Hahndorf Hill, Blueblood Blaufrankisch

Hahndorf Hill Blueblood Blaufränkisch is a ‘hauntingly beautiful’ bottle of wine. Summed up, it can be described as a blueberry pie with notes of black cherries. The palate is silky smooth with a tumble of berries, gentle spice and a smudge of caramel, all perfectly wrapped in generous yet gentle tannin. Match this beautiful wine with duck, quail, lamb and venison – and if you ever need to enjoy a red with your favourite seafood, this is it!

After leaving medicine and journalism behind, Handorf Hill owners Larry Jacobs and March Dobson began their wine careers in South Africa with the creation of Mulderbosch Vineyards in Stellenbosch before heading down under in 1997 and falling in love with the cool-climate Adelaide Hills, where they bought and developed Hahndorf Hill Winery. Still working side by side today, Marc handles all things marketing and cellar door related, while Larry manages and oversees the vineyard and winery operations.

Hahndorf Hill's six-hectare vineyard is located at the edge of historic Hahndorf village and on the slopes of a gentle hill which, over a century ago, contained a slate quarry. It is very apparent when walking along the slopes of the vineyard blocks at Hahndorf Hill that slate forms a significant part of the mineral component of the soils. Our vineyard topsoils consist of a sandy-loam and red-clay blend, richly embellished with blue-red slate, quartz and ironstone intrusions. The subsoils comprise deep red clay.

This abundance of diverse mineral components in the soil translates into a distinct mineral element in all our wines, which is especially beneficial for our Austrian varieties – Gruner Veltliner, Blaufrankisch and Zweigelt (with St. Laurent waiting in the wings). In addition, the Adelaide Hills enjoys the unique combination of a low mean January temperature coupled with a significantly high diurnal variation. This diurnal variation is a significant quality defining factor according to producers of these varieties in their native Austria. The Adelaide Hills’ slow ripening, cool-climate environment allows for all our grapes to benefit from an extended ripening season with beautifully warm days and cold nights.