UWE SCHIEFER: Genius and Survivor

By Stuart Pigott - last revision: 19.07.26

What makes a great winemaker isn’t just making great wines, but also a decisive innovation that leaves traces for decades, or even centuries. Although wine has a yearly cycle, it’s other time frame is generations. That innovation is not necessarily an influential new wine style, but in the case of Uwe Schiefer in the south of Burgenland/Austria it is. During the 1990s - experimentally from 1994 while still working as a sommelier and full-time from 1997 - he single-handedly invented what I call Twentyfirst Century Blaufränkisch reds.

Blaufränkisch aka Kékfrankos (in Hungary) aka Lemberger (in Germany and parts of the English-speaking world) is an Austrian grape variety that was already widely planted when I first travelled to Austria in 1988. Back then, the wines were either simple and tart, or they were powerful, but seriously tannic and oaky. Of course, these wines appealed to different audiences, who’s contrasting expectations and budgets they reflected. And both styles continue to exist, because those audiences do too. Uwe Schiefer rejected both these off-the-peg directions, instead taking a path that accentuated the aromatic beauty, mineral freshness and textural excitment which make Twentyfirst Century Blaufränkisch reds so special.

A great Schiefer Blaufränkisch is a frankly expressive wine, but also a vast sensual labyrinth. And in that darkness are miraculous sources of light and energy. On a more prosaic level it clearly has substantial tannins, a certain acidity (both typical for good wines from this grape), and, if you look more closely into its savoury depths, you can sense that it has spent a good time maturing in oak casks, but none of these things define it. In fact, no simple definition can adequately describe it, not even these words. Yes, it is undeniably spicy. I use this not only in the regular sense of the word, but also in the sense of the psychoactive spice in the Dune sci-fi novels (by Frank Herbert) that enables instantaneous travel across vast distances in space-time.

So, let’s do that and go back a quarter of a century my first visit to the Schiefer winery. It was already dark when I arrived and The Who’s Baba O’Reilly was booming out of the sound system as I descended the concrete ramp into the barrel cellar. Back then I had the arrogance of a young man who thought he was a big deal, but the wines I tasted stopped me in my gung-ho tracks. They, Uwe's boundlessly self-confident fervour and the music were simultaneously inspiring and overwhelming. I wasn't able to admit it to myself at the time, but they added up to far more than everything I'd ever written did!

A new wine style as radical as that I encountered doesn’t just drop out of the sky, rather there’s a long development process and this was still under way. Although more slowly than in the beginning, the Schiefer wine style continues to develop and the 2021 vintage represents a new high point. Today the expanded barrel cellar is full of neutral casks ranging in size from 500 - 3,000 liters and the best reds of the 2021 vintage spent more than four years maturing there. During my last visit on the 18th November, 2025 no music played except that of white wines fermenting in some of the barrels.

This probably makes it sound as if everything was plain sailing for Uwe during the time I've known himand his wines, but nothing could be further from the truth. In the 2014, 2015 and 2016 vintages yields were way down on normal due to spring frost and summer hail damage. The excellence of those wines was combined with unavoidable financial losses and Uwe was forced to take an investor on board. That would created a new quagmire of problems and a couple of times Uwe's shaken self-confidence was visible for a horrible moment. At least, I could imagine how horrible those moments must have been for him.

Then, came the flood of 8. June 2025, not in the winery or the vineyards, but in the house and outbuildings in Woppendorf where the winery’s workers live and its machinery is stored. For many winemakers that disaster would have been the final straw, but it pushed Uwe to seek a new partner who would support him and his son Paul, rather than complicate their lives. And now the 2021s confirm that this is one of Austria and the world's most important red wine producers. Yes, S is for sustainable, but it also stands for Schiefer and survival.

NOTE: The Schiefer winery has 12 hectares of organically farmed vineyards, with the largest parcel is 4 hecatres in the Szapary site of Eisenberg. The vineyards are either old vines - those in the Ried Reihburg site they were planted in 1936 - or young vines from Uwe’s own massale selection of Blaufränkisch.

13 wines tasted in July, 2026. 

DRY WHITES

Schiefer  Austria  Weisser Schiefer  2024 - 12.5% / With its flint and candied lemon freshness this is a strikingly original dry white for the Burgenland region. Juicy and substantial core. In spite of having moderate acidity it’s very zesty at the long, slightly pithy finish. A cuvée based on the Welschriesling grape. Bottled unfiltered. 91 (SP)

Schiefer  Austria  Weisser Schiefer "S“ 2023 - 13.5% / If you decide that this is a charistmatic natural wine, then I’m with you! The rich preserved lemon and candied pineapple character plus serious flinty tension make a dramatic statement. Excellent textural complexity on the compact and powerful palate. And yet this ends bright and intensely mineral.  BA cuvée of 90% Welschriesling and 10% Pinot Blanc. Bottled unfiltered. 94 (SP)

BLAUFRÄNKISCH REDS

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch  2021 - 13% / Yes, at almost 5 years of age this is the current release of this entry-level Blaufränkisch, but the wait was worth it! A totally exceptional wine for this category, thanks to its great tannin structure, savoury and spicy complexity and mineral acidity that drives the long very fresh finish. Fire up the grill and bring out the wok to celebrate everyday life with this bottle! Bottled unfiltered. 93 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch Vom Blauen Schiefer  2021 - 13.5% / Savoury and flinty with deep elderberry and liquorice flavours, this is a powerful and animating expression of Austrian. Big, bitter chocolate tannins anchor this compelling composition, but the sweetness of the fruit wins out at the very long, substantial finish. Bottled unfiltered. 94 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch  Ried Szapary  2021 - 13.5% /  The bouquet of this almost 5 year young Blaufräkisch is a minor miracle of wildberries, flowers and spice! Very concentrated, yet so silky and elegant it takes your breathe away. And below all this is a deep tannin structure that seems to connect this directly with the core of the earth! Such an uplifting wine in spite of it deep roots! Bottled unfiltered. 96 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch  Ried Reihburg  2021 - 14.5% / Welcome to the Black Hole that swallows all the black fruit aromas Planet Wine has to offer and you with them! The giant tannin structure holds all of this preciely in place right through the multi-dimensional finish. And hovering above all this is a cloud of violet and wet earth aromas. Yeah, what an incredible combination! Bottled unfiltered. 98 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch  Lutzmannsburg V.V.  2019 - 13.5% / So much energy and freshness this is dangerous! And as it aerates in the glass savoury character seems to well up from below and envelope the mighty elderberry fruit on the generous and vivid palate. Terific elegance and finesse, the finish gliding off towards an inifintely distant vanishing point! Decades of further aging potential! Bottled unfiltered. 97 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch  Ried Szapary  2019 - 13.5% / Although this is quite a sleek and elegant Blaufränkisch it has iron and flint in the soul. Emphatically dry tannins structure and stacks of slatey minerality .At the finish this is very compact, yet velvety. Now at the beginning of its best drinking form. Bottled unfiltered. 94 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch  Ried Szapary "S“  2016 - 13% / A masterpiece of Blaufränkisch elegance, this squares the circle of concentration and freshness! Red berries, delicate baking spices and a delicate touch of soy sauce. Terrific mineral intensity at the very focused, cool finish! Still so many years of life ahead of it! Bottled unfiltered. 96 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Blaufränkisch  Ried Szapary "S“  2014 - 13% / Deep and mellow with enormous savoury complexity and spot-on balance this is a mature masterpiece. Just a hint of soot in the way that some great Côte-Rôtie show this character, but this is delightfully light-footed and fresh in a way those wines now rarely are. Bottled unfiltered. 95 (SP) 

OTHER REDS

Schiefer  Burgenland  Roter Schiefer  2021 - 13% / The cherry and redcurrant fruit is extremely vivid for a 5 year old wine, and the colouris correspondingly youthful. Not that complex, but bursting with charm and supported by quite a solid structure.Should carry being drunk lightly chilled very well. A cuvée of 70% Blaufränkisch, 25% Merlot and 5% Zweigelt. Bottled unfiltered. 90 (SP)

Schiefer  Burgenland  Pinot Noir  2023 - 13% / The first impression that this concentrated and silky Pinot Noir makes would lead me to place it in Burgudy, but the liquorice note at the well-structured velvety finish (terroir!) is very un-Burgundian. Still youthful. Bottled unfiltered. 93 (SP) 

Schiefer  Burgenland  Merlot  2021 - 14% / Deep savoury character and subtle oak aromas add complexity to the damson plum and blackberry aromas. I love the way the full, velvety tannins so neatly underline all of this and build to a firm crescendo. And the delicate „sweetness“ at the finale makes this even more compelling! Bottled unfiltered. 94 (SP)