I recently visited Hungary for IWINETC 2018 and the most awaited session was the one on Hungarian wines. The session not only included the famous Tokaji wines but also quite a few dry wines that drew our attention. The session presided over by Agnes Herczeg and Ronn Wiegand MW,MS included wines from the major wine producing regions of Hungary.
White Hungarian Wines
Coming from one of the largest wine regions of Hungary in Kunsag, the Frittmann Winery is now being run by the 3rd generation of the Frittmann family. With the recent opening of their lodging house, the winery has become one of the premier destinations for wine tourism in Hungary. We try out one of their dry Whites, the Irsai Oliver ‘17 which offers a lovely mouthful of citrusy flavours of lime along with some green apple. It’s a perfect wine for the heat wave going through North India right now.
In Badascony, the 40-year-old Laposa Winery is making some wonderful White wines. Welschreisling or Olaszreisling is one of the most prominent of Hungary’s grapes and the ‘16 vintage is the one we try out. A full bodied wine which allows for some sweet yet rich flavours of apricots and melon, it is one wine I wouldn’t mind trying out with our Indian main courses.
The Szepsy Family has been cultivating wines in the Tokaj region since the late 17th century and is typically attributed with the creation of the Aszu. Istvan Szepsy is considered one of the pioneers of the Tokaji wine industry and his techniques have inspired many of the new winemakers on the block. Their Furmint ‘15 not only has a beautiful balance of fruits and spices, it’s lengthy buttery finish adds to the highlight. I’ll finish off my article with the famous Tokaji Aszu.
Red Hungarian Wines
The Kadarka Ceh Kereszet ‘16 from the Heimann Winery in the South of Hungary is first of the reds that we try out. Almost Pinot Noir-esque there are hints of plums, dark cherry and black pepper with a smoky, woody finish to it. The Kekfrankos ‘15 comes from the Austrian borderlands of Pfneiszl Estate where a couple of sisters are restoring their family’s vineyards to it’s former glory. It has lots of dark fruit flavours in it along with some residual acidity and a moderate amount of tannins. Another red that notches up on the rich flavours is the Cabernet Franc or Villanyi Franc ‘15 from the Heumann Winery. Also known as the “Bordeaux of the East”, this wine from Hungary’s Villany-Siklos region is filled with flavours of dark berries and dark chocolate along with a prominent butteriness of oak.
The Special Hungarian Wines
Let’s get to two of Hungary’s favorite creations: the Egri Bikaver and the Tokaji Aszu.
Egri Bikaver
The lovely St. Andrea Winery is located in the Eger Wine Region in the North East of Hungary. Although the region produces both Red and White wines, it is known for it’s Egri Bikaver(Bull’s Blood). As it is located at the foot of the Bukk mountains, there are two things that influence the flavour of these wines. First is the soil and this has its own set of diversities with volcanic soils imparting some minerality while clayey soils produce full bodied wines. The second reason is that mountains prevent against the chilly winds but allows for a cool breeze which gives it a prolonged acidic flavour. Most of these wines are stored in oak barrels. A combination of many of the Reds that we know today including Cab Sauv, Merlot, Shiraz, Pinot Noir and even the Kekfrankos, I fall in love with its complex set of flavours which tends to blend naturally into one another.
Tokaji Aszu
The history of the vineyards from which the Tokaji wines are created from botyrized grapes dates back to the 13th century when a group of Christian monks had established a parish. During the 17th Century, Zsuzsanna Lórántffy (1600-1660), the wife of Prince George Rákóczi I, had a large vineyard on Oremus under the direction of the Calvinist preacher László Maté Szepsi, who is today considered to be the inventor of the modern aszú wine and from whom Istvan Szepsi is descended. Because of warfare with the Ottoman Turks, grapes had to remain on the vine longer than usual and thus decayed by noble rot. Szepsi used this large harvest of botrytized grapes to make a new sort of later harvested sweet wine, which we know today as Aszú. The ‘06 vintage is the oldest and the also the most complex wines on our tasting panel. A complex layer of flavours that evolves layer upon layer against a backdrop of honey sweetness. There are notes of dried figs, peach, floral notes and even some jammy overtones.
Hungarian wines may be one of the rare ones that you would find around the world but once you try an Egri Bikaver or Tokaji Aszu, you wouldn’t forget about it. Tell us about which one of the wines do you think will impress you the most from the IWINETC 2018 Hungary.
My Crazy Wine Notes
