Heidi Schröck & Söhne Blaufränkisch 2022, Ried Kulm, Burgenland

Vibrant fresh dark cherry and plum fruits with a touch of spicy black pepper, good acidity and a tannin-free finish. A great all-purpose wine but best with white meats; chicken or pork chops.

€28 from Blackrock Cellar; The Corkscrew, Dublin 2; Gibney’s, Malahide; Wineonline.ie

The quality of Blaufränkisch from Austria (as well as neighbouring Hungary, Slovenia and Czech Republic) has been increasing rapidly over the last decade or so. The Ried Kulm is from a single vineyard the oldest of Heidi’s sites, planted her great aunts in 1955. Heidi Schröck was one of the first female winemakers in Austria, “certainly the first one to put it on the label” she tells me. “I didn’t think it was too difficult but looking back now it was not easy. It was physically tough. I had no forklift in 1983. Females in those days were watched very closely. I used to contact any female winemaker around the world I read about and made some life-long pen friends.” In 2001, she was a founder member of Eleven Women and their Wines, a group promoting female wine producers. In 2020, she was joined by her sons Georg and Johannes. Based in Rust on the Neusiedlersee, she makes a wide range of red, white, rosé, sparkling and sweet wines.