A charming little house on a mini-estate of 2.5 hectares with south-western exposure above Balatonudvari is where up and coming Skrabski Fruzsina’s wines are made (by, or with the isgnificant aid of Zoltán Kurucz winemaker, for the record).

It’s a good reference winery for me because the small (if Skrabski’s estate is “mini-” then we can call it nano-) land I almost bought 2 years ago is just a few hundred meters away. The land I was bidding for was only 0.5 hectar with 8 rows in total, of which the 2 on the side closer to Tihany yielded tremendous Pinot Gris according to the seller, so much better than the next row 2 meters away! If that’s true then those few hundred meters could mean a whole world apart in terms of quality and style but still, it feels like this could have been my wine (were not it made of Olaszrizling, of course). Now you can imagine my excitement!

This Olaszrizling comes in a nice bottle and with a medium-pale lemon yellow color. Fresh nose with apple here. Tight, cool and fresh style on the palate too with a light minerally accent. Well balanced at this point. Unfortunately the wine seems structurally a bit unstable and all the aroma disappears as well after some exposure to air, quickly losing most of it’s charm.

With a little improvement in the cellar and in the vineyards, a bit better pricing and the continued availability of these nice bottles from the shelves of a well known retailer will certainly ensure success for the winery.

Score: 4-

Price: HUF 1 700