Freakonomics is a non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner.

Relatively entertaining and often surprising, the book uncovers facts such as why American drug dealers tend to live with their mother. The book’s full of apparent economic anomalies if looked superficially. Topics not featured in the book however nor on the authors’ blog, but should,  include why Hungarian wines’ en primeur prices remain unchanged in the middle of the largest economic downturn of the last 18 or so years and why isn’t there any correlation between Hungarian wine vintage quality and the prices of the vintages’ wines. You know why? Because although surprising, unlike the interesting topics in Freakonomics there’s no logic behind the price movements of Hungarian wines.

According to Times Online, Bordeaux en primeur prices are expected to fall sharply following a huge drop in demand for Bordeaux wines. The reason: the credit crunch and its consequences of course. Do you think that Hungarian merchants take notice of Hungary’s disconcerting economic conditions? Then check out the recent listing of en primeur prices and you’ll see that on y/y basis the prices do not show significant changes (or a slight increase in certain cases). Indeed, some of the most expensive red wines of Szekszárd and Villány are only about 1/3 cheaper now than top Chateaux wines of Bordeaux are expected to be (not counting the effect of recent volatility of Hungarian Forint).

Honestly, wouldn’t it be for the weakness of the Hungarian Forint I’d be seriously considering limiting radically my consumption of Hungarian wines, maybe eliminating totally the drinkning of red wines for a while. You foreigner, on the other hand, this is an excellent buy opportunity and if I were you, I’d go for  some Aszú 1999 or dry whites of 2007.

After reading some excellent reviews about Léder Zoltán Köpcös Furmint, 2005 of Tokaj I decided to go for it given that it’s on sale now at around HUF 1 300 which is a bargain of course.

Or not.

The review

Deep brownish color with brassy reflections. Oily move.

The nose shows signs of age but all in all it’s a pleasant sniff with caramel at first, then Furmint grape aromas. It will have a lime-blossoms undertone later.

The rest is not appealing at all: this full-bodied wine lost it’s character long time ago now fallen into pieces. It seems very old, much older than it is actually with no acidity left but residual sugar which makes it quite unbalanced too.

This wine shouldn’t have been put on sale. I know I sound bitter but I really wonder when retailers will stop selling wines after they’d become rubbish.

Score: 3/3+

Price: HUF 1 700 (I paid some 20% less on a sale)

The reason behind the very few posts this months is twofold: first, I’ve had enough of wines in late December when I drank a lot not having too much else to do. Then I tried to put myself back on the old track of opening3-4 bottles a week but after 2 major disappointments I really felt like giving up on wines for a while. Then my wife and I landed in London for our annual trip there where I got myself into the usual pub tour, this time the Camden-Soho axis extended towards the south bank. On the third day not so surprisingly as now I recon I begun to thirst for wine, and white wines in particular (the latter must be a Pavlovian conditional reflex I developed over 2008). One thing I discovered in London is that not just beer, but coffee also increases the thirst for wine. Well, in my case at least. The crunch menus and promotions, which became so popular in the UK helped a lot. Although I didn’t see any decrease in pub goers in London, arguably the industry’s hit hard by the current economic downturn and they’re fighting against it by 5 pound fish and chips and 1 pound pints of ale. I didn’t see any of the latter (and believe me my efforts were enormous) but I read that this turned out to be a major success, financially too. Now back in Hungary, unlike in London I don’t see any sign of crunch or falling consumer spending, therefore retailers don’t try to please me with attractive discount as they do in Vienna, for instance. Luckily for Hungarian winemakers, Hungarian consumers will continue to buy the domestic offering instead of visiting Vienna (only 250 kms from Budapest, 60 kms from the border) and purchase some of the best wines of the world at a bargain price.

I don’t easily give up and I don’t like to withdraw. But the cold sake I had at Okonomi Yaki in London represented my mood quite literally: I’m overflowed. And not just Xmas season-like. I decided to give Hungarian winemakers and merchants another year to seduce me with good to excellent wines at a reasonable, by which I mean competitive price. I don’t know how the current pricing’s been sustainable so far (it’s almost impossible to buy a decent Hungarian red wine under 7 000 forints, or EUR 35), but if the recession can not change this than what could?

I’m convinced that most Hungarians, laymen and professionals alike, tend to overrate Hungarian wines (especially the reds) sometimes to the point where even faults are considered local character. Although vast majority of my readers come from abroad who probably do not have such preconcepts, I decided to launch a series of blind tests comparing Hungarian wines of all price ranges with their counterparts in Central Europe, Europe and the new world. I’ll call this column International Perspective.

The intention is twofolds: first is very ambitious and certainly will generate some discussion and anger, and it is to try to define the value of well known and relatively unknown Hungarian wines. Secondly, through these comparisons we might be able to discover the terroir, the Hungarian character (if there is such a thing like Hungarian character).

Dereszla

Dereszla is a relatively small French winery in Tokaj, home of sweet dessert wines and emerging white wines mostly made of Furmint and Hárslevelű. Sauvingon Blanc is not an authorised Tokaj variety hence you’ll find „Zempléni” region on the label and no Tokaj.

Halewood

Halewood is a major producer and distributor of wine and alcoholic beverages in Britain.

The Group manages over 400 hectares of vines in three major wine areas of Romania: Dealu Mare, Podisul Transilvaniei and Murfatlar.

Whilst Halewood has an informative, though not very ergonomic website, Dereszla has nothing of their own on the web.

Some official information about the wine from the Halewood website:

2006 started with a late spring after a long and freezing winter with temperatures reaching -26°C. The average temperature of the year was 25°C, this having a positive effect on the shoots growth (up to 12 cm/day). Due to the high temperatures during the summer the ripening of the berries took place earlier and the picking of the grapes began according to the fully maturation of each variety.

In the second half of September, at harvest time, there took place a careful selection of the grapes coming from Dobrogea Plateau. A controlled fermentation was undergone at the temperature of 12-14°C, for about 8-10 days with selected yeasts. Alcohol volume 12.5%.

The test – Sauvignon Blanc, Halewood, Prahova valley 2006 vs Chateau Dereszla Zempléni Sauvignon Blanc 2007.

Since it was a hot summer day both wines were cooled to appr. 7-8 Celsius degrees but this turned out to be good temperature for both wines.

The first wine had bright straw color and fresh fruity nose later with a little bit of cinnamon and lemon skin. Well-structured wine with a little bit of sweetness (it’s still a dry wine) with a little bit of wet hay undertone, but not disturbingly. Overall a lovable, soft, light wine without major faults and without a special character, but very refreshing.

Score: 5+

The second wine had very bright color, very intense perfumy nose and although I’ve never tasted it before, I immediately recogninsed the Dereszla character (it’s ont that I’m such a master, it’s really that obvious). Diffrerent trees in bloom but mostly elderberry which also dominates in its taste. Very fresh, almost crispy but with a little bit of extra sweetness which is supported by round acidity so it’s rather soft. At higher temperature both wines were a little bit overly sweet to my taste but at around 10 degrees celsius, it’s a delicious, very lovable, festive wine.

Score: 6

To me the Dereszla Sauvignon Blanc had more character and was lacking the hay undertone, but the Halewood Sauvignon Blanc from Prahova Valley is also a very good value for money. To be honest, if the Halewood was one year younger, maybe the difference would not have been that significant.

Price: EUR 7

The winner of the label contest is the Halewood to me.

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.

Few wineries are selling their young wines from the barrel to the masses. As long as buying en primeur is concerned, the 4 key factors in my decision are: inflation rate, en primeur discount (price), year of harvest and risk. The latter is the only unpredictable. Attila Gere himself made less well-done Kopár in rather good year (2003) and good wine in well, average year (2004). Especially with the recent change in the cuvée’s composition (now it’s 50% merlot and 50% cabernet franc), so no cabernet sauvignon which had been so characteristic in the past’s Kopárs (around 40%), our risk-taking appetite must be increased to consider buying en primeur this year. So what about the price then? HUF5800 (EUR 23) gross is slightly more than 4% more than the en primeur price 2 years ago. Inflation’s exceeding it by 3-4 percentage points this year. So fair enough, from this point of view. The said 2004 item’s now on sale at wine&arts for 10500 (EUR 41) a bottle, which is an 88% increase in 2 years compared to HUF 5568 (EUR 22). Fair enough even for us who underestimated the inflation 2 years ago. If you’re a fan or simply have a big wine-lover family or friends, you shoud go for the 2xdozens and get a Magnum free. Provided that the 88% return on your investment is sufficient to cover the risk of Gere repeating his under-performance of 2003 and the replacement of CS by Merlot and CF. You still have 2 weeks to decide, a lot more than in an afternoon after a Central Bank interest rate committee meeting like today .