This wine is showing its age well. There's blueberry, sour cherries, plum, and orange zest, but backed by a leather and all spice note that hints towards something older.
When we tasted the Gunzer portfolio it was an incredibly hard choice narrowing down favourites. We are huge fans of the entire Gunzer family estate and in a different world would import all of them. Operating since 1990, they started with half an acre and a 1,500 / year production line. They've grown since then, but retain the focus on terroir-driven wines.
Villàny, Hungary's southernmost wine region is renowned for its full-bodied and spicy reds. It boasts a cool meso-climate due to the presence of a long, low limestone ridge that runs high above the flatlands.Kékfrankos — also commonly known as blaufränkisch in other regions — is a late-ripening, richly tannic wine that offers a lot of spice.
One of kékfrankos' other names is blaufränkisch, which translates to blue frankish. Hungarian legend states, Napoleonic troops purchased the wine using their 'blue francs' giving it its name.
This wine, at five years old, is one of our older wines so far. For a wine to age well it needs a few things. For red wines, high tannins are required, and higher acidity typically helps too. Importantly the flavours need to withstand the influx of new tertiary aromas (those that come from oxidisation).
Here at Wine List, we're huge fans of the Günzer family estate in Villany, Hungary where they've been making wine since 1990. In this wine, there's blueberry, sour cherries, plum, and orange zest, backed by a leather and all spice note that hints towards something older.