Budapest Daily Review

This is my first Merlot from the  ”selection” range of this family run winery. I didn’t know what to expect, the cheap Halmosi wines were disappointing as red wines under HUF 2500 usually do. Not this one.

Tasting notes

Medium ruby with a pale brownish rim.

Warm, yet fresh and spicy nose with cinnamon and black pepper mingled with very (very) ripe wild berries. This jammy character is carried on through to the palate, I bet the Merlot grapes were extremely ripe and they yielded a very high concentration of flavors with a mix of wild berries. Linear path into the not too long  finish. Very subtle acidity, it’s there but hardly supports the pressure of the substance. Sweet mature tannins flow into a sweet ripe finish. Full-bodied wine, doesn’t excel with an individualistic style but it’s a very good (and affordable) entry to the league of big wines where it doesn’t belong yet.

The thing I appreciate the most in this price segment (HUF 2500 – 4000) is balance. I don’t necessarily expect individual style from these wines but I don’t tolerate faults like too high acidity, harsh tannins or lack of integration. This Merlot is simply error-free and even expresses some of the terroir.

Score: 6 points

Price: HUF 3200

I feel like a whistle-blower again, and many, well, most Hungarians reading this post (there are a few of them) will think it’s a treason, I’m betraying my homeland once again.

I didn’t feel like posting, or indeed, tasting lately. I’m not very good in essay writing so I’m getting straight to the point.

I opened a bottle more or less randomly from the cellar (not exactly true, I wanted something from South Africa á propos de la FIFA World Cup – and btw please introduce instant replay for referees!!!). I didn’t remember why I bought the bottle or whether it was expensive or not. As I opened it I almost regretted it because I was stunned by it for being the first Pinotage I actually like which is, as it happens, an understatement, anyway, so I had to share it with a couple of guys (it was an instant success) when I wanted the whole bottle for only myself. I loved it. It had an exciting exotic, complex bouquet (yes, with a hint of burnt rubber) and a very elegant, also complex palate with many layers of flavors and texture, mature but lively, with vefry polished components. This wine is also known as a Pinotage 2002 of Stellenbosch winery Beyerskloof. I could buy this wine at around EUR 7, according to wine-searcher.com. You may want to search this blog to find out what do you get for that much in Hungary. Wake up, shall we.

Blind tasting is fun. Especially when the person pouring the wine (the only one who knows which one is which wine) mixes up the bottles and you only realise this almost a year later. At least this is what I’m suspecting now that I read my previous review of the wine. My suspicion is based on comparing it with my current notes which are if not identical but from a specific aspect very similar to the one I took of the Springfield Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Here it is (nothing’s been recycled).

Clean, pale lemon color with light greenish reflections. Intense but light nose  first with citrus and balm notes and some nettle aroma. Later lilac mingled with Sauerkraut. On the palate it’s very acidic in a lime fashion mingled with Sauerkraut, juicy passion fruit and litchi, further on with hints of boiled celery and hints of gooseberry, all perfectly integrated into the tart acidity. It sounds like a strange mix but somehow it works. It’s a pleasant wine but get ready for the most tongue-squeezing experience!

Score: 5+/6

Price: HUF 2 500

Pale golden yellow wine with a light, weedy, Sauvignon blanc-esque nose and nettle. Very light, ultra thin wine yet well balanced with sharp but light acidity. It’s fantastically tasteless but somewhat refreshing.

Score: 3+/4–

Price: HUF 1000

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

Pale lemon color with greenish reflections. Pleasant fruity-floral nose with acacia dominance. Very citric palate with overflowing lemon scented acidity which doesn’t allow any of the wine’s merits come through and even turns a bit appalingly bitter at the end.

It’s so disappointing after the 2006 which was a great Furmint.

Score: 3+/4-

Price: HUF 2440

What do Tóth “Scheller” István, Szászi, Laposa, Káli Kövek and Válibor have in common? Well, may things. To start with, they’re small or very small wineries focusing on white wines. Then they’re from the Káli medence and the area around (which may well be the most beautiful region of Hungary). They have a well recognisable style.  They’re not extremely accessible, but their wines are very affordable, fairly priced wines. Istvándy and Villa Tolnay are already a bit different so let’s not talk about them here.

I like the above winemakers with their imperfections. It’s a shame that their production is probably less than of a medium sized winery’s in Villány, combined. Of course, tourism didn’t do good for the region. Unlike Tokaj, Villány and Somló, this region attracts visitors for many other reasons but wine and the proportion of sophisticated consumers remains tiny whilst Fröccs and bulk wines rule the area. So the main question is: are these wineries capable of taking the wines of the region to the next level? But then it raises other concerns: do they have a driver to do that? These are quite unsettling questions until I realise I don’t care as long as they continue to provide us with such good and interesting wines so cheap.

This Olaszrizling from 2008 is a rather heavy wine, but unlike Tamás’s from Csopak for instance it’s not because of the oak primarily, but perhaps not having been filtered may be one of the causes.  With enough substance, 13.5% alcohol and a vibrant, even sharp acidity the wine’s well balanced though. An elderberry-flavored palate with boiled celery tartness and a minerally undertone is enhanced with some restrained fruity notes of apple, quince and pear and a hint of nutmeg. There’s a prickling sensation too especially at the finish which also adds a little to its complexity.

For HUF 1 700 t’s a best buy for those who like the stlye but will disappoint those looking for a clean, polished style.

Score: 5+/6

Price: HUF 1690 (it’s a best buy for those who like the style)

You hopefully just read the debut of Pfneiszl on this blog so I don’t need to tell once again how I feel about organic wines (my opinion didn’t change that much since last week).

This Merlot is medium ruby with purplish reflections. Fairly fruity and fresh nose with blackcurrant, sour cherry and some spices (I think cinnamon mainly). Similarly, the palate is fruity and fresh with acidity that only doesn’t cross the line if I think of almost any other red wine from Sopron in this segment. Very short finish. It’s an overall very similar wine to the Kékfrankos, a decent organic effort from a region which often disappoints but nothing to be too excited about.

Score: 4 points

Price:

This is Demeter Csaba’s debut on this blog and with a reason. But you always have to give people another chance don’t you, even if he clearly needs to rethink what to wear on the head on the photo on the front page of ones website (or on any other photo for that matter).

This is a blend of 70% Hárslevelű and 30% Olaszrizling, but you wouldn’t tell.

After 7 months in a large barrel Hanga is pale golden yellow with an intense spicy bouquet flavored by notes of ripe apple and a minerally undertone. Fruity palate with apple here too with a chalky accent. The wine is surprisingly enjoyable at room temperature of appr. 20 degrees celsius too, even thourh from the midpalate starts a tingling, scratchy sensation (tannins?) followed by a strange aroma closest to a detergent (yes my galss was clean!). Otherwise there’s lot of very juicy gooseberry with hints of apple. Good wine for just above a thousand, would serve summer grill parties well.

Score: 4, 4+

Price: HUF 1350 (well worth it)

I love good food, I have a passion for fruit and vegetable markets everywhere from France to Italy, now I even have my own tiny little spice production which will hopefully turn organic next year. Still I find buying organic products in Hungary an unpleasant experience. Why? The organic food and beverage movement has a very different lifecycle and in fact meaning in Hungary than elsewhere. The organic scene is more like a sect and products always (and I mean always) come in a bundle with some esoterism. Hungarian regular markets are already very different from their Western-European peers. But organic producers make it one step further: they make me feel uncomfortable. Wines are a bit of an exception, the methods used are not over-emphasized and they’re not (exclusively) sold in specialized markets.

Moreover, “fortunately” in winemaking the current buzzword in Hungary is artisan winemaking (and has been for some years now), making organic wine making sound just a foolish exotic hobby of marginal importance. Even worse, bio-dynamic sounds like a tropical disease or a disinfectant to the average consumer.

The Pfneiszl Kékfrankos 2009 is clean mid-pale purplish with a strange bouquet of petroleum. On the palate it’s very fresh like a Beaujolais with pleasant soft acidity and restrained tannins. Fresh, yet ripe fruity character with notes of sour cherry and wild berry fruits with a chocolate accent later. Well balanced wine and this is very important to me in this segment.

Score: 4 points

Price: