Following yeasterady’s post about Hungarian sparkling wines, I was a bit reluctant to post about the Champagnes today. Eventually I decided to write a short note about some of the most famous of sparkling wines although these are not proper reviews but some very basic thoughts about three  supposedly very different Champagnes.

Moet Imperial

First in a row was a relatively young Champagne Brut Tradition by Alain Mercier et Fils, an old family-run small estate from Passy-sur-Marne. Darker and weightier than I expected, with deep hay inclined to brownish. This was followed by a Veuve Clicquot Le Grande Dame 1995 and, quite honestly, I didn’t feel the two being so much different at all. Both are quite acidic, thick but firm, well made Champagnes the Veuve having a bit more yeasty bouquet and mouth. Perhaps with a touch more aged feel to it, the Veuve Clicquot was more fruity displaying dried apricot and quince. The third Champage this weekend was a Moet Imperial Brut and, guess what, wasn’t quite a flash either. Basically citrus and apple flowing into a slightly bitter acidic finish wrapped in a decent amont of  pleasant yeast.

All Champagnes were acidic but not in a fresh and crispy way as I expected and were heavier than I thought.

I know one day I’ll regret writing this now but I must admit I cannot see justified the cost of the Veuve (10x of Kreinbacher’s) but it definitely has ten times more beautiful bottle and label than the 5 other sparkling wines of last weekend, combined.

Pinot Noir (I swear I poured it slowly, in an almost horizontal glass and I didn't add any soap to it)

Two mature reds, the other one was a super toscan from Castello Di Fonterutoli called Siepi 1996 side by side today. 

Duennium 2000 of Vylyan is a classic Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot from a classic vintage. 

Unpenetrably dark whatever color, more or less black. Very intense chocolate nose, not so much dark chocolate as simple plain chocolate. With it’s dense appearance and bouquet it evokes memories of that unusually warm and long summer of the year 2000.  The very same feeling’s carried through onto the palate. But unlike many Villányi cuvées and CSs of the late nineties, this wine has velvely tannins and a soft texture (after 15 months in new oak). Later a bit harder in character with still fresh acidity. Full-bodied wine with a medium long finish. Hints of farmyard elements and sweetness, but fundamentally tons of mouthfilling melted chocolate. Remarkably short of fruity notes. 

Score: 6+, 7-

Price: n/a

The Supertoscan is 50% Sangiovese and 50% Merlot. Like Duennium, this blend also has a chocolate character on the nose and on the palate too, in a more restrained way, but also little fruity. 

This is however a slightly thinner wine more of a grippy style, very consistently so even after hours. Very well integrated, better structured, well balanced. Hints of very ripe forest berry fruits. Very firm with good length. It will age well for another 5-10 years.

For most people Brazil is football, samba and Rio. To me, Brazil is an important piece of my past, present and future. It’s my second homeland. But according to my friend Paulo Queiroz, Brazil is also an emerging producer of white wines, especially sparkling wines which are getting better and are already beating foreign competition in value for money in the lower segments, Paulo explains. In an effort to collaborate on certain wine topics, Paulo sent me some thoughts about Brazilian wines some months ago which I now could like to share with you. Why now? It’s overdue actually but I didn’t want to publish it before I write my part for Paulo’s blog nossovinho.com about Hungarian wines. But I was looking at a picture of Ronaldo celebrating the combined 4 x 2 victory of my beloved Corinthians over Internacional in the two final matches of Copa do Brasil (giving the seventh national title to Corinthians only equaled by Flamengo) yesterday and I thought this would be the time. I couldn’t identify the brand which Ronaldo was drinking but I can recommend a couple of other wines based on Paulo’s evaluation.

About Brazilian wines (by Paulo Queiroz, translated by me)

Brazil has about 60 000 hectares of vines which makes it the third largest producer in South-America. Mostly concentrated around the area of  Serra Gaúcha in the southern part of the country, varietals such as Chardonnay, Sémillon, Gewürtztraminer and Riesling of Italy (I’m not sure if this is the same grape as the Hungarian “Olaszrizling” , but I know that Hungarian experts were active in Brazil’s viticulture in the 1990s – admin) are produced on high altitude. The volume of sparkling Brazilian wines have shown tremendous growth in recent years. According to Madia Mundo Marketing the yearly output increased to 14 million liters in 2007 from only 6.6 millions in 2002. The quality of these wines has been improving a lot in the same time resulting in various international awards in Italy and in France. These winners include:

Espumante Garibaldi Moscatel (Gold medal winner of Effervescents du Monde (Dijon, France))

Clean and appealing with numerous medium-sized bubbles and with terrific foam shape of bright color with greenish reflections. The nose has clean and powerful aromas of melon and passion-fruit and white floral notes with a hint of honey. It has a delicate and clean palate, with good balance of sugar and acidity and elements of ripe citrus fruits.

Amadeu Brut Rose (Silver prize from Effervescents du Monde)

Made using Champagnoise method, it has a lovely cherry color with intense aromas of red fruits like strawberry. With good acidity on the palate, the wine goes well with many foods. Made of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.

Still in the southern region of Bento Gonçalves from Rio Grande do Sul state (serra Gaúcha) there are several good options of red wines too. Salton Talento 2004 is an intense red wine with light and inviting aromas on the nose, even sweet a little bit with a hint of wood. On the palate it’s all different, intense, perfumed, with a bit too aggressive tannins and a bitter finish. Made of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Tannat. Aged in oak barrel for 12 months and 12 months in bottle.

All three wines (and more from Brazil) are available in Europe.

I’d like to thank to Paulo for his contribution and congratulate for his great blog.

Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite grapes and I believe that Hungary would be able to produce good Sauvignon Blancs but so far little effort has been made to fill in a gap on the market left by a virtually non-existing supply of foreign wines, including SB. Where is Hungarian Sauvignon Blanc standing compared to its European and new world competitors? Do we stand a chance as long as quality is concerned, especially when price is taken into account? Is New Zealand really better than France? Should Hungary destroy all its SB plantations once and for all? Are we ever going to export Sauvignon Blanc?

We’ll not necessarily give an answer to these questions, perhaps we’ll be only scratching the surface but at least we’ll try: Peter from borwerk.de and I decided to try to taste as many Hungarian SBs as we can put our hands on and taste each of them in pair with a foreign Sauvignon Blanc. Here’s the first sprint’s result.

Domaine Des Corbillieres is a family winery from the Loire (Sologne wine region) near Blois, Tours and Chambord (boy, do I love the Loire castles!) with a long history and consisting today of 23 hectares of which 13 are Touraine Blanc Sauvignon. 2008 was excellent year in Touraine, on the South-bank of Loire. The Touraine 2005 was a Wine Advocate 90 points wine.

2007 was a year in Balaton described by many winemakers as “rather difficult” but the Figulas didn’t complain. So let’s see.

The tasting was blind but not for long. After the first sniff when our noses got near the glass there were no secrets any more.

The Touraine has pale lemon color with greenish reflections. Very intense nose, soft and gentle with lot of litchi, papaya and maracujá (passion fruit) aromas. On the palate very fresh and firm with lot of grip, metallic (and grapefruit flavored) acidity and perfectly integrated structure. Crisp, buoyant, young but elegant acidity with a salty accent, flowing into a virtually endless finish. Very zippy wine. Goodness, what a wine this is for the price of a small pizza.  Score: 6+/7-

In my eyes it’s a real bargain not just for everyday drinking.

The sauvignon Blanc from Balatonfüred (Balatonszőlős, actually) has a slightly deeper hue and a it’s closed on the nose with green apple, salt cured and spiced Iberian ham (or pancetta?) and veggie soup notes, definitely more closed than the Touraine. Shows also little on the palate with some greenish freshness and veggie notes with a softer texture. Medium acidity but structurally much inferior to Touraine. Score: 4

The wines, believe it or not, are both priced at around HUF 1800 even with the recently week forint and shipment cost included (well, the Touraine was brought from Germany free of shipment cost, but still). I always feared that I’d been a little bit biased in favor of Figula which may have been the case but this blind tasting reveals I’m afraid what the real value of this wine is.

Touraine Corbillieres facts sheet andquotes from their website:

GRAPE VARIETY
-Sauvignon blanc

AGE OF VINE
-13 to 43 Years

TYPE OF SOIL
- Sand on a clay bed of the Sologne region.

VINE GROWING

-No chemical fertilizer, only organic matter, controlled production by a very strict debudding. Leaves thinned out.

PRODUCTION METHOD

-Steeping for 1 month with natural ferments, at a temperature of 16 – 18º, then left to lie until spring.

WINE TASTING

-Delicate and with a floral aroma, this wine is rich and fruity, well balanced and give a lasting freshness to the palate.

SERVING METHOD

Goes well with Asparagus, fish and all shellfish
Serving temperature 10º.

That I know little about Viognier grapes is an understatement and we Hungarians have a handicap in learning about it. Incidentally I bought one in the Lubéron which is very close to where this grape’s the most famous in the old world. I also happened to pick a Viognier at Klassz restaurant the other day so now I had a chance to at least try to learn something about this wine which is supposed to be easy to like.

So the Heimann winery’s Viognier from 2007 had an appealing medium-deep golden color and a not too intense, floral nose with a papaya undertone. On the palate a blend of tropical fruit aromas stand alone. Not acidic nor has it particularly lot of residual sugar, indeed, it’s very dry and the 14% alcohol isn’t disturbing either. The wine still has a bit less than medium body but a very short finish. Despite the shortcomings it’s still an enjoyable wine wroth 4+ points.

After I hadn’t been sure about whether I had a real Viognier experience yet I opened the Chateau Blanc’s Viognier, Vieilles Vignes of 2004. The name tells us that the grape was harvested from old vines and I have on doubt. I bought the wine at the cellar from the owner himself and I’ve left the winery full of good impressions (further enhanced by the enchanting paysage, several square kilometers covered in lavender slightly curved by the breeze coming from the Mont Ventoux’s direction in the sunshine…). The yield was less than 30 hectoliters per hectare. The ripe grapes were picked with hand. The juice underwent malolactic fermentation in the barrique and daily stirring of the lee (battonage). Left in the oak for 6-8 months and bottled in spring 2005.

The medium deep golden color is similar to the Heimann’s. The nose, on the other hand, is very different: full of very intense perfume of floral aromas and this intensity will last for at least 24 hours (when I finished the bottle). But not a usual floral note as it can be found in other wines too, this is something different I cannot really describe mingled with vanilla and a stewed apple undertone.

The palate shows an oaky vanilla dominance with a similar floral character as the nose. Now, it became obvious that this wine’s over its peak and not just because of low level of acidity and the imbalance caused by it but the palate could be fresher, plus it also could have less residual sugar to deal with. The finish is short and this wine has more vanilla than anything else. Very little of the grape. I beginned to think that I was sensing fresh sawdust impregnated with fine vanilla. Today this wine deserves no more than 4 points which is a pitty because I’m sure it sused to be more only a year ago. So the EUR 8,95 is not so much for it after all.

The reason behind the very few posts this months is twofold: first, I’ve had enough of wines in late December when I drank a lot not having too much else to do. Then I tried to put myself back on the old track of opening3-4 bottles a week but after 2 major disappointments I really felt like giving up on wines for a while. Then my wife and I landed in London for our annual trip there where I got myself into the usual pub tour, this time the Camden-Soho axis extended towards the south bank. On the third day not so surprisingly as now I recon I begun to thirst for wine, and white wines in particular (the latter must be a Pavlovian conditional reflex I developed over 2008). One thing I discovered in London is that not just beer, but coffee also increases the thirst for wine. Well, in my case at least. The crunch menus and promotions, which became so popular in the UK helped a lot. Although I didn’t see any decrease in pub goers in London, arguably the industry’s hit hard by the current economic downturn and they’re fighting against it by 5 pound fish and chips and 1 pound pints of ale. I didn’t see any of the latter (and believe me my efforts were enormous) but I read that this turned out to be a major success, financially too. Now back in Hungary, unlike in London I don’t see any sign of crunch or falling consumer spending, therefore retailers don’t try to please me with attractive discount as they do in Vienna, for instance. Luckily for Hungarian winemakers, Hungarian consumers will continue to buy the domestic offering instead of visiting Vienna (only 250 kms from Budapest, 60 kms from the border) and purchase some of the best wines of the world at a bargain price.

I don’t easily give up and I don’t like to withdraw. But the cold sake I had at Okonomi Yaki in London represented my mood quite literally: I’m overflowed. And not just Xmas season-like. I decided to give Hungarian winemakers and merchants another year to seduce me with good to excellent wines at a reasonable, by which I mean competitive price. I don’t know how the current pricing’s been sustainable so far (it’s almost impossible to buy a decent Hungarian red wine under 7 000 forints, or EUR 35), but if the recession can not change this than what could?

Stocking Hungarian wines is a bit of a lottery still: during the summer I opened two Gere from the classic year of 2000, one of them (Kopár) was excellent just as I expected but the Cabernet Sauvignon Barrique which was supposed to be the robust, oaky Cabernet of Gere had been falling apart (although the two have never even been in the same league).

Now I opened a Vylyan Chardonnay 2003 which every year was sold with a discount when the new vintages took over the shelves so I couldn’t expect too much improvement from it by now. But in fact, it wasn’t bad after all which makes the durability of wines a bit of mistery to me which was further augmented by a Concha Y Toro Chardonnay from the Casillero Del Diablo series also from 2003. Although having very different character, never having such acidity as the Vylyan (which itself has a relatively low level of it with Hungarian standards) but having had a bigger body and more residual sugar it aged relatively well, or at least didn’t disappoint me so much as the Gere C.S. The Chilian wine had bright, deep golden color and oily move, and an incredibly intense tutti-frutti nose with floral notes and a honey undertone – fresh! Very aromatic but had a deepness, with several vertical layers still. The palate showed more of its age especially that all its acidity had gone, literally, although it was still enjoyable as a drink but not as much as a wine. The Vylyan Chardonnay which would have scored probably around 4 points which would qualify it as a decent wine for appr. HUF 1 400 or so today, lost even less from its values and would be still around 3+ points which is relatively good for a wine which was never meant to be consumed later than 2004.

Note: all wines were kept in the same cellar since their purchase. I know, in a place with humidity visibly above the desirable.

I know that I’m gonna regret this post, sooner or later.

I always wondered how could possibly professional wine writers/critics/bloggers stay objective without being biased by their personal taste. As one can’t like the Sex Pistols and Mozart the same way, I can’t imagine how anyone could fall in love with a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay, in the same time. I must admit that Grüner Veltliner has always been my Mozart and I kept underscoring Grüner Veltliner wines until I realized that I’d been always searching something else in it whilst I didn’t appreciate its strengths. Well, at least not appreciating enough. And I’m afraid I still don’t but by now I’m at least confident enough to write and publish my notes and thoughts about Grüner Veltliner. About the choice, I got the Monarchia Grüner Veltliner from a UPC employee, apparently less fun of wines than myself (UPC employees get Monarchia wines as Xmas gift on a regular basis, since UPC central Europe’s executive actually owns Monarchia winery) and I bought the Domane Wachau Grüner Veltliner Smaragd when I was in Wien chasing some good Wachau Rieslings and other stuff from that corner of the Danube. So here’s my finding.

Monarchia – Grüner Veltliner, 2006

As you would expect, I almost thrown out the whole bottle after the first sip, yep the old reflexes had been working  yet.

Rather deep golden color. I sensed mostly sulphites on the nose with some elusive unpleasant undertone. On the palate apple note is fighting the sulphites’ heavy cavalry, or something alike, supported by an unpleasant bitterness. I would not venture to call it acidity although the wine’s structure’s not as bad as it seems. And it has a body. It1s just that the body is very ugly to my taste.

Score: 3+

Price: about HUF 1 500

Domane Wachau – Grüner Veltliner, Achleiten, Smaragd, 2006

Pale, shiny golden color with zillions of tiny bubbles. The wine has a very pleasant nose, although difficult to describe. Vinious and resembles most the Hungarian Traubi soda with early spring floral undertones and at some point, stick of celery. Not overly intense and light bouquet.

On the palate the same vinious-Traubi soda elements play a key role besides the long bitterness. The typical Grüner Veltliner character is made more pleasant by its elegance, compared to the Monarchia wine. I like especially the start, but then this character with its gooseberry aroma isn’t convincing enough for me.

The most positive about the wine is the structure. This, and its elegance make it more attractive to me than Monarchia’s Grüner Veltliner from 2006.

Score: 5

Price: EUR 16

I know that one day I’ll become a fan of Grüner veltliner. But not just yet.

Chateau Blanc – Á mon pere, 2004

I bought this wine at Roussillon few years ago in Lubéron, at the Ventoux mountains which is a quite impressive landscape in Provence and the owner of the winery was an extremely friendly nice guy I forgot thename of (the one who dedicated the wine to its father). If you’re visiting CdP, perhaps you should take these few kilometers and visit one of the best kept secrets of Provence.

The wine has a deep ruby color with purplish reflections. Beautiful, intense and it has a lively move in the glass. The wine has a not very intense, but elegant fruity bouquet mingled with dried spices and a good deal of minerality. I love its complexity and its deepness. There is a woody element in it too in the back. As it opens more, sour cherry stewed in cognac on the nose.

On the palate it’s medium full with blueberry and nectarine with berry fruit sour acidity which is enough, although too short. It has a sour cherry finish with long burning alcohol. The wine is very dry with soft tannins. I like very much the vinious character which is always present.

The next day with a smoky nose and a little bit bitterness on the palate the wine could almost keep its good shape.

I would put this wine into the same league with Ráspi’s Mágus Cuvée from 2006 in terms of price, value and character.

Score: 6-/6

Price: EUR 10,5 (at the producer)

Following another pointless debate about József “Ráspi” Horváth as a person and his wines on a well-known Hungarian blog, I’ve decided to open a bottle of his wines to validate my notes that I took a few weeks ago when I visited his restaurant in Fertőrákos.

Mágus Cuvée is an above entry-level wine (price-wise) but not cheap at all. My perception is that Ráspi wine prices tend to correlate with the number of bottles left and to a much lesser extent with their quality. So this wine could be any good or bad, although the fact that many of his wines from 2006 have long sold out made me suspicious. Here I must criticize his practice of sometimes selling the whole lot to a single person or a small group of people and putting on general sale some less-fancied wine by these groups at a relatively high price. Still, he was complaining about the mortgages he took, claiming to be very poor for putting only 30 000 bottles on sale a year from 21 hectares which indicates a very high limitation indeed.

I put this wine in par with a Chianti Classico which has the same price and I had it just the day before.

The review

Ráspi – Mágus Cuvée, 2006

The bouquet has very rich aromas of elegant berry-fruit at opening. After only 30 minutes the nose will remain intense but full of paprika and a smoky element.

The wine feels much older on the palate with silky tannins and round acidity. You have to give it 2 hours and it will open more, with the nose full of smoke and a chalky character mingled with Asian spices and on the palate ripe cherry in a rather big body. It has a long, mineral finish with a slightly burning alcohol – but due to my high tolerance of it I’m not disturbed by it. And it still opens more, becoming more intense in all aspects. The spices, especially white pepper are surprisingly fresh. 2-3 hours after opening the bouquet is still powerful with fat, dark soil in the middle. It drinks well in large gulps with a very pleasant, mouth-filling minerality.

Score: 6 points

Price: HUF 2 860/ EUR 11

Lamole Di Lamole, Chianti Classico Riserva, 2004

I bought my frist bottle of Lamole di Lamole near Gaile in Chianti, in the picturesque hills at Lamole di Lamole. I was impressed by the fruits coming from the bottle then and now that the wine is available at a local merchants on sale, I decided to try to put the Ráspi cuvée against this Chianti Classico Riserva, for they now have practically the same price.

Cherry-ruby color with purplish, rosé rim. Intense fresh sour-cherry aromas at decanting. Later in the glass Asian spice-driven bouquet with turmeric, curry and chili oil. Later the spices mingle with fine tobacco.

On the palate crispy acidity and young, fresh, still nice tannins are providing the backbone for the medium body with a leather undertone.

The day after the tannins become smoother, the spices even more complex and the palate adding pure fine 95% chocolate and minerality.

Score: 5+/6- points