The "breakthrough" Laurent-Perrier Brut 1993

In February 2011 for the first time ever I chose to buy a Pezsgő (Hungarian sparkling wine), it was entirely my decision without being suggested by my wife, a big fan of Champagne. It started some years ago with our New Eve sparkling breakfasts, then one thing led to another and I can state that I now enjoy sparkling wines as much as I enjoy any other wine. The breakthrough came with a Laurent-Perrier Brut 1993 few weeks ago with its delightfully structured style, smoothly integrated palate and mature harmony only found in vintage wines.

Hungarian sparkling wines (or at least those made using traditional method, which I buy) are, of course, modest compared to the Champagnes. But I enjoy some of the rosés and I found this Chateau Vincent Evolution Rosé, 2005 particularily delightful.

It is made of 100% Pinot Noir which makes it look onion peel colored with some brassy reflections. It smells of yeast and toasted bread but it’s more aromatic and fruity on the palate with a bit of residual sugar (20g/L) which I find rather pleasant in this wine (in many white wines in fact), supported by firm apple flavoured acidity. Realtively fleshy mouthfil with aromas of chalky strawberry jam and toasted bread flowing into a very long yeasty finish with hints of pistache.

This is a very good effort, perhaps the best I have seen in its category and it confirms Garamvári Szőlőbirtok (best known as Ch. Vincent) as one of my two favorite Pezsgő makers of the regrettably short list of Pezsgő makers.

Note : pictures have been missing lately because my DSLR had broken and I couldn’t fix it yet so this and the last few pictures were taken with a budget mobile phone camera.

What I wrote yesterday about Tóth István’s Kékfrankos 2003 applies for all of his wines, with more or less minor changes. So instead of repeating myself I present you the delta between the two wines.

First of all this is a blend, a Bikavér as we know it but don’t let this convention confuse you. The only difference on the nose is that this Bikavér has more wild mushroom notes and some sour cherry, but fundamentally very barrell influenced just as the Kékfrankos. The tannin’s a bit scratchy sometimes.

It’s strange how many winemakers employed full-time by major wineries are allowed (and have time to) take care of their own vinyards and cellar. Examples from Demeter to Szepsy (in alphabetic order) show that they often manage to do it pritty well evidently.

I was sold this wine when asking Mr. Szentesi to introduce me to some full-bodied white wine around HUF 2 000. This wasn’t his first choice (not even making it into the top 10 actually) and he hesitated about the price but I took it because I’ve never heared of this winery and it turns out there aren’t many good value wines in this range.

Bright golden yellow. Fairly complex nose with boiled vegetables and veggie stock and lot of Furmint grape aromas, with hints of honey and flower. And a mineral undertone. Very rustic.

I didn’t like the taste first, but I put it in the fridge for a while and the magic happened. The same rustic stlye dominates the palate with more salt and tons of rocks. Some residual sugar is counterbalanced by good acidity keeping the flow into a lengthy finish. Mouthfilling, very acidic with lot of stewed apple-faloured substance too. When it’s heated up a little it becomes harshly bitter which is slightly appalling. Chilled it’s very mineral with a lot of lemon. And more lemon.

This wine is very close to its peak, or at it. You’ll enjoy it very much if you pay attention to its temperature and it’s a rare bargain.

Score: 6, 6+

Price: HUF 2000 (this is how much I paid, but not sure about the actual price)

I chose this wine the same day with the Konyári Kékfrankos-Merlot 2000 cuvée and after an Australian shiraz for dessert. 

Not being a Hárslevelő fan myself, I was surprised by how much I liked the bouquet of this wine. Coincidence of not, it has a clean lime-blossom-floral and tea character, fresh and relatively intense but elegant too, fruity and herbal notes mingled. Just like it’s clean, vibrant golden color it has a polished style on the palate too with a mouthfilling lime-blossom dominance. Good harmony with the nose, which later will be more fruity with mainly fresh plum and hints of quince and apple in the background.  

Lovely wine from a not so lovely year. 

Score: 6, 6+

Price: HUF 2 900

I think that Gróf Buttler’s Kadarka 2005 (400-500 m) is no longer available in stores, I even heard rumors that Bukolyi would buy back some of them if someone would want to get rid off some bottles (get in the queue, mate!).

Medium ruby in the glass with a brickie-pink rim, this wine is intense on the nose with primarily raspberry-syrup and earth elements. Later fresh red meat mingled with a candy accent.

The wine has impressive velvety tannins, quite elegantly styled just like the whole wine. It’s a small-bodied wine with a pleasant creaminess and a good structure. And nice acidity too: fresh, almost sparkling. A little bit fleshy on the palate too, but dominantly fruity with berry fruits and stewed cherry but with a candy undertone.

Another  Gróf Buttler wine which can be fully enjoyed already right after opening.

Score: 6+, 7-

Price: HUF 5 000-6000

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)

After so many years Bikavér (or “Bulls Blood”) still brings bad memories of semi-dry, medium-bodied wines which is so unfair today, or at least partly. Today Bikavér is more and more a mid-range cuvée in the assortment of the wineries, a must-have piece if you were from Szekszárd or Egerand in many cases it’s no longer the “the blend of the leftover grapes” but a conceptually designed cuvée, often Bordeaux-styled one.

Now a Bikavér made of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Kékfrankos, Zweigelt, Blauburger and Portugieser is a bit suspicious to say the least. In the Bolyki Egri Bikavér from 2005 you can find all of these in an undisclosed mix. I already complained about the inconsistent character of the Hungarian cuvées and I’m really curious about next (or previous’ ) year’s Bolyki Bikavér from a mix perspective.

The review

Medium deep ruby color with purplish reflections (actually it’s almost purple with ruby reflections). This Bikavér’s nose is pepper and spices, not intense and not fruity but pleasant and interesting. This is a medium-bodied wine with more than medium acidity supporting a dry, smoothly tannic texture. The palate has a distant red currant and unripe cherry aroma but it’s more or less empty with occasional Zweigelt-Kékfrankos-Portugieser elements.This little is well integrated, the wine has a relatively good although thin structure. Later there’s some berry fruit on the nose and the day after a bit of leather and tobacco , on the palate tobacco.

Score: 4-/4

Price: HUF 2 250

With a yearly 10 000 bottles output from 5.5 hectars, Schellmann is a small winery producing 50% white wines and 50% red wines. After having learned about the 95 points their Chardonnay received from Falstaff in 2003 I become interested in the Chardonnay from 2005 when I saw its charming label on the “sale” shelf of Wein & Co. in Wien. I thought it would be a good benchmark for the few Hungarian high-end Chardonnays. And indeed, I found it very similar in style and quality to Monarchia’s Chardonnay Battonage, reviewed recently on this blog.

The review

Deep color with brassy reflections.

The nose is full of Chardonnay and barrique oak notes. As it opens a bit intense ripe, sweet-citrus elements (and pine-apple) mingle with the vanilla undertone.

The wine is full-bodied with lot of extracts and a bit of residual sugar but with a good structure. I expected it to be more acidic, but it’s just fine. The grapes must have been harvested ripe and the juice probably spent some time in contact with the lee, providing it with this dense, mouth-filling sensation.

The nose improves after an hour and the palate also evolves a more intense character of aromas fundamentally of grapefruit,  lemon and quince now with an elderberry accent. It’s a heavy wine and has a long finish with some bitterness in it.

The wine has some qualities of a really great fine wine but it already seems a little old.

Score: 6+/7-

Price: EUR30 appr

I’ve recently testified a revolt by a regular drinker (and apparently self-appointed free-lance vine adviser) for Bukolyi never accepting anyone’s opinion on how to make even better wines and what a rubbish method was to classify his wines according to the heights where the vines are located. Indeed, this approach might sound weird to many (the higher the vines come from, the better the quality is supposed to be, or at least this is what price tags suggest) and I cannot judge the character of Bukolyi myself. The simple fact is that his wines never disappointed me and for a rare fortunate coincidence I never had to care about the price tag so far. I hope this wouldn’t incline my judgment today. Anyway, I put this Syrah beside a cuvée from Szekszárd which I sampled later the same day.

The reviews

Gróf Buttler – Egri Syrah, 2005, Nagy-Eged, 400-500

Beautiful, lively, dark cherry color with purplish reflections. Absolutely stunning and with a beautiful, elegant fresh move.

The nose is spicy, dominantly pepper with a woody  underpinning. Lot of pepper and minerality.

On the palate at start a velvety, almost oily texture is supporting the blackberry fruit aromas – I must emphasize the fact that no jam, no overly ripe fruit, but perfectly ripe, fresh blackberry fruit we have here. Later cherry, a bit of chocolate and a phosphorus undertone. The tannins are there in a powder-like , velvety form. With time and for a period, an unlit candle-like element takes over the palate. These strange, but pleasant elements are supported by nice, round acidity. Good structure. The mineral character is there from the nose to the long finish on the palate, along with a cherry seed bitterness.

Score: 6-7 points (I gave it a 6 then, now I’m inclining towards a 7-)

Takler – Cuvée Maffiózó, 2000

The color is dark, brownish ruby as far as I can tell (yeah, the local conditions weren’t perfect for that). Very intense berry fruit aromas mingled with Asian spices.

On the palate this intensity couldn’t be sustained. Even worse than that, there’s no acidity to support the big, although flat body. This is a very dry wine. Only the palate dried tobacco and a bitter finish.

Score: 5+, 6- (I might be a little bit austere here though)

Dark ruby color with brick rim. 

The berry fruit bouquet quickly disappears behind spices like white pepper, and a chalky accent. 

On the palate woody, sour tannic texture. The bitterness is over the top to my taste. It’s like the winemaker was trying to battle the difficulties of the vintage with a lot of oak. 

45 minutes of decanting opens it a little and brings some chocolate and leather elements to the nose.

I could appreciate the almost full body and the wine’s medium complexity but the incisive tannins wouldn’t let flavours really come through. The long, sour finish makes it very difficult indeed. 2 hours decanting and a very ripe cherry note makes it a bit more interesting. 

This cuvée, maybe in a better vintage with some adjustments could be much much better. I’m looking forward to the 2006 but as of now, the 2005 is overpriced. 

Score: 5 points

Price: appr. EUR 17