Blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Olaszrizling and Riesling, this wine is pale lemon yellow. Fairly fruity on the nose, light and fresh. On the palate it’s small-medium bodied with fresh, young and crisp acidity which will smoothen with time. Fair amount of pear and apple over a thin layer of vegetable notes of parsley and kohlrabi. A light scratchy tartness at the finish.

Wine producer of the year 2010. Why 2010? Unofficially, the prestigious award of local relevance is given to different region each year and last year it was Southern Balaton’s turn. My understanding is that, taking the all-important lobby out of the equation, of the few notable winemakers of the region, Légli Ottó has the longest proven track record of predictable quality.

I may be wrong but to me Légli is still a white wine producer, indeed, in spite of some very decent efforts lately (Ikon Evangelista, 2007, to give you a for instance), the whole Southern Balaton region is for the time being a white region to me.

Légli Ottó – Szőlőslaki Chardonnay, 2009

Clean and vibrant lemon yellow hue, with many tiny bubbles. Lively nose of fresh and ripe apple. Light weight palate packed with fruity aromas of apple and traces of elderberry around a core of tingling acidity. There may be some residual sugar here which is lovely with the light saltiness underneath the broad character. Good length.

Fairly priced at HUF 2 400.

Rosé wines come and go these days as temperature stabilises above 25 degrees in the evenings but I’m losing my appetite for them this summer. I’ve become a fan last year, well, many years ago in Provence actually but I dared to admit it only last year. My scores don’t seem to reflect my preferences but that’s not relevant. And in the past few days bottles of Légli Ottó, Kreinbacher and Szőlőskislaki Bormanufaktúra all marked their presence in my glass but only the latter did leave good remembrances really and even that wasn’t so impressive. Is it me or the vintage 2009 I don’t know. But I miss the good rosé wines of the previous years.

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

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