Site reader Damien sent in this photo from his travels suggesting that we could play our favorite game, “where in the wine world are we?”
So, take a gander at the photo to the right and hit the comments with your thoughts as to where the reader was. The first to guess right, wins a gold star, California Grand Cru edition! Caution, objects more difficult than they might appear!
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On October 22nd, 2011 at 8:49 am ,Paul Horan wrote:
Zweigelt, Lumberger, and Blaufrankisch? Got to be somewhere in Austria!
-Paul-
On October 22nd, 2011 at 10:05 am ,Matt Whishaw wrote:
Burgenland in Austria… a random but slightly educated guess!?!?
On October 22nd, 2011 at 11:18 am ,Giorgos Hadjistylianou wrote:
or Lower Austria
On October 22nd, 2011 at 11:18 am ,Amber wrote:
Germany?
On October 22nd, 2011 at 11:35 am ,Laurie wrote:
I’ll take a risky path of narrowing down to Frauenkirchen, in the Neusiedlersee region of Burgenland
On October 22nd, 2011 at 12:22 pm ,Jeff wrote:
Hard Game!I doubt Austria as this looks like an experimental block for Austrian and Limberger grapes and these varieties are not experiemental there. Maybe Germany in the Pfalz or Rheinhessen where these varieties are not grown. An Alternative would be Alsace. Other possible European sites are Switzerland, Collio in NE Italy, or across the border in Slovenia.
But these are large vineyards and sparsely populated so I’m guessing new world. My best guess would be Washington state given the light sandy soil and simple trellis. But they call it Lemberger there and I’ve seen a lot of Washington and don’t recognize the area, and where’s the irrigation.
Second would be Chile,looking west toward the coastal range and the Pacfic. Third, a wild guess of Australia in some higher altitude spot.
On October 22nd, 2011 at 12:32 pm ,Cindy wrote:
Burgenland, Austria!
On October 22nd, 2011 at 12:35 pm ,John wrote:
Hungary?
On October 22nd, 2011 at 12:47 pm ,Sjakes wrote:
Could be Baden-Württemberg, Germany
On October 22nd, 2011 at 12:55 pm ,CNSmith wrote:
Washington State (Powers?)
On October 22nd, 2011 at 12:56 pm ,Joe wrote:
Austria, and not after reading all the other responses.
If there was a kangaroo in the picture, that would seal it.
On October 22nd, 2011 at 1:02 pm ,Sean wrote:
Guess #1 will be the obvious Austria, narrowed down to the Thermenregion.
But Jeff’s points are really good – geography and plantings don’t look right for Austria. The distant range actually looks like the Oregon Coast Range, so wild guess #2 is for the northern Willamette Valley (even though that would make this a north facing vineyard).
On October 22nd, 2011 at 1:31 pm ,Jeff wrote:
The Austrians would likely not call it Limberger, as they use Blaufankish for the grape, same for the Hungarians who call it Kekfrancos, and in Wurttemburg(home of Porsche) where they call it Lemberger. It came to North America by vine importations from Germany in the 1960’s from Germany as Lemberger to the Okanagan in British Columbia, Canada, and then from there to Washinton state.
If this was in Germany it would have to be in another region where Lemberger was not used. Look at the size of the vines they are at least 10-15 years old.
On October 22nd, 2011 at 1:37 pm ,Jeff wrote:
Also I doubt Oregon, as soil is usally not that sandy and light, and also it does not hasve many reaaly large vineyards and is heavly planted to vines. Another wild guess, Beaujolais! If I was in Beaujolais I would plant these vines for added complexity, but the French would never do this or admit to it if they did–so I really doubt it
On October 22nd, 2011 at 1:48 pm ,Jeff wrote:
sorry for the spelling mistakes(was on the phone and not paying attention). I meant to say that Oregon soils are usually heavier, darker and wetter than in this photo. Oregon is also not so planted in vines, and the average vineyard is much smaller.
A north facing slope would be an asset in Chile as it is the warm site. The southern Chilean Central valley would be a good place for these grapes especially where Cab and Merlot don’t ripen so well.
On October 22nd, 2011 at 3:01 pm ,ben wood wrote:
I am going to go out on a trellis and guess finger lakes, specifically Red tail ridge winery- they make a lot of what if wines (lemberger, and Sparkling and still Teroldego).
On October 22nd, 2011 at 6:37 pm ,ElGordo wrote:
Austria or Germany, possibly Canada. I’m voting for Germany, Wurttemberg specifically. Blauer Limberger is the technical classification of German Lemberger…
On October 22nd, 2011 at 8:00 pm ,Robbie C. wrote:
Somewhere in Washington state.
On October 22nd, 2011 at 8:14 pm ,Dave Erickson wrote:
California. Maybe Abe Schoener?
On October 23rd, 2011 at 9:57 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Impressive guessing! Especially Jeff!
I won’t revel the location until tomorrow in case others want to get in on the fun.
On October 23rd, 2011 at 11:39 am ,Jeff wrote:
Sorry to hog the Blog-stage but its just that I’m such a fan of Balufrankisch, Lim/lemberger.etc.. I think it is a world class grape that nobody knows except Austria. But the truth is that it is really too cold in Austria for it to show what it can do. It does amazingly well in Washington State with its hotter drier desert climate but nobody to date has really given it a chance to succeed.
I acknowledge that Blauer Limberger is one official name for the grape, but this is what the Germans or Germanophiles call it. The Austrians universally in my experience call it Blaufrankisch. Germany would be my first choice, especially the Phalz, but the dry sandy soil and the lack of buildings leads me to guess elsewhere.
So one more wild guess. The Balkans, Romania/Bulgaria. Lots of German investment there in wine, just the place where an experimental block of these grapes would be planted.
On October 24th, 2011 at 4:58 am ,Giorgos Hadjistylianou wrote:
Jeff check out Ernst Trimbaumer’s Blaufrankisch
On October 24th, 2011 at 7:28 am ,Arto Koskelo wrote:
This is a tricky question. The correct answer is… New Zealand!
On October 24th, 2011 at 7:37 am ,Megan wrote:
Going out on a limb, here, but South Africa? Those words seem faintly Dutch to me . . .
On October 24th, 2011 at 9:49 am ,Sean O'Keefe wrote:
Okanagan Valley/British Columbia
On October 24th, 2011 at 9:51 am ,Gert wrote:
Washington?
On October 24th, 2011 at 5:59 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
Terrific guesses here–I hope you enjoyed our weekend edutainment!
Alas, no California Grand Cru gold stars to hand out. But Jeff did a sterling job and for that he gets a premier cru washington designation!
He writes that “it’s a test vineyard halfway between Limoux and the
appellation to the west of Limoux where they are playing with all sorts
of odd things.
Thought is was interesting for the juxtaposition of the varieties and
the geography. ”
Yes, limburger is Blaufrankisch but (pretty much) only in Austria. Thus it had to be elsewhere as several of you assumed. Anyway, Languedoc, not Washington!
Please send in a photo from your travels if you think you can stump us!
On October 27th, 2011 at 11:32 am ,Damien wrote:
Some great guesses here, on a photo that is almost unidentifiable. I second Dr. Vino’s appreciation of Paul’s analysis. I would not have made such a good guess, that is for sure.
Part of the reason that I found it so interesting was because Languedoc is a region that is doing a lot of experimentation and many of the smaller producers in areas outside the AOC names we know, struck me as being unsure of which direction they ought to head in terms of international markets.
To be a bit more precise, this is a research station near Cadabres, and AOC that is halfway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean in both distance and varietals. From the AOC website:
“Cabardès is the only French appellation to associate 40% minimum of atlantic grape varieties (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Cot and Fer Servadou) with 40% minimum of mediterranean grape varieties (Syrah and Grenache), completion of blends possible with 20% of Cot and Fer Servadou. This unique possibility is due to the position of the vineyard under an east – west transitional climate which naturally influences the local vegetation. The meeting of cool winds from the Aquitaine with the hot mediterranean sun, dream of any wine maker, enables complex wines to be made from the appellation’s large palette of grape varieties, blending being the key to the wines’ rich balance.”
Read more here: http://cabardes.free.fr/pages/en/syndicat.html
I wish I could find a link to the research center. Perhaps the folks at Languedoc Wines can help. It was on a trip sponsored by Sud de France that I was taken to this site.
On October 27th, 2011 at 12:19 pm ,Jeff wrote:
Thanks for the correct answer. Having never been to Languedoc, but dying to do so, it is understandable that I missed it. The drier sandy soil, and lack of buildings, large vineyards all make sense now. Beaujolais? what was I thinking! I’m banging my head in a “Holmes you blew it, a little too much morphine?” manner.
The Blauer Limberger I bet is from a German source. At least I got it right that it was an experimental block. A lot of very smart and open forward thinking guys in Languedoc, which some call the “new world of Europe” so maybe my guesses weren’t so far off in a way.
On October 27th, 2011 at 4:11 pm ,justina wrote:
kloustenberg, austria.
On October 27th, 2011 at 4:17 pm ,Iran wrote:
Australia