I wasn’t exactly a Hárslevelű fan until I met this one here, although it was a late harvest version. I’ve been looking forward to Somlói Apátsági Hárslevelű since I first met this small winery from south-eastern Somló in March at the Somló Tavasz wine event at Festetics Kastély. I was impressed by the mineral, fruity and mouthfilling character of their Olaszrizling, Furmint and Hilla cuvée. That seemed like a very promising start from this experimental and apparently patient winery, established already in 2002 but coming out with their first commercially available sortiment only recently. In March, it looked like they found if not their own style but a path that would potentially lead them to being establishing amongt the most sought after wineries of Somló.

The review

Rather dark golden yellow hue with brownish-brassy reflections. The nose is very intense tea (sweet lemon flavored ice tea actually of a very particular producer) with a heavy mineral undertone and a hint of tobacco, later nutmeg. This set of aromas is translated well on to the palate supported by lot of acidity. The wine has some residual sugar (it’s semi sweet) but with this lot of lemon-grapefruit acidity it feels well balanced, with it’s high concentration of substance including notes of stewed apricot and unripe plum(!). The wine shows some signs of oxidation, intentionally or not (the wine was aged in oak barrels for almost a year). Good length with a slightly appalling tart accent.

This wine clearly has the potential but in 2008 it misses the target, although it shows some very important features of a great wine.

Score: 5 points

Price: HUF 2 500

This Hárslevelű has a very heavy character and I couldn’t drink more than two galsses. It reminded me in character of a Furmint(!) I had earlier this year. I was planning to buy some Árvay wines at the end of the summer then they were aggressively discounted, with 50% off at one of my usual sources. Then I got a call from a friend that a major retailer had the Furmint on sale well under HUF 1 000 and I think he bought the whole lot. Anyway, the notes of the wine have never been published (I do that sometimes, out of lazyness I guess). But that wine had a very similar, heavy, mouthfilling, acidic, mineral character with a tart finish, very much like this Hárslevelű.

My first encounter with Kreinbacher wines didn’t impress me and I still couldn’t get used to their (sometimes overly) high prices although I now at least appreciate their efforts to find Somló’s new old character.

They embraced old grapes through their lower-end label Szent Ilona too. Entry-level cuvée Taposó-Kút is, every year, an Olaszrizling-based blend which in 2006 produced a more Furmint-like character instead. I at least attribute that sour-bitter element on the mid-palate (not at the finish as often seen in Furmint) which is so dominant in this wine to Furmint.

But let’s have a look at the color first: brigh hay hue, not very deep and very lively. Complex, yet friendly floral nose mingled with hints of honey and ripe tropical fruits having a vanilla undertone and a mineral accent. The palate has a mineral and bitter character because of the Furmint I suppose which also leaves its mark on the taste spectrum (along with marzipan).

Aged in mostly used large oak barrels during which the wine had a long contact with the lee (so characteristic to Kreinbacher wines) which is at least partly responsible for the lovely acidity being overshadowed by that bitter taste and texture. This wine would be very exciting without that, but it’s still a very decent effort and a good introduction to this side of Somló.

The wine’s not young and I don’t expect it to get any better with time.

Score: 5 points

Price: HUF 2 500

I stopped by a major Hungarian wine retailer (for the 3rd time this week, I’d call this a trend) to find out there’s a fall sale going on so I had no choice, I bought a couple of selected items. This is the first one of them, originally picked to be paired with Indian meal but ended up as an aperitif.

Not being a huge Tramini fan myself (I’m not sure if Tramini or Zöldveltelini is the one I like less, Irsai Olivér’s certainly beating both, downwards) I thought this was a good choice and Györgykovács always made good, if not excellent Traminis in my opinion.

The nose is very clean, mostly gooseberry flower syrup. The palate is a well balanced mix of lovely acidity and dry extracts. The gooseberry comes thorugh into a mouthfilling, intense falvor of the same bush. There are elements of medicine and herbs too, mingled with a rather interesting thermal water appeal (well, to some, I suppose). Later a gentle acacia-flower-ish element too, which brings back childhood memories of sucking juice from the acacia flower as a kid. And this wine carries mineral lembrances of Somló as well, of course.

Technically, this wine is super. I wish I could appreciate it more.

Interestingly enough to me, the wine gets better as the glass warms up a little.

Score: 5+/6 (people not so distant from this grape would appreciate it more)

Price:

One note: the said retailer has a cool shop near Lánchíd where not even the clerks can ruin the experience. It’s unbelievable we had to wait 20 years to have this in Budapest.

We went on a lazy sunny Sunday afternoon walk with my wife and we eventually landed in Városliget. This time I wasn’t just wandering intuitively but I was focusing on wines I heard of from others or read about (albertgazda might sound familiar to some) instead.

I found Gedeon Rajnai Rizling 2008 a bit dull after the eye-opening tasting last week of German Rieslings but to tell the truth the cheapest was about twice or three times as expensive as this Gedeon Rajnai Rizling. This is a decent wine from a winery I heard about for the first time here, with a pale hue with greenish reflections. What really disappointed was the lack of acidity and body. With ripe continental fruits (a bit tutti-frutti-like) on the nose and a sweet sensation on the palate this was a bit disturbing indeed. Soft texture with a medium-short finish supported by a slightly bitter underpinning. Score: 4-/4 points

Gedeon - Órajnai Rizling 2006 - now this one has more style. With grapes harvested in early December, this is a bright golden yellow wine with clear marzipan nose (maybe not entirely as a consequence of new oak) . It’s gentle, also on the palate with the same marzipan character, not too firm but glycerin sweet with greenish-grassy accents. Score: 5 points (at least)

I  like Tornai wines very much ever since last year’s Somló Tavasz festival. Even the cheap entry-level wines are more than acceptable and of good value for the money. Their premium range took them to the next level, becoming one of my top 3 pics from Somló (if you look at the entire sortiment). Aranyhegyi Olaszrizling 2007 is a Pannnon Bormustra “csúcsbor”.    It has an appealing vibrant ripe corn color and a lovely, dense nose of sage in melted butter. This character continues into a similar palate of similar intensity and loveliness, with quite a lot of substance supported by very subtle acidity, flowing into a soft and seemingly endless finish. Score: 6+/7- points

Béres Lőcsei Furmint 2007 has a bit flinty nose. On the palate a slightly sparkling minerality sliding on butter mingled with tutti-frutti.  Actually what this palate most reminds me of is “robbanócukorka” (blasting candy) from my childhood which were sweet tiny rocks blowing when in contact with the saliva (its discovery was a major milestone in my life). This along with  a mineral character make this an interesting, although not exactly huge wine. Relatively thick. Score: 5 points

Kovács Nimród Winery Chardonnay Battonage 2006 was a great wine reasonably priced. Chardonnay Battonage 2007 seems a bit lighter already in the glass. Very gentle nose with melted butter mingled with papaya and banana. Medium-bodied, grip but silky-soft with very subtle acidity. Very long butter finish with a hint of minerality. Classy. Score: 6+/7- points

I was a bit surprised how similarly three wines of different grape from different wine regions were structured and had similar character (Sauska Chardonnay, KN Chardonnay and Tornai Olaszrizling). Critics will say that these wines show nothing at all of the terroir and where they come from. If you ask me, they show little of the grape either (except maybe Tornai’s).   But these three were by far the most outstanding wines I tasted (which didn’t include most wines on offer, of course).

Impressions about the festival: almost all the wines were served at close to proper temperature. I also noted that about 10% of visitors were foreigners which means hundreds of them (dear organisers, for gods sake, put some english/german speaking staff to the entrances at least). The location is very beautiful and although I wished some people stayed at home (including those on the stage) most people behaved in a civilised way and the nature suffered only minor damages as far as I could tell. And on my way out I bought organic nettle and walnut marmalade which are simply delicious.

I missed Somlói Tavasz Fesztivál this year taking place this last weekend so I decided to open a Juhfark.

Csordás-Fodor is a small but well known winery from Somló. You can’t miss the winery’s relatively big building if coming from Veszprém direction and you immediately notice that this building is located on the almost flat part of the southern slopes. Juhfark is one of the flagship wines of the winery made by chief winemaker Andrónyi László on the 8,5 hectares which today belong to Csordás-Fodor. They’re proud of their recently deployed cellar technology which results fermentation and maturing in steel until some of the wines are moved into large barrels for further aging. This was the case probable of this Juhfark 2007. The wine has deep golden color with brownish reflections. Lot of farmyard elements (including cat pee, yes, in Juhfark) on the heavy nose with hints of pear aroma. Medium-full bodied with a bitter-acidic character. I miss the other components and the freshness here. This wine’s very different from the ones tasted at the Somló évjáratbemutató. Too heavy and already too old without relevant substances. It comes in a nice bottle though. And it doesn’t go too well with green asparagus with anchovies, but that’s not necessarily the wine’s fault.

Score: 2+/3-

Price: HUF 1500

Somló is the smallest wine region we know that but even a week-end wine drinker can name at least 3-4 winemakers from Nagy-Somló and everyone’s heard about Juhfark of course. Now very few wine snobs put against the wall could name just one winery from Ság-hegy and even locals admit that this has to do with quality. I wrote about Dénes Hegybirtok already and I like Dénes Tibor’s experimental approach to winemaking (he hasn’t got any Juhfark but he’s making red cuvées each year) and his handicraft methods (he doesn’t even own the equipment necessary to fully process and put the wines in bottle). I always liked his light, entry-level white wines more than the heavier, more complex wines and I still do if value for money’s concerned.

The tasting notes

Permier Cuvée 2008 is a blend of Ezerfürtű, Olaszrizling, Irsai Olivér and Cserszegi Fűszeres and probably some other dozen varietals in smaller quantities. Semi-dry, with 12g residual sugar - this wasn’t intentional, they just didn’t intervene in nature’s job. This reductive wine’s very pale yellow with greenish reflections and very intense in aromas  on the palate, mostly floral with a pear undertone. Small bodied with too little acidity for a semi-dry wine.

Score: 4, 4+

Premier Cuvée 2007 has a flint and slightly salty nose and unlike it’s newer edition this wine’s very dry. But also pale. Better balanced, this wine has a small body too and with a  shorter finish than the 2008. On the palate this wines has green apple and vegetable notes.

Score: 4+/5-

Olaszrizling 2007 was fermented and aged (for 10-12 months) in 500l oak barrels, of this 5-6 months in contact with the lee! This resulted in a medium deep golden yellow wine, quite bright in the glass. Heavier, sweeter nose with vanilla notes. Also vanilla on the palate mingled with minerality. Nice creamy texture. It’s relatively well-balance with a wet hey undertone and some bitterness on the finish. A bit oily but well integrated.

Score: 5, 5+

Olaszrizling 2006 is even more intense, succulent and heavier on the nose with floral and mineral notes. But not so deep in color. On the palate it’s thinner than I expected after the sniff but has a long, bitter finish, the wine’s a little bit alcoholic and clearly over it’s peak.

Olaszrizling 2005 has marzipan, almond, and Port wine on the nose with a quince undertone. This wine is fullbodied with pistachio, citrus fruits and bitterness on the palate. And woody, maybe overly.

Score: 5+/6-

Chardonnay 2008 comes straight from the (second use barrique) barrel (and from the lee!) so it has a blurred corn color with  greenish reflections. This wine is fruity with banana notes on the nose and on the palate. the nose also has apple and the palate vanilla elements. It’s round, medium-bodied and already well integrated. Good balance. Creamy texture.

Vörös Kakas 2008 is a blend of 60-70% Kékfrankos and the rest is Merlot, Pinot Noir and Portugieser. Medium pale ruby color. It’s still too harsh and young (well, not ready actually) with wood and gas elements, as long as fruitiness is concerned unripe cherry and sour cherry. On the palate fresh sour cherry. Small bodied wine with medium acidity and friendly tannins.

Vörös Kakas 2006 has pale red color. This wine was aged in 500 l barrique for 14 months, the same blend as the 2008 with a bit less Kékfrankos. More elegant and aromatic on the nose with raspberry and strawberry. Medium-large acidity and a bit tannic too, fresh and harsh. This small bodied wine is spicy on the palate.

Score: 5, 5-

The future role of Juhfark in Somló has always been debated and fortunately I’m not qualified to enter into this seemingly never ending discussion. That this grape plays an important role in marketing the region is however certain but whether this should be the flagship varietal of Somló is another question. I didn’t find out this time but I found some very promising wines, and some appalling wines too.

Once again, these notes are quick tasting notes taken in horrible conditions therefore they’re short and not complete, but hopefully they’re good indicators of each wine’s quality and their potential.

Hollóvár: this Juhfark has exactly the same flint character on the nose as the Olaszrizling with a melted butter and vanilla undertone and later with light gooseberry aromas.  On the palate it’s firm, with mineral and herby notes. Score: 6

Somlói Apátsági Pince: this one has an exciting fruity-floral character on the nose. It’s more complex, intense but refreshing in the same time and very pleasant. It’s broad palate has a tiny bit of sweetness but there’s also enough acidity to balance it and wet-stone and a salty-minerality gives it further more depth. Long and complex finish. This wine stands out with the intensity on both the palate and the nose and with its aromatic salty-sweet balance. Very good value for the money. Score: 7+

Spiegelber: clean, intense, fairly ripe apple nose with a butter edge and an apple-skin element. well balanced with a pleasantly sharp acidity providing backbone to this light-medium-bodied wine. A bit salty. Another exceptionally good value for the money. Score: 7-

Kolonics, Juhfark, 2007: this Juhfark has a heavy, old character of old-school handicraft winemaking. Score: 3

Tornai, Juhfark (Aranyhegy): flint on the nose with a woody element. On the palate, veggie soup. Score: 5

Tornai, juhfark (Grófi): with a veggie-soup character on the nose, this wine is more complex than the Aranyhegy juhfark. It’s well integrated on the palate with good presence of pear and soup elements. Score: 6-

Bogdán: like the Kolonics Juhfark, this one also has an old-school handicraft character with sulphit elements on the nose and on the palate. There’s some weedy note on the nose. Score: 3/3+

Bogdán- Juhfar Késői szüret: 3 points

Despite the disappointing wineries (Kolonics and Bogdán) this tasting confirms that Somló and Juhfark has a promising future in Hungary’s winemaking and ensures a major space in my personal cellar for these wines.

It is widely believed that the Somló wines have a strong local character, the terroir providing foundation for it. Tasting some of the the most respected local winemakers’ wines side by side will give you another impression though. Others even question whether Somló, already the smallest of Hungary’s historical wine regions, can be regarded as one single region proposing that Somló mountain (a hill, actually) could be split into upper (more volcanic rocky ascent) and lower (more flat, with sometimes powdery soil) regions of very different local climate, not to mention that only the south-western slopes with bigger solar exposure should be really considered as part of the Somló region.

With two persons on average sharing a square meter of the beautiful Festetics Palota in Budapest, the Somló Évjáratbemutató 2008 was far from being an ideal place to find answers to my questions.

These young wines are barrel samples so they’re still expected to change and develop a lot, so the following notes are just impressions rather than result of careful analysis. The scores are hopefully reflecting this potential but I may have made more mistakes this time than usual. Also note that all wines are from 2008 except otherwise stated.

Bazaltbor - Olaszrizling: This Olaszrizling has a fruity nose with apple and pear aromas also on the palate. Fresh, young with lively acids. Score: 4

Bazaltbor Olaszrizling Válogatás: Now this one has a powerful, fresh and clean elderberry bouquet and a more elegant character in general.  Still a medium-bodied wine but much better integrated and well-balanced. Score: 5+

Györgykovács - Olaszrizling: This Olaszrizling has an intense, complex mineral nose. On the palate it’s more simple with a small bitterness, and it’s very dry. Score: 5+/6-

Dénes Hegybirtok - Olaszrizling: Vanilla and melted butter aromas on the nose, quite intensely. Has not been filtered yet so its very dense in color and  on the nose too. Good texture, creamy but low acidity. The sweet sensation on the palate  is a result of the malolactic fermentation as it has no residual sugar.  Score: 4

Spiegelber - Olaszrizling: Complex pear and floral aromas on the nose but more simple on the palate, although full-bodied. Very dry with pear notes and a bit of minerality. Score: 4+

Kreinbacher - Olaszrizling: A distinguished bright, lively color. Great nose, very complex of clean elderberry and  gooseberry elements and a sulphite and city gas underpinning. Later on the nose: Veggie and spicy chicken stock with lovage and flint, lot of flint. Less intense on the palate, gentle and rounded, the wine has a more mineral and ripe character. Full-bodied with an appealing structure and nicely textured. There’s promise of finess too already. Score: 6+/7

Hollóvár - Olaszrizling: An appalling city gas nose with sulphit and flint and a chalky mineral undertone. Light-medium bodied wine with a nice structure. Very dry. No wine will divide people as much as this one. Score: 6+/7-

Somlói Apátsági Pince - Olaszrizling: Rich bouquet with an unusual Veggie soup with lovage on the nose and very pleasant apple-pear aromas. Firm on the palate, with the same Veggie soup with lovage! Boiled, spicy vegetarian notes with a mineral undertone. Very good one. Score: 6+/7-

Szent Ilona - Olaszrizling: Intense, lively floral nose but very simple on the palate. Score: 4

Kolonics - Olaszrizling: It’s very closed on the nose and it has this handicraft character with a large barrell element. On the palate salty-bitterness, interesting. Score: 5

To wrap up, it’ll be interesting to see how these wines will develop, especially Hollóvár. One thing is certain: the styles are more relevant here than terroir or the grape. On the other hand, there might as well be a Somló terroir, but it’s not yet the time to discuss this.

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 don’t even dare to translate the word “Bországgyűlés” for You, although the significant number of foreigners who visited the event despite the heavy rain which lasted almost the whole day would deserve a try. Anyway, it wasn’t a gathering of the nations’ parliamentary delegates of winemaking as the name would suggest, I was actually surprised by the small number of wineries present, but even more by their distribution within the festival area. Despite the intense grass and other natural smell coming from the surrounding park in the rain I tried to take tasting notes. My idea was that I would taste and review the winners of the VIIth Pannon Bormustra contest. Unfortunately very few of the winners actually exhibited at the Festival so I’ll indicate in the table below those who won the “Top Wine” awarded by a jury consisting of international experts like Dante Brancaleoni and winemakers like René Rostaing as well as Hungarian wine drinkers or so called experts. As always, please read the following report as a rough guide only, since I hardly ever spit during a wine tasting (unless the wine is really rubbish) and the local food selection has also provided a strong smelly background which certainly distorted the senses. So here’s a quick snapshot from the Festival, without any in-depth analysis.

Here’s a photo from the venue of one of Budapest’s most important wine festivals.