careful to let the wine speak for itself. That means native-yeast fermentation and 13 months of aging in large, used-oak barrels to allow the wine to round into form. The result is a Blaufränkisch that, when it arrives in your glass, impresses as much as any Austrian wine.