Staring at Etyeki Kúria’s Magyar Vándor 2007 I’m thinking about how I tend to freak out when I see a red wine, especially for under HUF 4 000 from Mátraalja, Somló or sometimes even red areas. So imagine the flash when some kind of positive surprise hits you in this condition. Take this wine for instance, it didn’t only take tartness out of the equation but added minerality to it. Now you’re talking!

Don’t expect this wine look any better than you’d think! You won’t like it: it’s pale blurred ruby with a brownish and pinkish add-on, forget about it.

The nose is empty, quite literally. The palate, however, seems well-balanced, smootly textured and well integrated, all Pinot Noir-esque. In an hour or so my glass begins to fill with the wine fault I like the most: salty minerality. It’s very essential to compensate the sweetness deriving from alcohol (14 percent, mate!) which doesn’t burn and doesn’t feel, well, except the sweetness. I’m sure many people would desire more definition to it but I’m fine with the acidity of this wine as well as with the soft, powdery tannins of it.

Good wine, drinks well and fast.

Etyek wasn’t even on the wine map 10 years ago. Today if you want to get to the Etyek Pincefesztivál you need to face a crowd perhaps 25x the population of the village. And today they’re exporting their know how to Sopron.

Score: 5+(/6-) points

Price: HUF 3 500

I just finished off this bottle, left over from before yesterday. I don’t usually keep the bottle open for so long (why would I?), but after  2 days uncorked the wine’s still very good.

This Rajnai’s color is quite dull. But the nose is quite not so much. It’s salted chalky-mineral character is charming, with almond-marzipan notes and a veggie stock accent. Well rounded on the palate, a bit sweet (it’s semi-dry after all) with very subtle acidity which will be more accentueted after 2 hours. Full-bodied but light, elgant but it has a character too - a quite mineral one, with very ripe apple and hints of pear. Soft, silky texture, thirlling. Surprisingly short length. Mature wine, probably at its best.

Score: 6+/7

Price: HUF 3 500

Another blind tasting, another early recongition. Third in a series of Sauvignon Blanc international pairings, this tasting brought a surprising result. Or not.

Springfield Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (from New Zealand) has a clean, very intense Sauerkraut nose. Pretty much that’s all I can tell because this comes with such intensity that no other fingerprint of any aroma can be detected. I was suspecting a wine fault but the wine looks so nice (exactly like Rókusfalvy’s), so well balanced, nicely textured and crisp that I’m not sure. The palate is very similar, with millions of tiny little bubbles. There’s a hint of parsley but otherwise it’s the strangest bacterially fermented cabbage I’ve ever encountered in a wine.

Rókusfalvy Sauvignon Blanc 2007 has an appealing medium corn hue with greenish reflections. Fairly rich although not too intense bouquet with gooseberry and mineral notes.

Salty mineral palate supported by vibrant acidity. Some vegetable notes like nettle, celery and fennel aromas later turning into a more mineral nose, but the palate remains similarly complex too. Although aged in barrique, it  doesn’t feel like that.

Good wine, fairly priced.

Score: 6, 6+

Price: HUF 2 500

So as promised I’m publishing the rest of my notes from Vinagora Borgála now, I couldn’t do it earlier. These are just impressions rather than proper tasting notes anyway, but here they are: as I said, the white wines in general were a bit disappointing this year, but not all of them.

Nyakas Pinot Griggio 2008, for example, was surprisingly good with a fresh, sweet apple, ripe lemon and grapefruit aromas on the nose and on the palate. Scored at around 5-/5 points. Well balanced, medium acidic wine. I was looking forward to Szeremley Kéknyelű 2005 after our recent vertical tasting of previous vintages but it couldn’t improve the average rating. Although it has an interesting, even exciting Kéknyelű character on the nose (not very intense though) with greenish notes, it has a too acidic and too empty palate, firm, with a citrus element but it’s still one of the most overrated white wines of Hungary, it’s unique selling point is the rarity (perhaps for a reason?). Szőke Mátyás Mátrai Szürkebarát 2007 is more attractive with papaya and green walnut bouquet and more subtle acidity on the palate, scoring 5- points now. I expected more from Laposa’s Bazaltbor’s Badacsonyi Riesling 2002 but it was only good. With a citrus, passion-fruit and breadcrumb nose - I expected more minerality. On the palate oaky-vanilla mingle with hints of minerality. 5-, 5 points here. I was positively surprised by Szatmári Szigligeti Zeusz Válogatás 2006, starting with a medium-dark corn hue with nice greenish reflections. Comes with a heavy character of tea and wet hay aromas on the nose, later matte, lavage and a hint of minerality too. The palate is tea mingled with lot of salty-minerality, full and fairly weighty. Burnt almond, praline and caramel, burnt walnut notes with a salty touch. Scores 5+ points. Karádi-Berger Tokaji Furmint 2007 has the most suspicious industrial apple-juice nose ever (from a very specific company in the south of Balaton), with some litchi and a sour-sweet accent. The palate is the same apple-juice. Interesting.

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

These are quick notes from sampling almost the whole sortiment of Dimenzió and some other equally lesser known wineries. Honestly, now I think I may have overrated some of them. 

Velezvin – Etyek-Budai Zengő, Zenit, Zefír Cuvée

Question of the day: in your opinion, how did the winemaker came up with the idea of marrying Zengő, Zenit and Zefír varietals?

I don’t know the answer either but I’m suspecting he or she did not have zweigelt in the vinyard. And for good(?).

No useful information can be found about Velezvin on google – but that’s OK because very little can be found about my blog too so it doesn’t mean it can’t be good.

Indeed, in spite of the sulphits, the nose brings pleasant elements such as acacia and other floral notes. On the palate lot of residual sugar and less than medium acidity. Medium body.

Score: 4-

Dimenzió - Igéző, 2007

A Furmint with 13% alc.

Pale golden color. The nose is very moderate and so is the body. Very short finish, almost no acidity but dry. Very thin.

Score: 3+/4-

Dimenzió - Révület, 2007

A Hárslevelű with 13% alc.

Now this one has a more intense nose of typical Hárslevelű notes. It has almost no acidity at all even for such a small body. I like the peach element on the palate though. The body’s just a tiny bit bigger than the Furmint’s.

Score: 4-

Benedek – Sauvignon Blanc, 2007

This could be a promising wine but it has no acidity at all to support the almost 14% alcohol, and I mean it. So let’s skip this one.

Dimenzió – Bűbáj, 2007

It’s a Kékfrankos rosé. I didn’t take notes but someone wrote into my notebook a short note for herself reminding her to buy one bottle of this.

Dimenzió – Csízió, 2007

Woody, wet grass, heavy nose, not fresh, with some hey undertone which is not bad. Unstable structure, small body.

On the palate spicy, mostly clove.

Score: 3+/4-

Dimenzió – Nimrud, 2007

This Kékfrankos has a messy brick color.

The nose is wet sand, clay. Quite thin and perfume-y.

Very tannic compared to it’s rather thin body. There’s some oil element too and a tart finish.

Score: 3/3-

Dimenzió – Virtus, 2007

The nose brings a Cabernet-ish leather character.

On the palate a leather, tart element is not mad more pleasant by the harsh tannins. Unpleasant tannic finish to the small body. Very dry.

Score: 3/3-

Dimenzió – Sámán, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007

Score: 3

Nyakas, Budai Sauvignon Blanc, 2006

This wine is like a Caipirinha without cachaca and with some extra lime.

Grass dominates its smell and its taste, besides wet hay. Plus lot of unripe peach. Loads of acid.

Score: 3+

Price: EUR 7.5