(Manfred Klimek / Björn Grebner)
It is not a straight-line story, but one shaped by arcs of courage, mistakes and, ultimately, a more intimate and better finale. Born in 1996 out of an understandable longing: three winemakers, three visions, a single dream: an Austrian red wine that aspired to create its own Tignanello . Not a copy, but an Austrian counterpart to Antinori’s Tuscan cult blend, international, powerful, fit for export. Yet more than a namesake model, it was a venture: Blaufränkisch dominance with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, a hybrid of continent and cult.
The minds behind the idea were as different as they were passionate: Tibor Szemes, the south-eastern pioneer of Burgenland red wine, whose focus was always on the indigenous Blaufränkisch grape; F. X. Pichler, the great white-wine virtuoso from the Wachau; and Manfred Tement, the Styrian who took Sauvignon and Morillon to new international heights. Together they wanted to send 300,000 bottles of Arachon out into the world, produced with the help of the Horitschon Winemakers’ Cooperative – a figure that in Austria in the late 1990s sounded more like a revolution than a wine project.
The first vintage went into bottles in 1998. But the truth of wine rarely writes history in a straight line. Tibor Szemes, the uncrowned ambassador of Blaufränkisch, died unexpectedly young – a rupture that put the project to the test. The ambitious plans evaporated, the large, expensive building reverted to sole use by the Winemakers’ Cooperative – and the 300,000 bottles remained a fata morgana, a ‘what might have been’. Yet something else grew from this setback – etav more valuable.
Today, Oscar Szemes is at the helm. Not as the executor of a plan, but as the creator of his own Arachon logic. In the most recent vintages, 2018 to 2021, Oscar streamlined the cuvée: Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon were reduced from their former role as corrective and anchor of hope from just over 20% to around 7%. The result is no longer an international blend in the classic sense, but a warmer, earthier and ‘redder’ wine, which casts off the green character of Cabernet and puts the naked character of Blaufränkisch centre stage – without wildness, but with precision.
Arachon 2018
The first vintage of the new balance. On the nose, dark cherry, sloe and a hint of graphite, together with that Burgenland earthiness which does not feel heavy, but supportive. Calm, dense and remarkably composed on the palate. The fruit is ripe, but not sweet; the structure is present without dominating. The Cabernet now barely has a say – and that is precisely what benefits the wine. 2018 is the vintage in which Arachon begins to come into its own.
Arachon 2019
A vintage with tension. Cooler in expression, more precisely cut. More spice, more darkness, less opulence. Black pepper, dried herbs, dark berries and a fine mineral line. Tighter on the palate than 2018, with a long, clear finish. Here, Blaufränkisch shows its capacity for discipline, without becoming austere. An Arachon for people who love structure.
Arachon 2020
Perhaps the most harmonious of the four. Warmth and depth, but no heaviness. Ripe cherry, plum, a hint of cocoa, a touch of forest floor. Everything seems rounded, effortless, almost too effortlessly effortless – until you realise how precisely it has all been constructed. The reduction of Merlot and Cabernet fully pays off here: the wine is earthy, red-fruited and calm, with a substantial inner core. A vintage that lingers.
Arachon 2021
The youngest – and perhaps the clearest. Fresher, tighter, with an almost youthful energy. Red berries, sour cherry, fine herbs and a cool undertone. Linear and focused on the palate, with fine tannins and plenty of drive through the finish. Still young, not yet fully settled, but with evident ageing potential.
What remains, what heralds the future, even in difficult times for red wines, is a great, long-lived Blaufränkisch with international ambition, but with a regional heart. Arachon now costs €33–35 – and is a genuine bargain compared with what it tells in the glass: depth, spice, a dense core, clear fruit and solid structure. Not a game of edges and roughness, but a confident statement: Blaufränkisch can be great, serious and ambitious, without contriving anything.
Arachon has not become a myth of fulfilment. But perhaps that is precisely why it is one of the most exciting red wines from Austria of the new millennium: a wine born from the tension between vision and reality, from loss and repossession, from understanding others and understanding oneself. It shows that great wines are not necessarily born of perfection, but of the bold attempt to grow beyond oneself while finding one’s way back to oneself – in Blaufränkisch.