Last weekend was a typical late October Saturday weather so we decided to go for the red wines after a short warm-up with what was supposed to be the best Királyleányka out there (according to our wine merchant friend, but perhaps the meaning has lost in translation).

Bolyki’s Királyleányka 2008 is a very pale of its kind, almost watery. Very closed on the nose with hints of apple aroma. Brutal acidity on the palate, very fresh, harsh with unripe gooseberry and grapefruit notes. Thick wine with young acidity, bringing back not too far memories of Levendula wines.

Score: 3+/4-

Price: HUF 1 100

Ebner Cabernet Franc 2007 has deep purplish color and a nice move. Very closed on the nose only opening a little bit after an hour with chocolate aroma. On the palate dense but a bit one dimensional, rather small-medium bodied. This dischotomy also aplies to the tannin which is powdery and hard in the smae time. The palate has a plum character. Pleasant to drink, but a bit too pricy.

Score: 4+/5-

Price: HUF 3 000

I’ve been very much looking forward to the Pók Tamás/Kovács Nimród Winery - Nimród 3 (I I I) 2003. I liked the Nimród 2 for its soft heaviness. Nimród 3, named modestly after the cash-man behind the Monarchia brand has a deep ruby color. Quite closed nose, at least more closed than I expected, with aged ham and red meat elements and later fine dark chocolate. The same flesh character on the palate supported by very rounded, subtle acidity and velvety, soft and slightly oily tannins. The wine wouldn’t open even after two hours. Dense, but not intensive, with hints of cherry aromas. The wine has an overall soft character. It’s a pleasant wine but ridiculously overpriced. (Only 1500 bottles made).

Score: 6,6+

Price: HUF 15 000 (if you can find one)

Are you thirsty for a 4 Puttony Aszú on a hot spring afternoon but you cannot risk an alcoholic drink? Perhaps the price scares you a bit these days? Going to a local grocery store makes you feel sick and only your wine merchant’s store eases your pain caused by consumerism? Then try out Andreas Ebner’s apple juice! I swear it has Aszú element aromas on the nose and it tastes a bit like wine too. It comes in a funny bottle and you can buy it at Bortársaság. It’s 100% apple fruit and it’s really very tasty and not so sweet as most apple juices out there. For about HUF 500 it’s a very good value for the money.

I liked the  2006 very much. And I’ve found exactly what I expected.

This Sauvignon Blanc has a pale color between water-white and lemon-yellow and a lively, appealing move in the glass.

The nose has a very fresh, citrus aromatic character with what many would call cat’s pee. It’s a relatively complex bouquet with gooseberry and some apple, lime and lemon zest notes.

This wine has a small-medium body, relatively well integrated with fresh, long acidity and a tart element on the finish. On the palate it’s first fresh and fruity (mainly citrus fruits, gooseberry and the grape’s aromas), from the mid-palate it’s long and slightly bitter. It has  very nice texture, firm, almost metallic, but soft and pleasant. At higher temperature the wine has a more bitter character. I prefer it cold and fresh.

This wine is light with a decent depth, drinks very well now but I’m suspecting that it won’t be much better with time. Good value for the money.

Score: 5+

Price: HUF 1 750

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

I started the International Perspective blog entry category for orientation purposes and the most difficult thing about it is finding peer group members in the international space on reasonable ground. I have no strick rules so I thought I just would pick 2 wines (possibly of similar size on territory size parity, for Hungary being quite small) within a certain price range.

This time however I’ve chosen 2 well-known Wachau Riesling wines and tasted them against a relatively unknown Hungarian producer. To be fair, all vintages are widely considered good or outstanding.

I reviewed Szabo Zoltán’s Riesling 2006 recently. It was fresh, with intense floral and grassy nose with a hint of vanilla. On the palate citrus and peppermint, supported by robust, rustic acidity and intense aromas mostlyderiving from long lee contact. And stony minerality. The nose and the palate were in harmony in this full-bodied wine. It has wild but pleasant complexity. It also kept its quality for a day.

Few weeks later I noticed a smoky undertone, some woody accents and unripe apricot.

Score: 6+/7-

Jamek is one of the best-known Wachau winemakers. The Jamek Riesling Jochinger  2007 was brighter than Szabo’s riesling, with crab apple nose. On the palate greenish acidity supporting crab apple, grapefruit and minerality with herbal accents. Very refreshing, still round wine. The traubi-like bitterness provides pleasant freshness along with the young but already elegant acidity. The bouquet is later completed with paraffin.

It’s overall a young, fresh, dynamic wine which is pleasant to drink and has a local character.

Score: 5, 5+

I thought opening a Smaragd would be unfair. So I opened a Domane Wachau Riesling Smaragd Singerriedel 2005 inadvertently. But it turned out to be good because I only noticed my mistake after a few sips and to my biggest surprise I found the followings.

Medium gressy color with greenish reflections. Rich bouquet, intense, lovely floral and fruity nose (mango, citruses, walnut), very elegant, very pleasant to sniff.

Nicely styled on the palate but shows different character, less aromas. A bit woody and bitter with long acidity. Wet grass on the palate much later with minerality. The day after the grass element is even longer and more intense. Almost full body. Good wine but slightly disappointing for HUF 4 500 (EUR 18) against Szabó Zoltán’s HUF 1 500 (EUR 6). 

Score: 6, 6+

Despite a recent disappointment caused by Ebner’s Chardonnay from 2006, I decided to give them another chance and I bought a Portugieser at Bortársaság who put these on sale with 15% discount. With the recent volatility of euro against the forint, this seemed like a bargain at EUR 5,5 a bottle for a wine which received some nice reviews in 2007.

The wine has a quite transparent, but interestingly beautiful plum, bright purple color. It’s also quite lively which indicated its lack of body. Smell is dominated by wood and a hint of red currant and cranberry. Unfortunately this Portugieser is far too thin to my taste. In taste tannins dominate all and it’s not being compensated by body and fruityness at all.

After an hour I can smell a bit of tobacco and chocolate but not enough.

Score: 3+ points

Price: EUR 6,5

I’m confused. I found a statement on the web by Andreas Ebner about their varietals (Cabernet sauvignon 25 %, Cabernet franc 25 %, Merlot 25 %, Pinot noir 25 %) which does not include Chardonnay. I also read somewhere that Mr. Ebner made his 2006 Chardonnay from grapes he bought from other producers. But the label says it differently. Anyway. Mr. Ebner has (with or without Chardonnay) 6.5 hectares in the Mozsgó area, on Nyakashegy to be more precise near Mozsgó. I’ve never been there myself.

This is my last purchase in a row of seeking good value white wines under 5-6 euros a bottle for long, hot summer days. So far with little success (Chardonany, Furmint, and a positive example, a cuvée).

The review

Pale hay color with green reflections. It comes with some bobbles and with a smell of added sulphur dioxide which slowly disappears - too slowly. No floral notes but some aromas. Acids are palpable in the back of the tongue only, lasting not too long. I don’t expect so much acidity without fruity and floral compensation in a Chardonnay. It has a drop of gooseberry though, but altogether it’s a very simple wine with a sensation of added sparkling water. I tasted the Szabó Riesling from the day before, and it’s a whole other world.

This Ebner Chardonnay is perfectly suitable for college people drinking in group having a good time and a simple meal - this wine will definitely not distract the attention from the conversation. I’m really hesitating between 3+ and 4-.

Score: 3

Price: EUR 5

I fell for the hype. Having read the enthousiastic review few days ago on amuva.hu, I did not hesitate too much and I eventually ended up buying the 2 last bottles in the shop. Because this wine is not widely available in Budapest and I bought these two in a bookstore (well, I bought 2 other bottles in their other store a bit farther the same day).

According to a short self-introduction in a hidden corner of the web, Zoltán Szabó is an experimental winemaker currently owning only 2 hectars having mainly Chardonnay, Riesling and Zöldveltelini, plus 10 (!) local varietals from the Kárpát-bassin. He even made Aszú from Riesling for a try.

I couldn’t say I did not have high expectations.

The review

Bright lively hay color and lively moves in the glass.

It’s intense smell is an exotic mixture of fresh grass, minerals and flowers with a hint of tropical fruits, camilla and citrus. It’s almost like not only made of Riesling.

The taste is in sync with the smell but very quickly the acids wash away all other tastes. You have to wait more than an hour to enjoy more the taste and the wine to become a round, full-bodied (for a white) wine. But first citrus and peppermint are dominantand the acids provide a long finish. It also comes with a little bit of bubble sparkling.

Later the minerals become more palpable, almost dominant. At this moment it reminds me of Mandolás Furmint in style but wit more acid of course. Unfortunately the wine’s building blocks start to fall apart after only about 2 hours, but it’s still enjoyable.

For EUR 6, it’s a best buy. For those who like nice acids, this wine scores 0,5-1 points higher than for those who like a more balanced, round wine.

Score: 6+

Price: EUR 6