Budapest Daily Review

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

My records show that Eger is the best Pinot Noir producing region in Hungary. Some of the Egri Pinots even have great ageing potential.

This Tekenőháti from Noszvaj has an elegant, warm, fleshy bouquet with restrained spices. Elegantly styled on the palate, well-balanced with a long smooth finish. Soft, ultra-thin tannic backbone supporting a light-weighted body. The wine develops a very complex and exciting bouquet with notes of fat forest soil, hints of farmyard notes, with very elegantly rounded edges. Very subtle acidity. Lovely wine with at least another 2-3 years of potential. I wish I could see what this wine will become.

Score: 7, 7-

Price: HUF 4500

Orsolya is the most charming of all overpriced cellars of Eger. Their 2005 Kutyahegyi Zweigelt is a classic wine, from a certain aspect. It (and some similarily well made wines) brought them fame (in certain circles), and although the childish wine labels remain, the innocence was soon lost.

I wrote about abused grapes recently and how Zweigelt was the most prominent. For many the breakthrough came from another producer from Villány but for me, Orsolya’s Zweigelt 2005 was it: dense, fruity but fresh, very much unlike the zweigelts we used to know. I expected a lot from Orsolya Pincészet but the next breakthrough hasn’t come yet, they couldn’t take their winemaking to the next level. The wines are mostly fine, never poor really, but always very pricy.

The Zweigelt 2008 is a violet wine with a wide pink rim. The bouquet is fresh and dense, full of plum jam and notes of blueberry, clove and hints of cinnamon. Fairly fruity on the palate too but it’s composed of less ripe material. Very fresh character with vibrant acidity and unripe tannin underneath it all. The wine’s still too young, hence the unripe walnut, red currant and later sour cherry elements. These are wrapped in a thin film of dark chocolate. Later acaí (the tropical fruit), lot of it.

Score: 5+

Price: HUF 3 800

When I see a Leányka I often hear the song Garota de Ipanema in my head (I love several covers of that song). “Tall and tan and young and lovely”, and all the rest of the lyrics should apply to a good Leányka, but it hardly ever does. I mentioned Mátraalja’s heavy burden in my last post.  Now one of Eger’s heavy burdens is the exact Leányka it used to be so famous (and infamous) for in the years of socialist mass production. Most Leánykas are still sold as bulk wine even on Eger’s Dobó tér itself, over the counter, out of metal or plastic bulks. No wonder sometimes you think Leányka couldn’t be different. Fortunately, Kaló, Orsolya and some others already proved it otherwinse.

This is clearly an entry-level wine of Gál Tibor, a quickly cashable asset, so I didn’t expect too much of it.

Pale yellow with greenish reflections. The nose is full of apple and especially pear. It’s intensity falls quicker than gravity would justify. This Leányka is freed of acidity and it’s relatively thin so nothing can disguise its long tartness from the midpalate except some pear flavor passing much quicker than that girl on that particular beach of the Cidade Maravilhosa. And then it’s just emptiness.

Score: 3+

Price: HUF 1400

Btw, haven’t seen the movie “Cidade de Deus” yet? You are missing one of the greatest movies of recent times. Honestly. It’s a must see.

I returned two st. Andrea Pinot Noirs in a row to the retailer because they were corked. The third one I took home was a Pinot from another vinyard, namely from Hangács of Demjén. I’ve never been there and I didn’t even know the place existed (I still doubt it a bit).

It turns out that St. Andrea Pinot Noirs are intentionally corked, or so they seem (leasson learned, Ráspi). But the shop clerk says it’s normal, a buyer brought back a lot of six bottles, all corked. I couldn’t believe my ears.

Anyway, this one from Hangács is suspiciously similar to the other two. First, it has the same blurred pinkish brick color, then it has the same bouquet (and that’s not exactly a compliment). Well the cinnamon, rose and woodchip aromas are not exactly repelling but they’re not huge either. The palate is embarrassingly desintegrated, with harsh components, firm tannic backbone and a hint of (positively) sweet compote element. I hoped it’d get better with time but it got worse.

Score: 4+

I’ve been going through a series of bad luck as long as wine picking is concerned. I preferred not to share the tasting notes about these wines and some of them weren’t even worth to take notes of. I expected more from St. Andrea Merengő 2006 for instance. It’s a good wine but hardly as legendary as some people like to see it  (I loved it’s texture though). St. Andrea Akutyafájást 2008 (white) underperformed too but it may well have been the fault of the bottle. Kreinbacher’s sparkling Syrah Rosé 2008 was our first breakfast sparkling wine celebrating the new year and although its colour and it’s bubbles are beautiful and it’s so dry as it can possible get, it’s short of similarly positive further elements except the strawberry aromas on the nose (still, my wife loved it so you may as well). Sauska’s Pinot Noir 2007 has got a stunning nose but the palate’s disappointing, or maybe our food pairing wasn’t optimal. Although I had a Légli Sauvignon Blanc in a restaurant which I liked but it doesn’t count so I bought a bottle, still waiting to be opend. And then came Gróf Buttler’s Pinot Noir Selection form Szarkás dűlő.

Szarkás’ 14 hectares alrealy pleased me with some of the best Syrah, Kadarka, Merlot and even Kékoportó and Kadarka this country’s ever seen. This means I had some preconcepts about the style I might expect and it couldn’t be wrong.

Blurred pigeon ruby color with a pink rim. The nose is fairly complex and unpredictably so, once with sour cherry and red currant then full of spices.

On the palate very ripe, almost jammy strawberry mingled with cocktail cherry and warm indian spices. Very little, very subtle acidity, some powdery, soft, velvety tanninc underpinning granting little structure. Later leather takes over the lead and at this point on the nose too. Further on dry, southern Spanish cherry aroma.

The bottle recommends serving it at 14-15 degrees celsius but I enjoyed the wine most at around 20, much more than when it was cooler. It drinks well (and quickly) in a winter evening and it’s affordable too. If you don’t like Pinot Noir grape then don’t start with this wine, but it’s an interesting wine for the fans of both Pinot and Buttler.

Score: 6 points

Price: HUF 2 750

For a long time I didn’t realise that Gróf Buttler had wine under HUF 5 000. With a price tag well under 3 000 this Cabernet Sauvignon looked suspicious. Hungarian red wines under 3 500 are a scary business.

Dark core and purplish reflection. GB wines usually have charming, warm nose, slightly restrained first – well this one wasn’t different so my suspicion started to disappear. With notes os savory and other spices the nose is quite appealing. And with minth, herbal and camomile notes later on it’s even surprising. Remains slightly restrained though.

Very hard structure on the palate with a ripe tannic underpinning. The texture is the usual dense syrup.

After being uncorked for 24 hours the tannins smoothen and the wine’s even more tasty with an even friendlier character. It didn’t lose any of it’s charm in the same time.

I recommend this wine for everyday drinking, it’s good value for the money and it’s almost unique in this price range.

Score: 6-

Price: HUF 2 500

My currently favorite hummus bar in Budapest can be found on Alkotmány street, open since my favorite indian take away closed a year ago or so in the same place. That’s how I ended up at Beckett’s, Budapest’s most authentic Irish Pub right on the corner, watching Liverpool beating Manchester United last Sunday (not that any of these would be my favorite clubs, I must say). There I realised that a pint of Kilkenny costs more in Budapest than in London these days, with Hungarian Forint gaining momentum and sterling, well, remaining volatile. This made me remember an article I read somewhere (probably in the guardian) that in spite of the recession, the average price of a pint now stabilised above 3 pounds. Since I’ve become a converted Hungarian wine drinker 18 months ago I no longer follow international pricing (of course I heared about the Bordeaux price free fall and consequent rebound) but in Hungary domestic wine prices remained unchanged or tend to decline a bit since the credit crunch hit us all. In my constant bargain hunting efforts I found this cuvée, which costs HUF 990, down from HUF 1290 and I didn’t hesitate. It has a nice label, after all.

This Bolyki Zorróék 2007 doesn’t look particularily bad, a medium dark ruby with purplish reflections, and has a pleasant nose of mixed ripe berry fruits with a woody harsh accent. Not quite unexpectedly the wine is thin. It’s positively tannic, velvety, soft and all that. But it has a bit too high level of acidity for this body and a rather sour element to ennoy me a little, hardly compensated by hints of cinnamon. Otherwise it’s a very pleasant drink for EUR 4,and it goes well with a 4 seasons pizza (not the hotel chain, but the one sold by the former Ristorante Da Wally, now Da Raffaello since acquired by the Da Lello pizzeria people). It’s a optimal combination if you don’t want your attention to be distracted from a discussion while eating your pizza.

Score: 3+/4- (you wouldn’t expect more from a Hungarian red under 1 000)

Price: HUF 1 290 HUF 990

Funny name, funny label, so refreshing to see after having seen so many chateaux emerging from nowhere – as I write this I realise that as a rule of thumb you could easily pick mediocre wines simply by selecting one from one of the many Hungarian “chateaux” (there are exceptions though). The fact is, there are virtually no chateaux left in Hungary and even less with a history in winemaking. Hétszőlő actually has a chateau but they’re not calling themselves chateau (although they’re owned by French, well partly). Akutyafáját reminds me of Orsolya Pince’s early labels, drawings made by children, now by a teenager, all suggesting that we all (in the wine scene) are taking ourselves too seriously. The whole scene btw reminds me of a song by The Cribs (Hey Scensters), a great (probably the greatest) indie band currently being ruined by Johnny Marr. But Akutyafáját is different, also from Eger, from a wineamker who apparently thinks a lot about his wife (or he’s more ironic than we’d think), this wine is simple and straightforward: affordable, lovable, and Hungary’s mass market needs wines just like this one. It has somewhat of a terroir character, something of Eger but it’s also very accessible by everyone. Believe me. Here’s why. The nose is full of spices, clove mainly, mingled with some burnt wood and cherry/sour cherry – already very attractive (the wine needs that to be honest, it’s appearance is quite regular, medium-pale ruby, nothing exceptionnal there). Fresh, slightly scretchy tannins first on the palate supporting a rather sweetish, friendly character. Firm, but not overly, with young but gentle tannins providing excellent backbone for this rather small-medium bodied wine full of freshness and fun, with notes of cinnamon falvoured apple pie and cherry compote. Fairly good length with just a hint of bitterness to be detected sometimes, more than that dried thyme and savory. This wine is excellent for long, friendly conversations, or for exhausted folks like myself drinking and blogging. I’m a fan of St. Andrea and only now I realise that this is the first post about one of the best wineries of Eger (and Hungary).

And this is the best red wine I’ve seen under HUF 2000 for, like, ever…

Score: 5+

Price: HUF 1 845

ps: I’d like to dedicate this wine (and post) to a friend from Eger who turned 34 today and will become a father in a couple of days. He has no idea about I writing this blog and I hope he’ll never have, but I hope Samu won’t have to waste so many brain cells as we did in the nineties by drinking rubbish Eger wines. So cheers, for a better future.

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