Sorry, but that’s what it is drinking red wines from Eger region from the harvest of 2001. It’s like people buying Rolling Stones records today, trying to recapture the magic of 1965 although they should know… I had this Cabernet Franc from the late Tibor Gál and

the truth is that based on a typically franc smell it could have been a surprise, in a good way. The franc-ish taste quickly turns into harsh tannins and some bitterness. I appreciate the latter in ales but not so much in wines. Then I left it to breath for 2 hours and ate something with it and that helped a little bit. I must taste the newer ones because there’s some hope in it, I sense it.

Score: 4

Price: HUF 3200 (EUR 12)

Drinking a lot of wine has never been a problem to me. So starting up a collection, however, had to be a decision rather than just a necessity (of storing what I could not drink). First I stopped buying wines for a while when I realized the impact of warmth to wines in the house. Then I slowed down again when I realized that my 6-7 years old items stopped improving, in fact most of them started a process of disintegration as I call it, or blowing up into pieces. I am more careful now, although I still don’t have the rule or right formula to pick the ones that will improve over time and which can and worth to be matured in my dad’s cellar for 5-10-15 years (the Hungarian versions of Parkers and alike can help sometimes though). Since this is still more or less a lottery, I decided to share my experiences with You in order that You avoid the same mistakes, or follow my occasional good decisions so You can enjoy these aged treasures as well. My advices will be useful, believe me, since most of Hungarian wine makers tend to produce unequal quality year-by-year, unlike many of the industrialized counterparts in the new world and in western Europe. Even the tricky old names can surprise you with their experimentalism, and not in a good way.

I feel sometimes desperate when I descend to the cellar and I must pick the items for that week (I usually visit the cellar 1x or max 2x a month) and I was particularly concerned about the Vylyan Pinot Noir 2003. First, Pinot Noir is a very difficult task to accomplish, but apparently Hunagarians proved to be extremely adventurous in the new millenium. The thing is, I’ve never found a nice Pinot Noir in Hungary. And Villány, with its Mediterranean micro-climate was not very promising either (Vylyan planted the pinots to the cooler western slopes though). And this is exactly what I really enjoy, opening up a bottle in a typically awful monday evening with a sound pre-concept and then…It’s not so bad after all, even just after opening the bottle, it is quite promising, despite the blurred color which indicates the age (and wines from the 90s always make me suspicious). Blueberry is the word I am looking for and the finish is first quick, smooth, almost velvet, and a silent, long velvet ending will last until the next sip. 3 hours later slight improvement in (already surprisingly good) texture, but no perfum as you would expect only some cinnamon. But I like the finish very much.

The disappointment came when I checked one day later the price of it and its price tag above HUF 4000 (EUR 17) hardly qualifies it for best buy. It’s still a relatively fair price, but only just and only compared to other Hungarian Pinots.

Overall score: 5+/6- (appr. 83)

Hungary’s winemaking society has changed significantly over the little more than one decade since some lads started thinking about procuding drinkable wines in the early 90s. After the now well-established tier-1 names’ successes (primarily from Villány and Eger) followed by a growing number of tier-2 procuders mainly from Tokaj, Villány and Szekszárd, there’s a new generation of winemakers emerging in all regions. Despite their diverse bakcground, unlike their predecessors, most of these dominantly young winemakers have to work experience in socialist vinyards. Some of them are really experimental (such as the Orsolya winary), others have flying winemakers’ support (Royal Tokaji). Their output also varies a lot, although most of them have up to 20-30 hectares or much less.

The emerging winemakers’ offering includes some traditional grapes, but most are increasingly focusing on global varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and even Syrah, and Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling.

So this group is extremely heterogeneous (in terms of varieties, backgrounds, locations, price ranges, etc.). For me, the wineries need to fulfill some of these caracteristics to qualify for amanzing emerging winaries:

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