Being an admirer of Takács Lajos I find it unfortunate that my latest encounters with his wines were not the best. I was expecting that the once famous Furmint 2006 would finally put everything back on track and restore my confidence in his (and some other artisan) wines.

Hollóvár – Furmint, 2006

Faded straw to medium-deep golden yellow. Smells a bit tired and oxydated with some notes of hazelnut and salty minerality, later popcorn. On the palate malt aromas of Czech lager and popcorn with a bitter and fortunately not too long finish. The wine lacks the sharp acidity of younger (and perhaps better) Hollóvár wines and I miss the sparkling flintstone blast too.

Although never typical Furmints, it looks like Takács Lajos’ Furmints haven’t been ageing well lately.

My generation is growing up, now it’s official. The time when friends come over and bring interesting wines has finally come. And they’re not even wine freaks, but without any coordination three guys are now able to put together, independently, the following wines for a simple mid-week friendly conversation:

1. Hollóvár, Furmint 2008

2. Gróf Buttler, Pinot Noir 2007, Szarkás dűlő

3. Légli Géza, Jánoshegyi Merlot, 2008

4. Disznókő, Tokaji Late Harvest, 2000

Warming up with a Hollóvár can bring tears to the eye of any wine lover and virtually any Tokaji from 2000 would be a closure which would drive wine lovers mad.

As far as I can tell this Hollóvár Furmint 2008 has a deeper straw color than when I first tasted it in 2009, a new wine back then. It used to be more lively and more minerally, today it’s much more mature and maybe even a bit oxidated. Notes of baked corn and popcorn make it good enough, but not so exciting as the fresh and vibrant Furmint this wine used to be. Scores 5+/6- today.

Gróf Buttler’s Pinot Noir of Szarkás Dűlő from 2007 is still in very good shape right now, fairly complex just like before, but now reminding me of shrinken aszú grapes but dry, with firm tannins and flavors ranging from beetroot, through dried date to tobacco and some synthetic aromas at the finish. 7 points.

Légli Géza’s Kislaki Bormanufaktúra probably produced a lovely Merlot in 2008 but I screwed it up with some duck breast I prepared. I came to this conclusion by taking positive notes first but didn’t like it very much after I started the meal. Let’s leave it for next time.

Disznókő Tokaji Late Harvest 2000 is a Furmint but I can’t be sure, I won’t learn it from Disznókő’s website either (and once again, Flash websites should be banned). Anyway this wine is, as I expected, in very good shape and certainly will age well for another couple of years. It’s full of overriped, dried apricot and tea on the nose. Very well balanced palate, soft, botrytis-flavored highly concentrated substance flowing slowly into a very long and pleasant finish. You can call this a perfect closure.

(I had too much wine to be able to give out an objective score for this wine but a fair rating would be between 6-7 points probably).

Pale hay hue. Unusually gassy bouquet but it lacks the flinty character which had become the trademark of Lajos Takács. It’s stoney though, elegantly minerally. And it’s sharp, light but full of ckicken stock mingled with lovage, kohlrabi and parsley.

On the palate it has a grip and it’s sharp but it’s smoothened by an underlying polished, butter-flavored creaminess. Elegant, just enough acidity except the tired finish which is dull, lacks the vibrant acidity and tastyness of the midpalate.

It’s still a good wine but a bit pricey for that.

Score: 5+ points

Price: HUF 3000

So this is the rest. As it turns out global varietals fit Somló quite well. No conclusion here. Except maybe that quality correlates more with wineries than with the varietal, but that’s stating the obvious. Another personal impression is that the unique styles of each winery (I mean, of those who have one) overwrites the terroir and the grape’s character.

Hollóvár, Sauvignon Blanc – Very expressive mineral nose of flint and floral elements. Fruits remain subtle. A little bit sweet on the midpalate with notes of elderberry and minerality. This wine’s still too obviously young but I’m already missing some acidity here. Score: 4+

Bazaltbor (Laposa), Rizling – This one has an ample nose full of apple aroma, quite fruity with apple elements on the palate too. Lime-freshness and a yet bit harsh acidity. Score: 4+

Hollóvár (Takács Lajos), Furmint – Another very expressive flint nose with a bit more sweetness on the palate than the Sauvignon Blanc. Also on the nose floral notes. It’s quite light, medium-bodied with a less firm structure than the Furmint but it’s more friendly on the palate. Score: 6

Kreinbacher, Furmint – Bright deep golden color. Rich bouquet of chicken stock, with a curry aroma and of ground raw cereals. This medium-bodied wine has some sweetness well balanced with sea salt on the palate. Quite rich with a fair depth of flavour. It has a soft texture.  Nice creamy vanilla flavour and some minerality.  Score: 7-/7

Kreinbacher, Öreg Tőkék, 2006 - This one has a light and very pleasant melted butter nose, quite elegantly styled. Not as well-balanced as  the Furmint and it has a more harsh texture too. On the palate harsh, tart acidity. Score: 6

Kreinbacher – Hárslevelű – This one has a fresh, light, rich aromatic nose with pear and a flint stone underpinning. On the palate it’s creamy, soft, almost full-bodied with melted butter aromas. It’s a little bit sweet with salty veggie soup elements and a long finish. Quite good. Score: 6, 6+

Somlói Apátsági Pince, Hárslevelű – Intense but light nose with vanilla notes. It’s sweet and sea salty just as the Juhfark but with greater body. Score: 6, 6+

Spiegelber, Furmint – Rich in vanilla aromas, maybe the use of oak is a bit over the top. Could be better structured, it’s a bit more rustic than the other Spiegelbers I’d just tasted. Score: 5, 5+

Tornai, Hárslevelű – Dry, light nose. Quite simple on the palate with some sea salt and a tart acidic finish. Score: 3, 4-

Tornai, Apátsági Furmint 2006 – Oaky vanilla elements on the nose. There’s a decent amount of residual sugar to balance the acidic character of the palate of this medium-bodied wine. Score: 5, 5+

Dénes, Chardonnay – this Chardonnay has a rather unusual flint stone nose with grappa accent and a floral undertone. It’s too much. On the palate it’s refreshingly sparkling and has a polished txture. This could be a very popular entry-level wine. Score: 4. A cuvée has also been made by this small, emerging winery from Ság-hegy ,a blend of Cserszegi Fűszeres, Furmint, Ezerfürtű and Olaszrizling. It’ s a light, pleasant semi-dry wine which drink well chilled (alc 11%). Another interesting wine was the Furmint Late Harvest.

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.