Budapest Daily Review

This is going to be a bit personal and maybe even sentimental post. For a good recommendation only just skip to the bottom, I won’t take it personal (because I won’t know).

Whereas Balaton is the prime summer destination of Hungarian working class and a gangsters’ paradise, Balatonfüred is the last major city with some charm and also the starting point of a coastline of less than 50 kilometers actually worth visiting. I don’t know how they achieve that while being one of the most crowded places of the lake, but even the tourists are different here. You can walk on the most aristocratic promenade sipping your wine whilst spotting hundreds of  women wearing their best dresses (cheap, of course, sometimes provocative but always clean, ironed, selected carefully and with no taste at all). They often walk calmly with their partner hand in hand, the men usually wearing a sandal (still often with socks). Charming, adorable. There are very few drunk people, mostly the youth, who are loud and drunk but the landscape is different. The buildings are, of course, the main source of elegance of this city, the old villas of the Monarchy’s bourjoisie and the similarly old commercial buildings. All of these are getting renovated and refurbished, villas turned museums and wine stores opening here and there. Only for a good meal you need to cross the lake otherwise you have to rely on the local kiosks’ offering (usual suspects: lángos, palacsinta) and, especially in the row of wine kiosks’, sausage and fish, the suspiciously tasty deep-fried Hekk (of which a larger portion with some potato and kovászos uborka costs as much on a paper plate than a 3-course menu at Budapest’s Gold Bistro, for two persons!).

Balaton is nostalgy to me and for many of us I suppose (why else would people go there?) and I love it. For an hour or two at least. It gives me an enormous pleasure to be there, to smell the burnt oil of the food kiosks’, to watch the lake with the sailing boats, the hills, the gangsters, now the hypsters too, the inevitable remembrances of the communism (every employer in the country form the 60s on owned one, or sometimes a dozen buildings granted to their employees fora  week or two, especially to those who had children) but mainly the heros of communism, the working class, and I mean it in a very positive way.

The Balatonfüred wine festival is not a place for the yuppies to show-off and hence its charm. The wines are poor but who cares. They’re very well chilled (much better than at any other wine festival I’ve been at) and the people are relaxed and funny. A good reason to grab a glass of wine at one of the kiosks’ is that it’s the only place around Balaton where you’re not cheated, where the prices are more than reasonable, where a decent Fröccs comes cheaper than a mediocre, warm beer.

I wasn’t impressed with the wineries present but one: Koczor’s Sauvignon Blanc was so good I had to buy their most expensive bottle which, guess what, was very good too, for HUF 1 300 I think, an Olaszrizling from 2007 (!) of which I’ll post a review when I tasted it properly.

What have had the organisers in mind when they decided to relocate the event to a venue which apparently lackse air conditioning in the warm Budapest summer I can’t know. The red wines displayed “as-is” were simply undrinkable, about 35 degrees celsius warm. The white wines were chilled but the line-up was rather pool (the Tokaj wines were simply gone by mid-afternoon). It was so hot in the main hall that going outside to the 31 degrees was quite refreshing.

I’ve never been this close to stop blogging about Hungarian wines anyway (blogging is sooo last decade anyway). Not exactly the fault of Vinagora, of course.

Not so much of a wine festival than a bazaar and a venue for crappy stage performances (folklore meets hungarian pop music followed by salsa dancing schizofrenia) I strongly recommend everyone to avoid it. A huge crowd stuck in an apparently too narrow promenade encircled by booths of wineries completely make it impossible to enjoy drinking here. Plus you’ll only find one good and one half decent winery anyway (these two being the less popular among the drinkers – only this fact says it all). 

I wanted to go to Balatonfüred’s wine days (now weeks actually) as almost every year because it’s more airy and Balatonfüred’s small historical centre is a nice place and the event takes palce between it and the Balaton. This was the plan, but for reasons I won’t disclose here we never made it to Balatonfüred this year. 

What saved the Almádi festival was, besides the best lángos I had for many years (not even sold at the festival actually but like 200m away in a regular booth), were the following wines. 

Gál Sauvignon Blanc 2008 is a pale wine very fruity on the nose, fresh and light with notes of ripe apple and plesant acidity (also fresh and young). Excellent for hot summer evenings like this. Gál Chardonnay 2006 is a thicker, although also not too heavy wine of an oaky-character, with lots of melted butter on the palate and on the nose but supported by very well integrated and rounded acidity. Firm but soft (almost creamy), this is a very decent techie wine expressing smart use of oak. Gál’s Leányka 2007 is a very simple wine, ultra-light with a bit harsh character and it’s easy to forget. They sold out the red I most wanted to taste on the first day (more than 100 bottles, so the festival is commercially not so unsuccessfully after all) so I went for the Pinot Noir 2004 (I think). After I  was positively surprised by the 2002 recently I found this year’s Pinot more dominated by the oak, but overall pleasant, spicy, with soft texture and relatively well balanced and with at least a few years ageing potential. I’ll definitely try this later. I sampled Bárdos Imperiál Cuvée 2007 which is an interesting blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir but I was unable to taste it properly but surely a review will follow soon here.

Sziget Fesztivál has become a must-go event on the yuppie calendar from students’ island 16 years ago. So has changed the line-up, the cultural offering and gastronomy of the festival too. I arrived late from work so I missed the Ting Tings gig and just in time to see the warming-up of the crowed for Bloc Party so I didn’t hesitate and went straight to the closest tent in front of the main stage and bought a very decent chicken tikka with a simple naan, before taking position near the sound control tower to see Bloc Party, where I immediately was almost peed on by German punks apparently fighting pre-mature incontinency. 

The real milestone in the shift of Sziget towards a more civilised event (and this is a double-edge sword) to me was the opening of Ászár-Neszmély’s prominent Hilltop winery’s booth a few years ago. Strategically located just 1 minute from the main stage so you can run to it during an act for refuelling, the booth’s relatively calm and shadowy atmoshpere made it an ideal spot for longer stays as well, especially for drinking and hipster-spotting – one of my favorite pass-times on Sziget. Hilltop’s price policy on the festival makes them very attractive to me, they’re by far the fairest gang on the island. 

Near the World Music main stage area I ran into a surprisingly empty stand of various wines also fairly priced and I went for Royal Tokaji Furmint 2007. Drinking from a plastic cup, I found it smoky and barrel-dominated on the nose but fairly fruity (however very Furmint-like) and rounded, interesting enough for a wine which cost you HUF 2 500 or so a bottle on a festival so I decided I’ll buy a bottle and write a proper review of it later.

This year’s big hit however is Pálinka – and Rézangyal dominated the scene. Their success lies mostly in their artificially flavored, wide offering, many of them mixed with honey which I simply don’t understand. Today, Pálinka is chic again among urban youngsters and middle-aged middle class people but I’m afraid that moving away from the current trend of flavored pálinkas will take just as much time as it took to get here.

Still about Vinagora 2009, I have to state it again that the red line-up this year was great with lots of varietals of many producers from mainly Hungary and most of them really good ones. I didn’t necessarily agree with the judges and their description of the wines and the selected wines below do not reflect any preference over the other, non-reviewed wines which were present in too big number to be taken into account. So this is just a list of some of the wines which were displayed in the first  section of the whole exhibited lot. Only one complaint here: almost all of these wines could have been 3-5 degrees Celsius cooler than they were to show their best. Still…

Heumann Terra Tartaro 2007 is made of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30%-30% Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Deep cherry-purplish color, the way I like it. Dense nose although very fresh with woody unripeness and tons of sour cherry syrup with blueberry notes and a hint of fine black tea and a tobacco accent. This cuvée has a fruit-packed palate with high concentration of ripe plum and sloe. Quite dense with oily, slightly harsh tannins with a hint of black-pepper and a bit too young acidity, so the texture could be better but I think it will be. Still too young, this wines scores around 6 points right now but I’m looking forward to how it’ll develop in the next 2-3 years.

The younger brother of it is Cuvée Segreto 2007 with 50% Cabernet Franc, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and 10% Portugieser. This one has a warm nose of blackberry-jam. Very fruity palate of various berry fruits, more than Terra Tartaro. This may not be such a “serious” wine as it’s older brother but it certainly is in better shape right now, with appealing cherry and sour cherry aromas, better texture and a fairly weighty body. Quite a polished style, the high alcohol couldn’t ruin it. Therefore it scores 6+ points right now.

Made of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Pinot Noir, 12% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot Bock Cuvée 2005 sounds like an interesting blend. The wine has a brownish color. Intense earthy nose with tobacco and fortified wine notes. Very ripe plum and berry fruit jam elements mingled with earth notes and tobacco, supported by firm, but not too heavy tannic backbone.

Bock Capella Cuvée 2006 has a deep brownish tone and a beautiful move in the glass. The nose is of sweet-alcoholic chocolate character. Well balanced though, full-bodied, supported by slightly powdery tannin and rounded acidity. Scores around 7 points.

Bárdos Imperiál Cuvée 2007 has an intense fresh sloe bouquet with hints of woody-black pepper and sour cherry. Fruity palate with cherry, sour cherry and sour cherry core bitterness which suits the wine. Dense material, a bit too acidic but it’s fine. This wine stands out with its reasonable price, less than half of the others here and it’s almost as good as some of those.

Sauska 5 2006 is almost black, beautiful and elegant with an exciting move. Very intense palate, dense, perfectly balanced and packed with dark fruits, mainly plum. Fresh but ripe with very fine silky texture. A bit too alcoholic with a hint of sour-cherry core bitterness and car seat leather.

Sauska 7 2006 looks very similar in character to Sauska 5 to me with a bit more black pepper and alcohol, lot of chocolate and a slightly unripe feeling.

This serie served well to confirm how Sauska wines represent a very different approach to winemaking from the “old school” like Bock (and other more traditional Villány wineries) while Heumann is in the middle, but maybe closer to Sauska.

So as promised I’m publishing the rest of my notes from Vinagora Borgála now, I couldn’t do it earlier. These are just impressions rather than proper tasting notes anyway, but here they are: as I said, the white wines in general were a bit disappointing this year, but not all of them.

Nyakas Pinot Griggio 2008, for example, was surprisingly good with a fresh, sweet apple, ripe lemon and grapefruit aromas on the nose and on the palate. Scored at around 5-/5 points. Well balanced, medium acidic wine. I was looking forward to Szeremley Kéknyelű 2005 after our recent vertical tasting of previous vintages but it couldn’t improve the average rating. Although it has an interesting, even exciting Kéknyelű character on the nose (not very intense though) with greenish notes, it has a too acidic and too empty palate, firm, with a citrus element but it’s still one of the most overrated white wines of Hungary, it’s unique selling point is the rarity (perhaps for a reason?). Szőke Mátyás Mátrai Szürkebarát 2007 is more attractive with papaya and green walnut bouquet and more subtle acidity on the palate, scoring 5- points now. I expected more from Laposa’s Bazaltbor’s Badacsonyi Riesling 2002 but it was only good. With a citrus, passion-fruit and breadcrumb nose – I expected more minerality. On the palate oaky-vanilla mingle with hints of minerality. 5-, 5 points here. I was positively surprised by Szatmári Szigligeti Zeusz Válogatás 2006, starting with a medium-dark corn hue with nice greenish reflections. Comes with a heavy character of tea and wet hay aromas on the nose, later matte, lavage and a hint of minerality too. The palate is tea mingled with lot of salty-minerality, full and fairly weighty. Burnt almond, praline and caramel, burnt walnut notes with a salty touch. Scores 5+ points. Karádi-Berger Tokaji Furmint 2007 has the most suspicious industrial apple-juice nose ever (from a very specific company in the south of Balaton), with some litchi and a sour-sweet accent. The palate is the same apple-juice. Interesting.

Vinagora Borgála is the Central-Euro-Disney of grownup kids obsessed with wines. Honestly, I cannot emphasize enough how much I’m thankful for it. But let’s get to the point.

So you have to start the tasting with the dry white wines, that’s stating the obvious, right? WRONG! Vinagora’s red lineup was so much better than the white wines this year that they weren’t even in the same league, there were actually 2 or 3 leagues in between. It’s not that you  couldn’t find good white wines there, cause you could. Bargain hunting can be fun. But if you have the chance to taste 50-100 wines at once (that’s what I think is the capacity of a normal people) then you should go for the best ones, don’t you? And this year Vinagora’s red section was so much more to offer than the dry white wines’ (just so you know, the red raw started with 2 of the best Bock wines and continued with 2 of the best Heumann wines, and that was just the beginning of a raw of approximately 200 wines). Of course, I didn’t notice this until I got to the red section. And by then, I was full, exhausted, and bored. That’s why you’ll read about the white wines here, which were, after all, a good lesson as well.

I was determined to focus on the Hungarian wines, which was a major sacrifice considering the attractive foreign wines from Slovakia, Slovenia and even Peru and Brazil. Brazil, btw, was a major player in the sparkling wine section, which I left completely unnoticed until my departure.

Vinagora is a contest, for those who care about it, although in my experience you should be very careful with the points, and also with the description of the wines (which are displayed near each wine at the venue). The award list can be downloaded by clicking here.

I started with a ripe continental fruit-aromatic Sauvignon Blanc of Nyakas from 2008 with a nettle accent on the nose.  Lot of acidity on the palate with a green apple note and a slightly sparkling bitterness (3+/4- points). I liked a bit more Erwin Petz’s Saucingnon Blanc from the same year, although much lighter, this wines is more elegant and interesting edition of the samel apple and nettle character.

Esterházy’s Lama Chardonnay 2006 has a melted butter character from the beginning to the end with hints of asparagus and litchi. Nagyrédei’s Chardonnay 2008 is a real bargain, scoring relatively high by the judgement of Vinagora judges. I found it very perfumy, in an intense but light way with clear ripe apple and apple-pie notes (with cinnamon). On the palate unripe apple in a small body (3+/4- points). Bakkhosz’ Mátrai Chardonnay 2007 (2+/3- points) was a big mistake from my part and so was Tátrai Tamás’ Etyeki Chardonnay 2008 (3+ points). Nyakas Budai Chardonnay 2008 was a decent effort and little more (4- points). Haraszthy Fantástico Chardonnay 2007 has a more exciting nose, a bit sweet, with lovage, veggie soup and turnip notes. There’s a flint note on the palate which surprised me a little. Interesting wine (5/5+ points).

That’s it for now, I’ve got some notes left and maybe I’ll write another post tomorrow.

Bországgyűlés’s been over for a week but I still have some notes left that I would like to share here. The shift towards white wines which started when I decided to drink more Hugnarian wines  a bit more than a year ago has left its mark on the ratio of reds and whites but I didn’t entirely give up.

Sauska Cuvée 13 from 2008 is a beautifully colored medium-dark ruby wine with purplish reflections made of 70% Syrah and 15%-15% Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Jammertal area. Light, young, warm and slightly sweet nose with anise and clove aromas. Nicely textured on the palate with powdery (later oily) tannins and polished acidity. 14% alcohol is a bit over the top for this upper-medium bodied, but dense wine. Score: 5+/6-

Bujdosó Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is an average medium-bodied wine without major faults or character. Fresh tannins and nice acidity. Score: around 4+

You may remember that I was quite satisfied with Bujdosó’s Altanus white cuvée. Now Bujdosó Altanus 2007 has seen 10-12 months in oak barrels of 225l. It has a warm nose with a celery-vegetable character and black pepper notes. Quite average on the palate. Score: 4+/5-

Szeleshát Merlot 2007(?)was aged 80% in second use and 20% first use barrique. The 15% alcohol might be too much for some in this medium-bodied wine with the slightly unripe tannins. The palate has a black pepper character. Interesting enough.

We went on a lazy sunny Sunday afternoon walk with my wife and we eventually landed in Városliget. This time I wasn’t just wandering intuitively but I was focusing on wines I heard of from others or read about (albertgazda might sound familiar to some) instead.

I found Gedeon Rajnai Rizling 2008 a bit dull after the eye-opening tasting last week of German Rieslings but to tell the truth the cheapest was about twice or three times as expensive as this Gedeon Rajnai Rizling. This is a decent wine from a winery I heard about for the first time here, with a pale hue with greenish reflections. What really disappointed was the lack of acidity and body. With ripe continental fruits (a bit tutti-frutti-like) on the nose and a sweet sensation on the palate this was a bit disturbing indeed. Soft texture with a medium-short finish supported by a slightly bitter underpinning. Score: 4-/4 points

Gedeon – Órajnai Rizling 2006 – now this one has more style. With grapes harvested in early December, this is a bright golden yellow wine with clear marzipan nose (maybe not entirely as a consequence of new oak) . It’s gentle, also on the palate with the same marzipan character, not too firm but glycerin sweet with greenish-grassy accents. Score: 5 points (at least)

I  like Tornai wines very much ever since last year’s Somló Tavasz festival. Even the cheap entry-level wines are more than acceptable and of good value for the money. Their premium range took them to the next level, becoming one of my top 3 pics from Somló (if you look at the entire sortiment). Aranyhegyi Olaszrizling 2007 is a Pannnon Bormustra “csúcsbor”.    It has an appealing vibrant ripe corn color and a lovely, dense nose of sage in melted butter. This character continues into a similar palate of similar intensity and loveliness, with quite a lot of substance supported by very subtle acidity, flowing into a soft and seemingly endless finish. Score: 6+/7- points

Béres Lőcsei Furmint 2007 has a bit flinty nose. On the palate a slightly sparkling minerality sliding on butter mingled with tutti-frutti.  Actually what this palate most reminds me of is “robbanócukorka” (blasting candy) from my childhood which were sweet tiny rocks blowing when in contact with the saliva (its discovery was a major milestone in my life). This along with  a mineral character make this an interesting, although not exactly huge wine. Relatively thick. Score: 5 points

Kovács Nimród Winery Chardonnay Battonage 2006 was a great wine reasonably priced. Chardonnay Battonage 2007 seems a bit lighter already in the glass. Very gentle nose with melted butter mingled with papaya and banana. Medium-bodied, grip but silky-soft with very subtle acidity. Very long butter finish with a hint of minerality. Classy. Score: 6+/7- points

I was a bit surprised how similarly three wines of different grape from different wine regions were structured and had similar character (Sauska Chardonnay, KN Chardonnay and Tornai Olaszrizling). Critics will say that these wines show nothing at all of the terroir and where they come from. If you ask me, they show little of the grape either (except maybe Tornai’s).   But these three were by far the most outstanding wines I tasted (which didn’t include most wines on offer, of course).

Impressions about the festival: almost all the wines were served at close to proper temperature. I also noted that about 10% of visitors were foreigners which means hundreds of them (dear organisers, for gods sake, put some english/german speaking staff to the entrances at least). The location is very beautiful and although I wished some people stayed at home (including those on the stage) most people behaved in a civilised way and the nature suffered only minor damages as far as I could tell. And on my way out I bought organic nettle and walnut marmalade which are simply delicious.

Crowd, folkloric music and drank people singing are the main reasons why I don’t like wine festivals (and Bországgyűlés features them all). But I couldn’t say no to a friend’s invitation so I went and did the most obvious thing to distract my attention: took a note book and took notes as diligently as you can when you are standing and being pushed from all sides by unknown people. And guess what, soon I was starting to feel good.And then I suddenly had to leave the scene, but before that I had some nice first encounters.

(On the picture above: a bunch of morons singing pro-national border revision songs)

Font is a 28 hectares family winery in Soltvadkert and known as a reliable source of value wines. Kövidinka 2008 was well located to start with. It’s pale and light with some apple notes on the nose and a slightly unripe and a bit bitter tannic palate. Thick, fresh, and quite like what the wines from Duna borrégió tend to be. Score: 3+ points

Maul Chardonnay Barrique 2007 has a vibrant golden yellow medium-deep color and a dense nose of floral notes and lots of oaky vanilla. On the palate a bit too harsh tannin but the wine’s relatively well-balanced, medium-large bodied. The finish is too short with a tart element. Little fruity wine with hints of quince. A little bit one dimensional and barrel-woody but it’s a pleasant drink. Score: 4+ points

Bujdosó Altanus 2007 is a blend based on Chardonnay with 30% Sauvignon Blanc, Szürkebarát and Királyleányka. Chardonnay and Szürkebarát both have seen barrique. The average yield was 2-2.5 Kg/vine.  Lower-medium deep golden color with Savory notes on the nose mingled with other fresh green spring spices. Complex and exciting in the dimension of spicy vegetables and fruits. Sweet and warm. The palate is sweet but only because of glycerin (with less than 2 grams of residual sugar). Lower medium bodied. Score: 6- points

Bujdosó Szürkebarát 2007 is lighter, with much more closed nose. Medium-small bodied and a bit sparklingly bitter.This one didn’t impress me, remained very closed so I’ll have to try it again.

Degenfeld Furmint Barrique 2007 is relatively closed on the nose with hints of vanilla. Light, a bit perfumy with ultra-light acacia and honey elements. On the palate light punch and vanilla notes with a hint of minerality. Small-medium bodied. This Furmint has a Degenfeld-ish character very similar to their Muscat Lunel. Not a usual Furmint for sure. Score: 4 points

Lelovits’ Olaszrizling 2008 left its mark with some lavage-based vegetable soup notes but not much else.

Sauska Chardonnay Makár 2007 was the the revelation of the day to me. This is the debut of Sauska on Budapest Daily Review, I’d always been repelled by their price tags suggesting lot of ambition from a relatively new brand supported by aggressive marketing.

My senses were blown up by a very determinate, firm, dense but fresh nose of a very clean, soft vanilla pudding character rounded by tons of melted butter. But before that, the bright, vibrant, beautiful color of the wine was already very impressive too. The palate is in perfect harmony with the nose, it gives back the exact same character. Medium-large bodied, slightly lacking acidity but it’s a huge wine with a terrific mouthfilling sensation and a long finish I haven’t seen for a long time. Yes of course many terroir fans and patriots will complain loud about the overuse of oak and the new worldliness of the wine but it’s a perfectly executed task of a class that has just started to build in Hungary. I’d been waiting too long for this school to emerge in Hungary and I always knew that if once it happens, it would be in Villány. It’s pure liquid vanilla with some floral notes here and there, delivered in the finest silky texture supported by very gentle acidity, yet in a firm body. It’s an engineering masterpiece. Score: 6+/7- points

I took some nice pictures of Andrássy avenue on my way to Buda after the festival. They’re here, if you wanna have a look at  Budapest’ (and probably one of the worlds’)  most beautiful main avenue viewed by a drunk photographer.