Red grape variety
Blaufränkisch
Central Europe’s finest red variety: peppery, high-acid and structured, with genuine ageing potential.
What is Blaufränkisch?
Blaufränkisch is frequently described as central Europe’s answer to Syrah — peppery, dark-fruited and structured — but with markedly higher acidity and a sour-cherry edge that is entirely its own.
Austrian Mittelburgenland and the Leithaberg produce the benchmark examples, and quality has risen sharply since the 1990s.
As Kékfrankos it is Hungary’s most planted red variety, and as Lemberger it appears in Germany and in Washington State.
A natural crossing of Gouais Blanc and an unidentified variety, arising in central Europe.
The Vitis International Variety Catalogue, maintained by the Julius Kühn Institute, holds this variety as accession 1459 under the prime name BLAUFRAENKISCH, with berry skin colour noir and country of origin slovenia, and the pedigree "ZIMMETTRAUBE BLAU X HEUNISCH WEISS". 115 synonyms are recorded. Checked 2026-08-17.
What it tastes like
This is the envelope across every expression of Blaufränkisch, not a description of one bottle. Wide ranges are the honest answer.
| Dimension | Typical | Range | Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweetness | low | Consistent | |
| Acidity | high | Some variation | |
| Tannin | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Alcohol | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Body | medium | Some variation | |
| Fruit intensity | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Aromatic intensity | medium | Consistent | |
| Oak influence | medium | Highly variable | |
| Savoury character | medium | Some variation | |
| Floral character | low | Consistent | |
| Herbal / green character | low | Consistent | |
| Spice | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Earthy character | medium | Some variation | |
| Perceived freshness | medium-plus | Some variation | |
| Texture | medium | Some variation |
Common flavours
Wines made from it
The same grape in different places and different hands. These are where the wide ranges above resolve into something specific.
Medium-bodied dry red
The middle of the red-wine spectrum: enough structure for food, not so much that it dominates. The most versatile red category.
Austria
Blaufränkisch
Central Europe’s finest red: peppery, high-acid and structured, with sour cherry fruit and real ageing potential.
Hungary
Egri Bikavér
Hungary’s "Bull’s Blood": a blended red from Eger, now governed by rules requiring a minimum number of varieties.
Where it grows
- Leithaberg — Austria
- Mittelburgenland — Austria
- Burgenland — Austria
- Eger — Hungary
- Villány — Hungary
- Württemberg — Germany
If you like Blaufränkisch, try…
Every suggestion says why it is connected and what will be different.
Closest matches
What is most like this?
Syrah
Shared black pepper, dark fruit and savoury structure.
Fuller and riper, with softer acidity.
Blaufränkisch
Both are made from blaufränkisch, and the structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin, both come from the same country.
Cabernet Franc
Comparable acidity, graphite minerality and medium body.
Leafier and lighter in tannin.
Similar but lighter
Something like this, but lighter?
Valpolicella
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin.
Expect it to be less tannic and softer, and less spicy.
País
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin.
Expect it to be less tannic and softer, and less spicy.
English still Pinot Noir
They occupy similar territory for weight and structure.
Expect it to be less tannic and softer, and lighter.
Similar but lower in alcohol
Something like this, but less alcoholic?
Red Burgundy
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin.
Expect it to be more floral, and less tannic and softer.
Mondeuse Noire
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin.
Expect it to be less oaky, and cleaner and more fruit-focused.
Cru Beaujolais
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin.
Expect it to be less spicy, and more floral.
Similar but fuller
Something like this, but richer?
Syrah
Shared black pepper, dark fruit and savoury structure.
Fuller and riper, with softer acidity.
Fetească Neagră
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin.
Expect it to be softer and rounder, and broader and softer.
Mavrud
The structural profile is close across body, acidity and tannin.
Expect it to be softer and rounder, and broader and softer.
What to eat with it
Ranked by WineHQ's pairing engine, which reasons from the structure of the dish.
Fillet steak
Works because the finished dish, not the raw ingredient, sets the target.
Grilled chicken
Works because ripe fruit balances the bitterness of char and smoke.
Goat cheese
Works because the dish is acidic, and a lower-acid wine would taste flat beside it.
Hummus
Works because the dish is acidic, and a lower-acid wine would taste flat beside it.
Turkey
Works because the finished dish, not the raw ingredient, sets the target.
Vegetarian dishes
Works because the dish is acidic, and a lower-acid wine would taste flat beside it.
What to avoid with it
Dishes the pairing engine scores badly, and the principle that explains why. A short list: most things are fine.
How to serve it
Temperature
14–16°C
57–61°F · Cellar cool
Most modern rooms are warmer than this. Twenty to thirty minutes in the fridge before serving usually gets a red into range.
Decanting
Worth decanting
Young, firmly tannic wine often softens noticeably with an hour of air — the most reliable case for decanting.
Glass
Burgundy bowl
A wide bowl gives a delicate, aromatic red more surface area to release aroma, and directs it to the nose from a wider rim.
Ageing
Structured wines made from this grape commonly improve with age, though everyday bottlings do not.
Good Blaufränkisch from Mittelburgenland and Leithaberg ages for ten to fifteen years, softening its firm tannin and high acidity into something savoury and peppery. It is the Austrian red most often compared with Syrah for structure and with Pinot Noir for weight, and both comparisons say something about how it develops.
Family tree
Established by DNA analysis. Ampelography alone could not have found these relationships.
Parents
Offspring
Compare
- Blaufränkisch vs Syrah — Peppery, savoury, dark-fruited reds with firm acidity — the comparison most often used to explain Austrian red wine to someone who drinks northern Rhône.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) — Julius Kühn-Institut, Institute for Grapevine Breeding Geilweilerhof
- Austrian Wine Marketing Board — Österreich Wein Marketing