The stunning view from the sheer slopes of Lovas’s Öreghegy alone is worth the almost off-road-like experience leading to the estate. It’s still about 4 hectares, two thirds owned by the winery and just like last June, are perfectly clean of weeds revealing the red sandstone soil sparkling in the sunset.
Until recently all the work in the estate from planting to bottling had been done by Ernő Jakab and his wife. Today they temporarily employ locals for some of the viticultural tasks and although owner Vági’s friends are a usuful help in harvesting, the work carried out by the Jakabs is enormous and also includes cutting back the lavendel bushes and some less enchanting exercises like washing the wine bottles (they come arguably clean but they cannot risk, so every single bottle is washed again).The labels are still missing from most bottles but that’s because of their constant fight with the graphic designer who while belatedly delivered the deisgns didn’t like them himself and refused to hand them over to the winery.
In the cellar, the stainless steel tanks and the small oak barrels look familiar (there’s not much else in the cellar except the press and the destemmer). Although they don’t mention it anywhere, their methods are more artisan than many wineries’ who are labelling themselves artisan winemakers. There’s very little intervention in the winemaking process and that sometimes results unexpected wines, or sherry in the case of Olaszrizling from 2009 which is still undergoing fermentation in a small steel tank. When Szürkebarát (better known as Pinot Griggio or Pinot Gris in the rest of the world) is left for 3 days in contact with its lee they call it schiller or rosé, depending on the color of the wine they get (it gave us a Szürkebarát rosé in 2008 and a schiller in 2009, as we shall see, but in fact it’s netiher this nor that, although it’s really closer to a schiller actually than to a white wine). According to one winemaker who visited the cellar their dill-flavoured Juhfark is also derived from a wine fault and since most people like it wihtout the dill aroma (which is gained through maturing in oak) today most of the Juhfark is aged in steel. I like the dill version better. I would guess that this is the wine region with the most Juhfark after Somló (although the amount is still low, both proportionally and in absolute terms). I noticed this at Balatonfüred woine festival too but these efforts, I regret to inform you, are seldom very successful (I was recommended Fodorvin’s Juhfark recently, itfailed to impress me).
Yields are high, in spite of the distance between rows (2.5m), 5 kilos of grape are the standard per vine. And we came to a very interesting point here. The white wines are harvested relatively early, mostly, resulting in thin, acidic, ultra-fresh Juhfark, Olaszrizling and Chardonnay (the latter is often aged in barrel, but not using new ones). Olaszrizling is sometimes harvested late, resulting in dry white wine rich in alcohol or semi-sweet wine, rich in residual sugar. In 2010, Levendula’s Olaszrizling Late Harvest from 2007 was awarded “Csúcsbor”, the highest recognition given by the judges of Pannon Bormustra (I wrote about this wine here). This move puts this wine (deservedly, no doubt) into the same league with big guns like Tornai’s Grófi selections and Figula’s Szilénusz, but for a fraction of the price (a thousand forints or so). Something to think about.
Cabernet Sauvignon, the only red varietal is always harvested relatively late, when grapes are properly ripe. This results in exceptionally good red wines in some years (like their first one in 2006) and simply good wines in the others, like in 2008 and 2009, although the latter’s still in barrels (but they’re on sale already, as we shall see).
Since I usually don’t publish my tasting notes taken in the cellar, I hereby share with you my notes of only bottle which I opened later. Other notes will follow.
Review: Szürkebarát, Schiller, 2008
It’s cherry red with faded salmon reflections or faded salmon with brassy reflections, depending on where you look at it from.
Raspberry on the nose with some burnt sugar but with an increasing presence of caramel and strawberry soon.
Small bodied, it tastes unripe cherry supported by slightly harsh acidity. Give it 30-40 minutes and it’ll become more integrated into a rather stony minerally character. That’s when it reaches 4 points or a bit more.
Score: 4+ points
Price: HUF 800, or similar
Ernő (we’re on the first name after the inevitable handshake) says he’d plant the whole area with red varietals if he could start it again. Vines are still young (mostly from 2001) so there’s little chance this would happen soon. It’s a pitty, I’d love to taste a Lovasi Merlot or a Cabernet Franc.
