Few other winemakers have generated as much discussion in recent years as Roland Velich. He has set himself the declared goal of giving the Blaufränkisch variety a new, unique profile that makes it possible to place this typical Austrian grape variety in the same league as the world's great red wines. Velich believes that Burgenland offers similarly excellent conditions for making great red wines as Burgundy or the northern Rhône Valley. He is not aiming for stylistic copies, but rather the "cool climate" character that he wants to portray in his wines.
Velich is therefore concerned with originals and not copies; he relies entirely on the strengths of Burgenland and tries to exploit the full potential of the Blaufränkisch variety and the different soils. Roland Velich found the right parcels of land for his concept in central Burgenland. In Neckenmarkt and Lutzmannsburg, he discovered ancient vineyards, some of which are over a hundred years old and are planted at a high density of up to 8,000 vines per hectare. The small-berried grapes that form the basis for the Moric line grow here in ideal exposure and on the most suitable terroir. The result is the fine, mineral wine from Lutzmannsburg, characterised by floral nuances; from the neighbouring community of Neckenmarkt comes a spicy Blaufränkisch in a class of its own, darkly coloured by the slate soil. Small yields in the vineyard and extremely low-intervention processing as well as long ageing in used 500 and 1,000 litre wooden barrels allow the special varietal and soil character of the individual terroirs to come to the fore. St. Georgen near Eisenstadt also produces a finesse-rich Grüner Veltliner in small quantities.
Over the past few years, the old Blaufränkisch parcels in Lutzmannsburg have increasingly become the focus of attention, where Roland Velich has fulfilled a long-cherished wish starting with the 2019 vintage. He has bottled several different terroirs individually, thanks to which he can now express the diversity and nuances of Blaufränkisch even more precisely. At the top of the range is the "Alte Reben" from Lutzmannsburg, a synthesis of the best grapes a vintage has to offer this exceptional winegrower. More Blaufränkisch is not possible. The international secondary market has already taken this into account: no other Austrian red wine producer enjoys greater demand, as the latest charts from the London wine exchange Liv-ex show.
Roland Velich was named Falstaff Winemaker of the Year in 2023 and also won the Falstaff red wine award in the autumn. Chapeau!
