Budapest Daily Review

Staring at Etyeki Kúria’s Magyar Vándor 2007 I’m thinking about how I tend to freak out when I see a red wine, especially for under HUF 4 000 from Mátraalja, Somló or sometimes even red areas. So imagine the flash when some kind of positive surprise hits you in this condition. Take this wine for instance, it didn’t only take tartness out of the equation but added minerality to it. Now you’re talking!

Don’t expect this wine look any better than you’d think! You won’t like it: it’s pale blurred ruby with a brownish and pinkish add-on, forget about it.

The nose is empty, quite literally. The palate, however, seems well-balanced, smootly textured and well integrated, all Pinot Noir-esque. In an hour or so my glass begins to fill with the wine fault I like the most: salty minerality. It’s very essential to compensate the sweetness deriving from alcohol (14 percent, mate!) which doesn’t burn and doesn’t feel, well, except the sweetness. I’m sure many people would desire more definition to it but I’m fine with the acidity of this wine as well as with the soft, powdery tannins of it.

Good wine, drinks well and fast.

Etyek wasn’t even on the wine map 10 years ago. Today if you want to get to the Etyek Pincefesztivál you need to face a crowd perhaps 25x the population of the village. And today they’re exporting their know how to Sopron.

Score: 5+(/6-) points

Price: HUF 3 500

I was contacted recently by someone not entirely unfamiliar with Hungarian wines asking about the Hungarian Syrahs and I had to admit that I found most efforts in this direction pretty forgottable, at least until I stopped sampling Hungarian Syrahs a few years ago. The only exceptions were the Syrahs of Gróf Buttler, which, vintage from vintage, convinced me about some potential.

This Syrah 2007 of Heimann family winery is less expensive. This is our first encounter.

Purplish hue with a pink rim.

Dark character on the nose, with veal steak, well done, mingled with caramel.

What first hit me concerning it’s very well composed palate was the great texture. Powdery, soft and ripe tannins which further smoothen into a long, straight finish accompanied by a berry fruit syrup element and a tobacco accent. Not very expressive wine fruit-wise. But from the mid palate fine dark chocolate flows into the eternity. And underneath it lies a great structure with firm, perfectly integrated acidity. Very solid chracter, structured style with probably the best tannin I’ve had this year.

Score: 6+/7-

Price: HUF 3 000

The unofficial release date of the wines of the latest vintage is Szt. Márton’s day (sorry but I get too bord thinking about googling out who the hell is Szt. Márton and what this day means), to me it used to mean trying not to get close to any wine shop for a few days. The thing is that these young wines have such a boring, aggresive markerting and I tend to avoid (very successfully I must say) ”must do-s” (like having the best time of my life at new year) and mass wine drinking anyway, so I’m the nightmare of Hungarian winemakers this time of the year. Comparing these wines to Beaujolais (nouveau) is another big mistake.  Moreover, by now you should have a decent stock of some red wines from 2006 so why would you rush to buy something that was a blurred, hardly drinkable non-alcoholic fluid couple of weeks ago? There’s no reason, unless you’re obsessed with pointing out exceptions. I found one which turned out not to be the rule, but the exception, quite unwillingly, circulating in one wine store searching for a wine at discounted price which somehow may have so far escaped my radar. Idei 2009 by Heimann is not a sale item but it is priced like one. So I said why not, I already fell for Szt. Márton’s mandatory goose meal (the leg!) the same day (I feel like I’m becoming a cliché).

The label says it’s a blend or Portugieser and Zweigelt. But the nose tells it otherwise, which is confirmed by the palate (what was already suggested by the color): this is a Zweigelt-based cuvéee whatever anyone says. Nice appearance, dark red/claret hue and a fresh, very jammy nose full of red currant aroma. Very fresh and young on the palate (who would have guessed…) with surprisingly many substance. Very tasty syrup of red currant and cranberry mostly. Vibrant, a bit harsh but not too much acidity. I’m not suggesting it will age well but it was still standing firm the next day. A very pleasant surprise overall and it does go well with a fat goose leg. This must be beginners’ luck, so I won’t push it.

Score: 4 points

Price: HUF 1  530

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

I stopped by a major Hungarian wine retailer (for the 3rd time this week, I’d call this a trend) to find out there’s a fall sale going on so I had no choice, I bought a couple of selected items. This is the first one of them, originally picked to be paired with Indian meal but ended up as an aperitif.

Not being a huge Tramini fan myself (I’m not sure if Tramini or Zöldveltelini is the one I like less, Irsai Olivér’s certainly beating both, downwards) I thought this was a good choice and Györgykovács always made good, if not excellent Traminis in my opinion.

The nose is very clean, mostly gooseberry flower syrup. The palate is a well balanced mix of lovely acidity and dry extracts. The gooseberry comes thorugh into a mouthfilling, intense falvor of the same bush. There are elements of medicine and herbs too, mingled with a rather interesting thermal water appeal (well, to some, I suppose). Later a gentle acacia-flower-ish element too, which brings back childhood memories of sucking juice from the acacia flower as a kid. And this wine carries mineral lembrances of Somló as well, of course.

Technically, this wine is super. I wish I could appreciate it more.

Interestingly enough to me, the wine gets better as the glass warms up a little.

Score: 5+/6 (people not so distant from this grape would appreciate it more)

Price:

One note: the said retailer has a cool shop near Lánchíd where not even the clerks can ruin the experience. It’s unbelievable we had to wait 20 years to have this in Budapest.

I just finished off this bottle, left over from before yesterday. I don’t usually keep the bottle open for so long (why would I?), but after  2 days uncorked the wine’s still very good.

This Rajnai’s color is quite dull. But the nose is quite not so much. It’s salted chalky-mineral character is charming, with almond-marzipan notes and a veggie stock accent. Well rounded on the palate, a bit sweet (it’s semi-dry after all) with very subtle acidity which will be more accentueted after 2 hours. Full-bodied but light, elgant but it has a character too - a quite mineral one, with very ripe apple and hints of pear. Soft, silky texture, thirlling. Surprisingly short length. Mature wine, probably at its best.

Score: 6+/7

Price: HUF 3 500

This Olaszrizling has a liquid gold hue in the glass. On the nose intense salty minerality and fresh plum (surprisingly mineral for a wine coming from chalky-loess soil, fuelling the debate over whether rocky-mineral soil is responsible for this feature of certain wines).

Less minerality on the palate, greens instead, with notes of lovage, boiled parsley and green nutmeet mingled with a bitter element, supported by vibrant, curvy acidity which could be better integrated. Remains salty however. Good length, with some bitterness at the end. Fairly complex, but could be more elegant. 

Score: 6 points

Price: HUF 2 900

Istvándy is a relatively big winery with 40 ha on Tóth-Hegy and Csobánc in the Badacsony wine region. Still, it’s very unknown compared to many of its peers. 

No vintage on the label so I only guess it was a 2006. Funnily enough, the description of the wine on the winery’s website doesn’t mention the vintage either but it says it’s full of tropical fruit aromas so it must be a different one from what I’m reviewing here. 

This one’s very clean, bright, with matt greenish reflections. 

After 18 months in oak this wine is relatively free of its side-effects. This Kéknyelű has a light, slightly perfumed floral nose of gooseberry and elderflower of medium-intensity. The palate is very clean elderberry juice, a bit salty and there’s a nettle element too. Well structured, with a relatively thick and grip character and firm acidity a bit over the top maybe. Good length, some aromas still showing. 

This Kéknyelű was a very pleasant surprise after the Szeremley fiasco (read about it here and here). So much better wine with just a bit more than half the price.

Score: 6 points

Price: HUF 2 600

This is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Zweigelt from Ferenczi Pálma of Szekszárd. None of the grapes is exaggerated in this cuvée and neither is the oak, in spite of the 14 months this wine has seen in barrique.

It opens with a bouquet which is rather Szekszárd than anything else with a not so pleasant stuffy accent but this will clear out in 30 minutes.

The nose is then red pepper, a hint of sour cherry, not too heavy. Medium-bodied wine filled with enough substance needed to get the support from his hard, firm, yet very pleasant tannic backbone. Structure is the most prominent component of this wine but it has a well-composed, slightly sweet, bit fruity palate too. I liked it a lot.

Drink it now, but it would also age well for another 1-2 years.

Score: 5+/6

Price: HUF 2 800

Pántlika owns 40 hectares around Dörgicse, a well-preserved small village with a stunning view of lake Balaton, and it probably makes it the largest winery of than region. Although the cellar’s based in a former socialist co-op “hangar”, the front-end of the headquarters is a nice old-fashioned stone house. After this dichotomy I was very much looking forward to tasting their wines, made by a 19 year-old (!) winemaker.

The reviews

The Olaszrizling Válogatás 2006 was the first ever made in the history of the winery. Pale yellow with greenish reflections, this Olaszrizling has an intense nettle nose. On the palate it’s light, thin and quite empty for a “selection” with relatively low yield per vine. Slightly sparkling on the palate with nettle and elderberry flavors. It’s a bit tart from the mid-palate.

Score: 3+ points

Sauvignon Blanc 2008. This pale yellow wine also has nettle aromas on the nose and on the palate but a bit more warm and with a flinty-gas accent. Better textured, more creamy but it’s just as thin as the Olaszrizling. Less acidity here but better rounded.

Score: 3+ points

Chardonnay 2008 is bright with medium-deep yellow tone. More closed on the nose, fairly fruity but this one’s also very thin-bodied, although well balanced but it’s a wine without character.

Score: 3+ points

You’ll find informative pictures on the website of the winery: pantlikapinceszet.hu