Lovely nose, very attractive indeed and fairly complex too. Very fresh, with dry cut grass, thyme but mainly rosemary mingled with fresh nettle tea. It doesn’t stop there, releasing citrus notes with a perfum-y character adding a ripe apple accent. Well integrated, vibrant acidity and a juicy character on the palate with a salty, chalky mineral undertone. There’s a hint of bitterness from the mid-palate but that’s alright. Lower-medium body, good length, drinks very well and quickly and it’s almost as good when it warms up to room temperature as chilled.

One of the best Hungarian Sauvignon Blancs I’ve ever had and it’s definitely a good value for the money.

Score: 6+/7- (now I would even say 7, but I always publish the fresh impression)

Price: HUF 3 000

Ikon is a joint venture of some members of the Hungarian wine community including János winemakeroftheyear2008 Konyári, now with an area of 39 hectares in the southern Balaton region.

The review

Bright golder yellow hue. The nose is primarily Chardonnay, light, lovely, warm, with hints of vanilla (not oaky) and herbs.

A surprsingly mouthfilling wine but in a very oily way with a rather sweet appeal. Soft, silky texture. Light aromas of ripe apple and wild pear and hints of melon without remarkable depth. Very subtle acidity for a relatively fat wine. But that glycerin will feel more integrated after only a few minutes already.

This wine’s very much unlinke the 2007 as described on the winery’s website. But it’s very enjoyable.

Score: 4+/5- points

Price: HUF 1 100

This Olaszrizling has a liquid gold hue in the glass. On the nose intense salty minerality and fresh plum (surprisingly mineral for a wine coming from chalky-loess soil, fuelling the debate over whether rocky-mineral soil is responsible for this feature of certain wines).

Less minerality on the palate, greens instead, with notes of lovage, boiled parsley and green nutmeet mingled with a bitter element, supported by vibrant, curvy acidity which could be better integrated. Remains salty however. Good length, with some bitterness at the end. Fairly complex, but could be more elegant. 

Score: 6 points

Price: HUF 2 900

Arriving from a forgotten corner of the cellar, I had no idea what this wine cost or what to expect from it. I wasn’t really impressed by the better known more prestigious wines of Konyári but 2000 was a great year (see previous post). 

This is a very dark wine with a black core and a terra cotta rim. Very dense material, nice bouquet of dark chocolate, cherry and hints of blueberry. Very nicely textured, silky and velvety, dense but not fruity. There’s a tart element flowing into a rather long finish. Very dry wine and it remarkably misses almost any acidity whatsoever, only the velvety tannins are underpinning the large body. Whatever this wine has it’s very well integrated, soft and pleasant, so it’s an overall interesting experience. The same cuvée from 2007 is still available and at it’s price this is a very fair value for the money and easily the best buy from Konyári. 

Score: 4+(/5-)

Price: HUF 1 300

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.

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.

This Chardonnay from 2007 by Légli has medium golden color, very bright.

The bouquet is surprisingly simple: the fruitiness is virtually unnoticed and there’s an unpleasant note which first I suspected was an initial joke of sulphites. But it’s not much different on the palate: a chalky-mineral element there but little else. The nose will have a fading floral character after a while. In spite of the shortages the wine has a relatively good balance of acidity and residual sugar for it has little of both. But at least it has a good texture. This wine has a shockingly short finish and before that only a faded mix of crab apple and other unripe continental fruits to offer.

I expected more from someone who’s said to be a Chardonnay specialist. Something like a lighter version of the applauded Légli Landord, 2007.

Score: 4

Price:  HUF 2 200

Ottó Légli has, in total, 33 ha vineyards mostly on the small hills of the Balatonboglár region. According to his credo, his aim is to make the wine express the utmost harmony of natural values of the wine such as fruitiness, acidity, freshness and of dedicated human efforts.The vine composition of the plantations is as follows:

Chardonnay 7,7 ha, Olaszrizling 5 ha, Rajnai Rizling 4,8 ha, Sauvignon Blanc 3,6 ha, Pinot Noir 4 ha, Merlot 2 ha, Kékfrankos 1 ha, Pinot Blanc 0,5 ha, Rizlingszilváni 0,4 ha, Muscat Ottonel 0,3 ha, Irsai Olivér 0,3 ha, Zenit 0,3 ha, Zöldveltelini 0,2 ha, under reconstruction 2,9 ha.

I picked an affordable middle-range wine (he produces wines for the budget consumers as well as for the wealthy Hungarians, and a range in between). I was a bit disappointed lately with the lower-end sortiment, so I’ve been looking forward to the more expensive range with mixed expectations.

Légli - Landord, 2007

Medium yellow-golden color, clean and bright and the wine has an appealing move in the glass.

This Chardonnay has a very attractive nose: intense, but very elegant acacia honey with floral edge. Very refreshing. It has a mouth-filling presence on the palate too with grapefruit and other citrus elements, supported by round, fresh, elegant acidity. Remarkable, excellent balance. More than medium bodied with a nice structure with a good deal of salty-minerality making it even more exciting, completed by an apricot aroma undertone. Complex, but not heavy wine, although heavy enough to accompany the 14% alcohol. The acids are lovely and they’re trimming well the residual sugar.

Later the nose will have a marzipan note too and the palate a more Chardonnay vinous character.

The smart use of polished oak is interesting and pleasant.

This is the last great Chardonnay in a row of three in only a few months. The three came from 3 different regions in the small Hungarian land. The three are priced around HUF 3 000 which, of course, qualifies them for best buy. Something to think about.

Score: 7, 7+

Price: 3 500 (on sale, normally 4 000)

What a modest title. I came up with it in only 1 minute of thinking. In my defense: it’s search-engine friendly and it’s true, from my perspective. Anyway, here’s the almost complete list of tasted wines and their score from 2008.

One remark, except the festival notes, all reviews were written based on at least 1/2 bottle of wine tasted by me alone over several hours, at least once over this period. Even wines presented in quick notes. Any occasional exception was mentioned in the given post, but they were maximum 2 or 3, if any.

Tasting Scores 2008

Wine Festival

Tasting Scores

Maybe Szekszárdwill be the region producing the most new world kind of Cabernet Sauvignons and red wines in general in Hungary. Maybe people will like it but one thing is certain: Hungary’s consumers and wineries have been so far resisting to the trends and to styles coming from overseas shaping the world’s wine taste. Maybe these wines will not provide Szekszárd the competitive edge but neither did Kadarka. So why not give it a try. Konyári did. Others did too, Eszterbauer is actually more Californian now than Hungarian as long as his style is concerned. But instead of further generalizing let’s get to the short review of Konyári’s Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.

The review

Medium deep ruby color with black beet reflections. The wine has a quick move in the glass.

The nose is not intense and not as rich in fruit as I expected. But it has a cherry aroma in it and a very new world-y vinious character. On the palate this medium-bodied wine has medium acidity with a sloe fruit element and little else. It’s young, fresh tannins are pleasant though. The wine, however, is “empty”. It’s enjoyable but without any rich aromas of fruit, minerality, leather or whatever you’d expect from a Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s balanced, has a thin but good structure, it’s good to drink and it’s relatively fairly priced.

Score: 4-

Price: HUF 1 500