Sopron

Sopron is Hungary's Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos) capital — a cool, northerly wine region hard on the Austrian border, wrapped around the western shore of Lake Fertő (Neusiedlersee), that many consider the grape's spiritual home. The lake-moderated but firmly continental climate, on gneiss, mica-schist and loess soils, gives a fresher, higher-acid, more peppery and structured Kékfrankos than the riper wines of Hungary's warmer south — a bright, spicy, sour-cherry red built for the table and for the cellar.