Szabó Zoltán, Rajnai Rizling (Riesling), 2006

I fell for the hype. Having read the enthousiastic review few days ago on amuva.hu, I did not hesitate too much and I eventually ended up buying the 2 last bottles in the shop. Because this wine is not widely available in Budapest and I bought these two in a bookstore (well, I bought 2 other bottles in their other store a bit farther the same day).

According to a short self-introduction in a hidden corner of the web, Zoltán Szabó is an experimental winemaker currently owning only 2 hectars having mainly Chardonnay, Riesling and Zöldveltelini, plus 10 (!) local varietals from the Kárpát-bassin. He even made Aszú from Riesling for a try.

I couldn’t say I did not have high expectations.

The review

Bright lively hay color and lively moves in the glass.

It’s intense smell is an exotic mixture of fresh grass, minerals and flowers with a hint of tropical fruits, camilla and citrus. It’s almost like not only made of Riesling.

The taste is in sync with the smell but very quickly the acids wash away all other tastes. You have to wait more than an hour to enjoy more the taste and the wine to become a round, full-bodied (for a white) wine. But first citrus and peppermint are dominantand the acids provide a long finish. It also comes with a little bit of bubble sparkling.

Later the minerals become more palpable, almost dominant. At this moment it reminds me of Mandolás Furmint in style but wit more acid of course. Unfortunately the wine’s building blocks start to fall apart after only about 2 hours, but it’s still enjoyable.

For EUR 6, it’s a best buy. For those who like nice acids, this wine scores 0,5-1 points higher than for those who like a more balanced, round wine.

Score: 6+

Price: EUR 6