Schiefer matured his 2007 Blaufrankisch Konisberg in a new 3,100 liter cask (meaning that there was around five and a half times more of it than of the 2006) and bottled it already last summer, because he was bereft of wine to sell. It includes some estate fruit, and some from the Eisenberg. Ripe cherry with bitter cherry pit and smoke accents in the nose, in turn inform a cool-fruited but ripe palate, with subtly stony and spicy notes that carry into a bright, sappy finish. This may well pick up some further nuance with time in bottle but, as things stand, offers an excellent introduction to Schiefer’s style of Blaufrankisch, perfect for enjoying over the next 2-3 years. The rest of Schiefer’s 2007s were highly promising, if backward, from barrel last summer. I wrote extensively in issue 177 about Uwe Schiefer and his remarkable and distinctive Blaufrankisch from the once-famous Eisenberg area on the Hungarian border in South Burgenland. His 2006 collection almost certainly represents the best of his eight to date, hence some of the most exciting red wine ever produced in Austria. Despite his relatively brief history, Schiefer’s conception of Blaufrankisch as a wine with site-sensitivity and finesse comparable, and best handled in a manner akin to that of Burgundian Pinot Noir and not a wine of, as he puts it, “tannin and power,” or one best marked by small toasty barrels, has begun to resonate within Austria, not least in the exciting Moric wines of Roland Velich (the 2006s of which are reviewed in this report).Importer: Weygandt-Metzler Importing, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800