Levendula Pince started as a winery in 2006 then called Vági Pince. In 2009 the estate consists of 2 hectares but they also have 1 hectare of “borrowed” land under cultivation which was “thrown at them” as the owner puts it. Lovas is a small village above Balatonfüred and this part of the outskirts of the village are particularly inaccessible by motorized 4-wheel vehicles. Once there, the view from the entrance of the cellar is stunning. Below us spreading are steep slopes  planted with 5 different grapes in well-maintained rows running downhill on the rusty rocky soil so typical around Balaton. The top of the cellar and a rather big surrounding area is covered in Lavendel – hence the name of the winery. The place is beautiful and the owners and winemaker are very friendly people. We’re immediately offered bread with pork fat and fresh onion rings between apologies for not having prepared anything in the traditional oven of the estate (Kemence) but of course we didn’t book such things since we ended up here after having just fled from Söptei Pince, a quite disappointing place if you ask me. With only 15 minutes left before closing the winery we are immediately taken into the back-end of the recently built cellar and shown the 225l+ oak barrels and stainless steel tanks and 1 minute later our glass is full with Juhfark 2007. About two hours later we emerged from the cellar content and happy.

Levendula Pince - grape press

The reviews

Note: the first three are barrel samples.

Juhfark 2007 is a barrel sample and as such, quite raw material. Pale hey hue. It has the most unusual dill aroma nose with Chardonnay grape notes and a hint of elderberry. On the palate dill mingle with gooseberry and other small green berry fruit elements with a green apple accent supported by abundant fresh, lively, slightly harsh acidity. Thin-bodied, light, quite acidic.

I am told by the winemaker that yields are high, they don’t really care about reducing it. The grapes were harvested in the beginning of October.

Score: 3+ points

Price: HUF 1 000 (but also available in 1,5 litre bottles at about HUF 1 500)

Chardonnay 2007 is very pale with celery and other greenish aromas on the nose, a little bit less intensely than Juhfark’s. Thick and similarly structured as Juhfark with a little bit less acidity, but still quite firm and grip.

Score: 3+

Price: HUF 1 000

Olaszrizling 2007 is another very pale wine very similar to the previous two in every aspect, with the difference of acacia and unripe walnut aromas on the palate and a gooseberry-Traubi accent.

Score: 3+ points

Price: HUF 1 000

All three wines above are very acidic, overly, if you ask me and I only recommend them for acid fanatics.

This is just illustration, the review's about the 2007 vintage

Olaszrizling Késői Szüret 2007 is a late harvest but dry wine and clearly the premium white wine of Levendula Pince. A slightly darker but still quite pale hue in appearance. A nice, warm and even sweet nose with floral notes. It reminds me of Hétszőlő’s late harvested Kövérszőlő in this aspect. Light but full of floral notes. On the palate more polished with gentle acidity and sligly greenish tannin. Wood leaf, parsley and green vegetable notes. It only has 6g/L residual sugar but 15,2% alcohol. And it’s OK.

Score: 5+

Price: HUF 1 500 (and best buy)

Cabernet Sauvingnon 2006 is medium dark ruby with an almost brownish rim.

On the palate dark chocolate supported by lively tannins and fresh acidity. Dense, concentrated and upper-medium bodied. This is a very decent effort from a region which is not famous for its red wines and from a winery not famous from low yields.

Score:5+

Price: HUF 1 500 (and it’s a best buy too, of course)

My perception has always been that Vincze Béla is one of the most overrated wine makers of Hungary (which is quite remarkable because the competition for the being the most overrated is huge in Hungary). The obscure outcome of the winemaker of the year elections didn’t change that when Vincze won in 2005 surprising many, much less skeptical persons than I am towards him. Anyway, paying half price is probably the best opportunity to give someone another chance, so this Cabernet Franc 2006 is from the stock I purchased on occasion of Wine Wednesday.

The review

Medium deep ruby with a rusty-brownish rim. With only some hints of tobacco leafs on the nose this wine is so closed  it doesn’t show anything for 90 minutes when it finally opens more with more dense tobacco and sawdust notes. The first foamy-flimsy texture will be better integrated after some time and sour cherry and chocolate elements will be added to the palate and a black-pepper accent to the nose. It remains a bit too alcoholic however. The wine as a whole improves a lot, starting from 2+ points and ending around 4 points 2 hours after opening, when I actually started to enjoy it. And let me state again here that many Hungarian red wines necessitate 2-3 hours to show something, a feature I never encountered so widespread in any other region’s wines. Would you believe that most Hungarians see this as a positive thing?

Score: 3+/4-

Price: HUF 1 600

I knew very little about Tihanyi Apátsági Pince but I was pretty certain that a visit would help. Well it did a little bit but after 2 hours in the cellar and 20 minutes googling the keywords I’m still uncertain about the ownership, the size and pretty much everything else about the winery. I decided to taste their premium label named after the (or one of the) owners, the well-known entrepreneur/property developer/ex-Skála boss Sándor “the richest Hungarian” Demján. Here’s what I found.

The reviews

Badacsonyi Olaszrizling 2008 made me realize that I won’t necessarily be tasting Tihany wines in this beautiful spot of the Tihany peninsula’s interior lake as I hoped. The wine has lemon yellow color and a closed nose with citrus aromas. On the palate green notes supported by abundant fresh acidity in this small-medium bodied Olaszrizling. Score: 3+/4-

Rosé 2008 is 60% Kékfrankos and 40% Zweigelt of relatively low yield (1,6 kilos/vine). Brassy color like those fine kitchen apparels, very nice. The bouquet is messy with earth and wet grass elements. Medium-bodied and relatively well balanced. Score: 3+

Merlot 2006 has seen 6 months in barrique. The wine has a muddy deep ruby color with Port- and Cognac notes on the nose. On the palate it’s relatively rich with dried plum and a hint of sour cherry. Nicely textured with subtle acidity and oily tannin. Relatively dense but fresh with  smoky and chocolate undertones. But it has a mainly Port wine/Cognac character on the palate too. Score: 5- points

Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is a 50%-50% blend of these two with 13% alcohol. Deep sour cherry color with a black core. Dense nose with chocolate, sour cherry notes. Fresh acidity. Score: 5- points

Cabernet Sauvignon 2006 is dark and dense with overly ripe sour cherry aroma on the nose. Well balanced, well structured with fresh but polished tannins and medium acidity. Very dense, with black pepper notes. And a hint of, well, sweat on the nose. Score: 5/5+ points

Dull wines.

Pántlika owns 40 hectares around Dörgicse, a well-preserved small village with a stunning view of lake Balaton, and it probably makes it the largest winery of than region. Although the cellar’s based in a former socialist co-op “hangar”, the front-end of the headquarters is a nice old-fashioned stone house. After this dichotomy I was very much looking forward to tasting their wines, made by a 19 year-old (!) winemaker.

The reviews

The Olaszrizling Válogatás 2006 was the first ever made in the history of the winery. Pale yellow with greenish reflections, this Olaszrizling has an intense nettle nose. On the palate it’s light, thin and quite empty for a “selection” with relatively low yield per vine. Slightly sparkling on the palate with nettle and elderberry flavors. It’s a bit tart from the mid-palate.

Score: 3+ points

Sauvignon Blanc 2008. This pale yellow wine also has nettle aromas on the nose and on the palate but a bit more warm and with a flinty-gas accent. Better textured, more creamy but it’s just as thin as the Olaszrizling. Less acidity here but better rounded.

Score: 3+ points

Chardonnay 2008 is bright with medium-deep yellow tone. More closed on the nose, fairly fruity but this one’s also very thin-bodied, although well balanced but it’s a wine without character.

Score: 3+ points

You’ll find informative pictures on the website of the winery: pantlikapinceszet.hu

From viticulture point of view, 2003 was a good year in Badacsony as long as weather is concerned. Not exceptionally but it was as good as 2000 and definitely better than 2002 (please see previous post).

The Szeremley Kéknyelű 2003 has got a pale yellow color with hue similar to the Kéknyelű 2002. The nose has an intense flinty character almost as much as you can find in Takács Lajos (Hollóvár) wines from Somló some 80 km away. Impressive, very different from the others. This mineral element is enriched by acacia and nettle elements with a grassy accent.

On the palate fairly rich vegetable notes of parsley and celery in a medium-small body. The wine’s a bit tired, I expected more freshness from this Kéknyelű. This is the less acidic of the 4 vintages so it remains very subtle, with short length just as the others but this one has the nicest texture with just a bit too much alcohol.

Score: 4+

Kéknyelű 2004 has a pale and very clean appearance. This one has a very closed nose and will not open.

This small-bodied wine has an acidic character on the palate, fresh and crispy and even a little bit sparkling. Fair fruitiness with gooseberry and ripe apple and other continental fruit notes.

Score: 4+ points

Conclusion

You must be an experienced and passionate wine lover to fully appreciate the nuances of this tasting that would cost you HUF 20 000. But if you have the money to spend than you’ll find it interesting enough.

Kéknyelű grape is one of the less grown widely known varietals in Hungary. Internet sources are quite unreliable in respect of almost everything about the grape: contradictory information circulate regarding its origins (one says its one of the most traditional Hungarian varietals others are not so sure about its Italian origins), it’s character (some sources describe the wines made from Kéknyelű as being very elegant, fruity, others emphasize its harsh, rustic character and that it’s only suitable for blending). All sources agree, however, that growing Kéknyelű is a tough job and yields are low. Even the most skeptical sources admit that in good years, Kéknyelű can produce exceptional wines. To test this, we tasted 4 wines of different vintages from Badacsony’s best known and respected by many wineries. I have to make a disclosure here however: I may easily be the last person in Hungary who never tasted a Szeremley wine before. That’s because for reasons I cannot fully recollect any more (something about his obscure businesses from his past I heard from reliable sources)  I’d been boycotting Szeremley Huba’s winery up ’til now. But I agreed to do a vertical tasting of this rare varietal with Peter from borwerk.de, whose tasting notes are also available on his blog.

The reviews

I must admit that I don’t really like mass wine tasting, it’s more a job or a sport rather than enjoying wines. This vertical tasting, on the other hand, where we had 4 entire bottles for us alone, is confusing too, hence the short notes in spite of the otherwise ideal conditions.

Szeremley Badacsonyi Kéknyelű, 2000. This wasn’t a blind tasting, however, getting started with the oldest one this age difference was obvious at first sight. This wine has by far the deepest color, deep golden yellow with a brownish hue. The nose was complex but it also confirmed what I suspected from the cork and the color is that the wine is oxidized. It remained drinkable however and the fact the the bottle was a bit faulty added to the wine’s complexity, but reduced its freshness. Indeed, this was the heaviest, with different kinds of honey and floral aromas on the nose. Slightly heavier than a medium bodied wine, it’s still well balanced with now bit old acidity. The palate has an overall heavy character with elements like anise and walnut taken over the once perhaps also present fruits.

Score: 4

Szeremley Kéknyelű, 2002. This one has a bright, in fact the brightest color of all four wines with greenish reflections. This wine, and please accept my apologies, but has a cat pee’s nose with veggie soup and lovage notes.  On the palate is very acidic, in a harsh and bitter way. With the firm structure in the middle, this small-bodied wine has ripe pear and crab apple elements and an unripe grapefruit note. Nice finish only messed up by the harsh bitterness.

Score:4-

Notes about the more recent vintages will come soon…

Soltvadkert belongs to Hungary’s largest wine region located north-east of Szekszárd on the plain called Kunság. Infamous for high yields and low quality, the region failed to gain reputation for its winemakers until 2007 when Frittmann János was elected winemaker of the year and suddenly the demand for his budget wines soaked up his wines from the shelves of hypermarkets. I picked another rosé ,a bit more expensive but not less interesting: you can always expect Ráspi to surprise you and why would rosé be an exception?

The reviews

I ran into a Kékfrankos rosé from 2008. Pale pink color with brassy reflections. This rosé has succulent, relatively intense but light nose, full of fruity aromas (raspberry mingles here with strawberry with a marajucá accent). This thin wine’s a bit sparkling on the palate with salty mineral accent here which flows into a relatively long finish. It’s a bit sweet on the peak of the tongue and on the mid palate it has a dry-mineral texture lying on crisp acidity. At very cool temperature it loses some of this complexity. Warming up a little the nose will have a candy element and watermelon on the palate. The wine’s very light bodied but pleasant with decent complexity and a surprising mineral character.

Score: 4

Price: HUF 950

Ráspi’s Rosé Cuvée from 2007 (dominantly Kékfrankos too) has a very similar color with a a little bit darker tone. Now this rosé has more intense nose with raspberry and strawberry notes. The palate seems to have some residual sugar but it’s well balanced by a salty texture. Very aromatic with cherry compote and watermelon elements. This medium bodied wine has a wet-stony salty character which hides the alcohol (14% against only 12% in Frittmann’s) so it doesn’t burn. This wine has a pleasant long finish. I reviewed this wine already once and the cork broke just like that time. Ráspi’s yet to find a good cork supplier.

Score: 5

Price: HUF 1 500

This is a crazy idea. Or is it! These two come from 200 kms away from each other but they’re thousands of virtual miles away from each other in terms of wine. But this time, this fact in a certain way helped me to put these wines into perspective.

Ráspi – Kékfrankos Selection, 2005

This Kékfrankos has a pale brownish color and the wine has a very quick move in the glass. And indeed, it’s thin and flimsy on the palate. The nose is spicy with salty-minerality. It has some cherry aroma on the finish. Its tannins are powdery. Give it some time (2 hours), and the wine will open a little bit more. But it’s a simple, although not a common wine.

Ráspi could break into the mainstream with this wine, if he wished, although on the lower shelves only.

Score: 4, 4+

Price: HUF 4 900

Bock – Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005

This Cabernet has got a lot of leather on the nose mingled with different farmyard elements.

On the palate, this full-bodied wine has a heavy dry tobacco character, lots of tobacco’s. Not the finest tobacco though. It breaks to the nose from the palate. The structure could be more firm, the tannins and extracts could be better integrated.

I used to get more excited about Bock’s Cabernet Sauvignons in the past. I think we both changed.

Score: 4+/5-

Price: HUF 3 400

That I know little about Viognier grapes is an understatement and we Hungarians have a handicap in learning about it. Incidentally I bought one in the Lubéron which is very close to where this grape’s the most famous in the old world. I also happened to pick a Viognier at Klassz restaurant the other day so now I had a chance to at least try to learn something about this wine which is supposed to be easy to like.

So the Heimann winery’s Viognier from 2007 had an appealing medium-deep golden color and a not too intense, floral nose with a papaya undertone. On the palate a blend of tropical fruit aromas stand alone. Not acidic nor has it particularly lot of residual sugar, indeed, it’s very dry and the 14% alcohol isn’t disturbing either. The wine still has a bit less than medium body but a very short finish. Despite the shortcomings it’s still an enjoyable wine wroth 4+ points.

After I hadn’t been sure about whether I had a real Viognier experience yet I opened the Chateau Blanc’s Viognier, Vieilles Vignes of 2004. The name tells us that the grape was harvested from old vines and I have on doubt. I bought the wine at the cellar from the owner himself and I’ve left the winery full of good impressions (further enhanced by the enchanting paysage, several square kilometers covered in lavender slightly curved by the breeze coming from the Mont Ventoux’s direction in the sunshine…). The yield was less than 30 hectoliters per hectare. The ripe grapes were picked with hand. The juice underwent malolactic fermentation in the barrique and daily stirring of the lee (battonage). Left in the oak for 6-8 months and bottled in spring 2005.

The medium deep golden color is similar to the Heimann’s. The nose, on the other hand, is very different: full of very intense perfume of floral aromas and this intensity will last for at least 24 hours (when I finished the bottle). But not a usual floral note as it can be found in other wines too, this is something different I cannot really describe mingled with vanilla and a stewed apple undertone.

The palate shows an oaky vanilla dominance with a similar floral character as the nose. Now, it became obvious that this wine’s over its peak and not just because of low level of acidity and the imbalance caused by it but the palate could be fresher, plus it also could have less residual sugar to deal with. The finish is short and this wine has more vanilla than anything else. Very little of the grape. I beginned to think that I was sensing fresh sawdust impregnated with fine vanilla. Today this wine deserves no more than 4 points which is a pitty because I’m sure it sused to be more only a year ago. So the EUR 8,95 is not so much for it after all.

This Chardonnay from 2007 by Légli has medium golden color, very bright.

The bouquet is surprisingly simple: the fruitiness is virtually unnoticed and there’s an unpleasant note which first I suspected was an initial joke of sulphites. But it’s not much different on the palate: a chalky-mineral element there but little else. The nose will have a fading floral character after a while. In spite of the shortages the wine has a relatively good balance of acidity and residual sugar for it has little of both. But at least it has a good texture. This wine has a shockingly short finish and before that only a faded mix of crab apple and other unripe continental fruits to offer.

I expected more from someone who’s said to be a Chardonnay specialist. Something like a lighter version of the applauded Légli Landord, 2007.

Score: 4

Price:  HUF 2 200