Budapest Daily Review

Arriving from a forgotten corner of the cellar, I had no idea what this wine cost or what to expect from it. I wasn’t really impressed by the better known more prestigious wines of Konyári but 2000 was a great year (see previous post). 

This is a very dark wine with a black core and a terra cotta rim. Very dense material, nice bouquet of dark chocolate, cherry and hints of blueberry. Very nicely textured, silky and velvety, dense but not fruity. There’s a tart element flowing into a rather long finish. Very dry wine and it remarkably misses almost any acidity whatsoever, only the velvety tannins are underpinning the large body. Whatever this wine has it’s very well integrated, soft and pleasant, so it’s an overall interesting experience. The same cuvée from 2007 is still available and at it’s price this is a very fair value for the money and easily the best buy from Konyári. 

Score: 4+(/5-)

Price: HUF 1 300

2003 produced some of the first really remarkable great white wines this country’s seen in this millennium (just think about Mandolás Furmint). We learend to appreciate this vintage even more after the tough 2004 and 2005 vintages. The glory of most of these wines, however, didn’t last for more than 4  years, some of them starting a sharp decline as early as in 2006. On the other hand, some of these wineries couldn’t repeat their performance up until now (again, think about Mandolás). The wines from the north bank of Balaton have been having hard times as well. Still, or maybe because if this, I was very happy to discover this already forgotten Kereklevelű (known as Chardonnay beyond the Carpathians) in my cellar from Tóth Sándor (aka Scheller).

The review

Medium-deep hay on the glass, the wine opens slowly to show some flinty notes on the nose. On the palate an almond element mingles with lot of rustic, but attractable minerality. This latter becomes denser, just as the whole wine, after one hour and a half. Medium-large bodied wine supported by lower-medium acidity (which means there could be a little bit more) and a slightly bitter minerality. A bit sweet, the wine is still fresh and in good shape right now with soft, slightly sandy tannin. The marzipan and almond is later faded by dried apricot and even richer minerality. I sometimes sense a botrytis-ish element in the background.

This wine will give you lot of pleasure for only HUF 1 600 especially if you can give it an hour or so before drinking.

Score: 5+

Price: HUF 1 600

I first appreciated the affordable wines of Paternina of Rioja on my first trip to Madrid and the Banda Azul brand accompanied us through our journey through Toledo, Córdoba, Sevilla, Ronda, Cabo de Gata to Segovia. When we went back few years later to visit le Pays Basque and País Vasco, we visited their winery near Haro (I think, btw, that everyone should visit that land if for nothing else but their tapas bars). I picked up a cheap Chardonnay there, from 2006. This ultra-light wine of pale greenish color is fresh and young with a celery and fennel character supported by crisp acidity in smaller quantity. It’s still slightly sparkling on the palate. This wine is a decent 3+ points effort and provided a good basis of comparison to the very different Áldozóhegyi.

Sauvignon Blanc is one of my favorite grapes and I believe that Hungary would be able to produce good Sauvignon Blancs but so far little effort has been made to fill in a gap on the market left by a virtually non-existing supply of foreign wines, including SB. Where is Hungarian Sauvignon Blanc standing compared to its European and new world competitors? Do we stand a chance as long as quality is concerned, especially when price is taken into account? Is New Zealand really better than France? Should Hungary destroy all its SB plantations once and for all? Are we ever going to export Sauvignon Blanc?

We’ll not necessarily give an answer to these questions, perhaps we’ll be only scratching the surface but at least we’ll try: Peter from borwerk.de and I decided to try to taste as many Hungarian SBs as we can put our hands on and taste each of them in pair with a foreign Sauvignon Blanc. Here’s the first sprint’s result.

Domaine Des Corbillieres is a family winery from the Loire (Sologne wine region) near Blois, Tours and Chambord (boy, do I love the Loire castles!) with a long history and consisting today of 23 hectares of which 13 are Touraine Blanc Sauvignon. 2008 was excellent year in Touraine, on the South-bank of Loire. The Touraine 2005 was a Wine Advocate 90 points wine.

2007 was a year in Balaton described by many winemakers as “rather difficult” but the Figulas didn’t complain. So let’s see.

The tasting was blind but not for long. After the first sniff when our noses got near the glass there were no secrets any more.

The Touraine has pale lemon color with greenish reflections. Very intense nose, soft and gentle with lot of litchi, papaya and maracujá (passion fruit) aromas. On the palate very fresh and firm with lot of grip, metallic (and grapefruit flavored) acidity and perfectly integrated structure. Crisp, buoyant, young but elegant acidity with a salty accent, flowing into a virtually endless finish. Very zippy wine. Goodness, what a wine this is for the price of a small pizza.  Score: 6+/7-

In my eyes it’s a real bargain not just for everyday drinking.

The sauvignon Blanc from Balatonfüred (Balatonszőlős, actually) has a slightly deeper hue and a it’s closed on the nose with green apple, salt cured and spiced Iberian ham (or pancetta?) and veggie soup notes, definitely more closed than the Touraine. Shows also little on the palate with some greenish freshness and veggie notes with a softer texture. Medium acidity but structurally much inferior to Touraine. Score: 4

The wines, believe it or not, are both priced at around HUF 1800 even with the recently week forint and shipment cost included (well, the Touraine was brought from Germany free of shipment cost, but still). I always feared that I’d been a little bit biased in favor of Figula which may have been the case but this blind tasting reveals I’m afraid what the real value of this wine is.

Touraine Corbillieres facts sheet andquotes from their website:

GRAPE VARIETY
-Sauvignon blanc

AGE OF VINE
-13 to 43 Years

TYPE OF SOIL
- Sand on a clay bed of the Sologne region.

VINE GROWING

-No chemical fertilizer, only organic matter, controlled production by a very strict debudding. Leaves thinned out.

PRODUCTION METHOD

-Steeping for 1 month with natural ferments, at a temperature of 16 – 18º, then left to lie until spring.

WINE TASTING

-Delicate and with a floral aroma, this wine is rich and fruity, well balanced and give a lasting freshness to the palate.

SERVING METHOD

Goes well with Asparagus, fish and all shellfish
Serving temperature 10º.

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)

I like the Szekszárd rosé wines which are, at least those I’ve tasted so far were,  relatively dense and fruity but refreshing. Ferenczi is another winery which is not listed on Google’s first 20 or so pages so I can’t tell you more about them just now.

The review

This Rosé Cuvée 2007 has a pink color with brassy reflections. Creamy strabwerry on the nose, dense and sweet but light. I guessed Merlot and Pinot Noir from it but I didn’t suspect Zweigelt in this blend of three. Now that I know it I think there’s more of it than of Pinot Noir actually. The wine delivers the very same character on the palate with the same intensity. Fairly round with a hint of sweetness which is perfectly balanced by fresh and lovely acidity supported by some chalky and salty notes. Medium-bodied but refreshing (at the right temperature of course). I like rosé wines as in Provence: chilled to around 5 Celsius and drink it as a refreshing soda. But this wine offers more than that. With enough fruitiness and that mineral twist adding depth to the wine makes it above average and more than just a summer mid-day refresher. It’s firm enough with its elegant acidity and it has a relatively long finish with punch and clove aromas. And it’s nicely textured.

If Debreczeni’s marriage with Ferenczi is as good as of these three varieties’ than they’re a happy couple.

Score: 5+/6-

Price: HUF 1 400 Of course it’s a best buy!

Bortársaság is a major wine store chain in Hungary. Their own product line consist of three pieces and this white cuvée was made in  Fodor Béla’s winery of Balatonszőlős (the red’s made in the Takler winery and the rosé at Villány’s Ikon).

The suspiciously low price (about HUF 1 100) for this big, although nicely designed bottle from an unknown producer (Fodor’s name doesn’t appear on the front label) repels wine snobs just as much as it attracts students and low-budget drinkers. I thought that this, put aside Tüske’s red magnum was the ultimate party wine purchased in the last minute by the said target market. I decided to test it on members of a family reunion and it was very well received. And indeed, this is a light wine however well-balanced and with a remarkably integrated structure. It’s fruity on the nose and on the palate too. It’s way ahead of many 75 cl bottled white wines and for HUF 550 a liter it’s a real bargain. And not just for parties.

I went to Csalogány 26 restaurant the other day for a quick lunch and I was offered the house’s red wine for only HUF 200/100 cl and it turned out to be a very good choice (a  cuvée from the Malatinszky winery made specially for the restaurant). I was very surprised by the price in such a good restaurant but I think that this is the way to get Hungarians drink wine in restaurants (yes, they don’t). The price of wines in Hungarian restaurants is outrageous. Some people my have realised this so they organised Wine Wednesday (or Borszerda), a single day in a year when participants (few dozen restaurants in Budapest for instance) offer wines at a 50% discount. They still make a good profit on it so I’m surprised why most good restaurants did not list up for the event.

The future role of Juhfark in Somló has always been debated and fortunately I’m not qualified to enter into this seemingly never ending discussion. That this grape plays an important role in marketing the region is however certain but whether this should be the flagship varietal of Somló is another question. I didn’t find out this time but I found some very promising wines, and some appalling wines too.

Once again, these notes are quick tasting notes taken in horrible conditions therefore they’re short and not complete, but hopefully they’re good indicators of each wine’s quality and their potential.

Hollóvár: this Juhfark has exactly the same flint character on the nose as the Olaszrizling with a melted butter and vanilla undertone and later with light gooseberry aromas.  On the palate it’s firm, with mineral and herby notes. Score: 6

Somlói Apátsági Pince: this one has an exciting fruity-floral character on the nose. It’s more complex, intense but refreshing in the same time and very pleasant. It’s broad palate has a tiny bit of sweetness but there’s also enough acidity to balance it and wet-stone and a salty-minerality gives it further more depth. Long and complex finish. This wine stands out with the intensity on both the palate and the nose and with its aromatic salty-sweet balance. Very good value for the money. Score: 7+

Spiegelber: clean, intense, fairly ripe apple nose with a butter edge and an apple-skin element. well balanced with a pleasantly sharp acidity providing backbone to this light-medium-bodied wine. A bit salty. Another exceptionally good value for the money. Score: 7-

Kolonics, Juhfark, 2007: this Juhfark has a heavy, old character of old-school handicraft winemaking. Score: 3

Tornai, Juhfark (Aranyhegy): flint on the nose with a woody element. On the palate, veggie soup. Score: 5

Tornai, juhfark (Grófi): with a veggie-soup character on the nose, this wine is more complex than the Aranyhegy juhfark. It’s well integrated on the palate with good presence of pear and soup elements. Score: 6-

Bogdán: like the Kolonics Juhfark, this one also has an old-school handicraft character with sulphit elements on the nose and on the palate. There’s some weedy note on the nose. Score: 3/3+

Bogdán- Juhfar Késői szüret: 3 points

Despite the disappointing wineries (Kolonics and Bogdán) this tasting confirms that Somló and Juhfark has a promising future in Hungary’s winemaking and ensures a major space in my personal cellar for these wines.

It is widely believed that the Somló wines have a strong local character, the terroir providing foundation for it. Tasting some of the the most respected local winemakers’ wines side by side will give you another impression though. Others even question whether Somló, already the smallest of Hungary’s historical wine regions, can be regarded as one single region proposing that Somló mountain (a hill, actually) could be split into upper (more volcanic rocky ascent) and lower (more flat, with sometimes powdery soil) regions of very different local climate, not to mention that only the south-western slopes with bigger solar exposure should be really considered as part of the Somló region.

With two persons on average sharing a square meter of the beautiful Festetics Palota in Budapest, the Somló Évjáratbemutató 2008 was far from being an ideal place to find answers to my questions.

These young wines are barrel samples so they’re still expected to change and develop a lot, so the following notes are just impressions rather than result of careful analysis. The scores are hopefully reflecting this potential but I may have made more mistakes this time than usual. Also note that all wines are from 2008 except otherwise stated.

Bazaltbor – Olaszrizling: This Olaszrizling has a fruity nose with apple and pear aromas also on the palate. Fresh, young with lively acids. Score: 4

Bazaltbor Olaszrizling Válogatás: Now this one has a powerful, fresh and clean elderberry bouquet and a more elegant character in general.  Still a medium-bodied wine but much better integrated and well-balanced. Score: 5+

Györgykovács – Olaszrizling: This Olaszrizling has an intense, complex mineral nose. On the palate it’s more simple with a small bitterness, and it’s very dry. Score: 5+/6-

Dénes Hegybirtok – Olaszrizling: Vanilla and melted butter aromas on the nose, quite intensely. Has not been filtered yet so its very dense in color and  on the nose too. Good texture, creamy but low acidity. The sweet sensation on the palate  is a result of the malolactic fermentation as it has no residual sugar.  Score: 4

Spiegelber – Olaszrizling: Complex pear and floral aromas on the nose but more simple on the palate, although full-bodied. Very dry with pear notes and a bit of minerality. Score: 4+

Kreinbacher – Olaszrizling: A distinguished bright, lively color. Great nose, very complex of clean elderberry and  gooseberry elements and a sulphite and city gas underpinning. Later on the nose: Veggie and spicy chicken stock with lovage and flint, lot of flint. Less intense on the palate, gentle and rounded, the wine has a more mineral and ripe character. Full-bodied with an appealing structure and nicely textured. There’s promise of finess too already. Score: 6+/7

Hollóvár – Olaszrizling: An appalling city gas nose with sulphit and flint and a chalky mineral undertone. Light-medium bodied wine with a nice structure. Very dry. No wine will divide people as much as this one. Score: 6+/7-

Somlói Apátsági Pince - Olaszrizling: Rich bouquet with an unusual Veggie soup with lovage on the nose and very pleasant apple-pear aromas. Firm on the palate, with the same Veggie soup with lovage! Boiled, spicy vegetarian notes with a mineral undertone. Very good one. Score: 6+/7-

Szent Ilona – Olaszrizling: Intense, lively floral nose but very simple on the palate. Score: 4

Kolonics – Olaszrizling: It’s very closed on the nose and it has this handicraft character with a large barrell element. On the palate salty-bitterness, interesting. Score: 5

To wrap up, it’ll be interesting to see how these wines will develop, especially Hollóvár. One thing is certain: the styles are more relevant here than terroir or the grape. On the other hand, there might as well be a Somló terroir, but it’s not yet the time to discuss this.

Ottó Légli has, in total, 33 ha vineyards mostly on the small hills of the Balatonboglár region. According to his credo, his aim is to make the wine express the utmost harmony of natural values of the wine such as fruitiness, acidity, freshness and of dedicated human efforts.The vine composition of the plantations is as follows:

Chardonnay 7,7 ha, Olaszrizling 5 ha, Rajnai Rizling 4,8 ha, Sauvignon Blanc 3,6 ha, Pinot Noir 4 ha, Merlot 2 ha, Kékfrankos 1 ha, Pinot Blanc 0,5 ha, Rizlingszilváni 0,4 ha, Muscat Ottonel 0,3 ha, Irsai Olivér 0,3 ha, Zenit 0,3 ha, Zöldveltelini 0,2 ha, under reconstruction 2,9 ha.

I picked an affordable middle-range wine (he produces wines for the budget consumers as well as for the wealthy Hungarians, and a range in between). I was a bit disappointed lately with the lower-end sortiment, so I’ve been looking forward to the more expensive range with mixed expectations.

Légli – Landord, 2007

Medium yellow-golden color, clean and bright and the wine has an appealing move in the glass.

This Chardonnay has a very attractive nose: intense, but very elegant acacia honey with floral edge. Very refreshing. It has a mouth-filling presence on the palate too with grapefruit and other citrus elements, supported by round, fresh, elegant acidity. Remarkable, excellent balance. More than medium bodied with a nice structure with a good deal of salty-minerality making it even more exciting, completed by an apricot aroma undertone. Complex, but not heavy wine, although heavy enough to accompany the 14% alcohol. The acids are lovely and they’re trimming well the residual sugar.

Later the nose will have a marzipan note too and the palate a more Chardonnay vinous character.

The smart use of polished oak is interesting and pleasant.

This is the last great Chardonnay in a row of three in only a few months. The three came from 3 different regions in the small Hungarian land. The three are priced around HUF 3 000 which, of course, qualifies them for best buy. Something to think about.

Score: 7, 7+

Price: 3 500 (on sale, normally 4 000)

Bright golden color, I expected darker, more brownish tone.

The nose is sulphuric with honey and floral notes of medium intensity (I expected more intense aromas).

On the palate it’s well structured, well integrated, nicely composed peanut butter and peanut  with elegant acidity and nice, smooth texture. There’s a tiny bitterness of walnut too. I suspect high level of alcohol, a bit burning. Round wine with some residual sugar embedded into the nice acidity. The burned sugar finish is long and very pleasant.

With time, lot of caramel with burnt walnut on the palate and a touch of vanilla. The wine stretches in the whole mouth from the peak of the tongue to the back-end, filling it with a smooth, velvety sensation. The nose becomes more marzipan-vanilla after an hour.

It well worths the price.

Score: 7-, 7 points

Price: HUF 3 000