Budapest Daily Review

The Mór wine festival accidentally falls onto the same days as the more prestigious Villány and Tokaj wine festivals. The less known event however attracted a crowd this saturday that completely filled the streets despite the chilly wind. Mór offered them a street music festival combined with a typical Hungarian country street event (i.e. tons of unhealthy food, vattacukor and usual market crap) with families of all ages from the surrounding cities and villages and, to my biggest surprise, foreign visitors. I’ve heard French and English words, besides the German spoken by a band marching the streets dressed like… whatever (I believe however that these musical events and football games provide you with a unique opportunity to see man of all ages feeling good in their long white socks showing off. Skirts are just an extra here). 

Anyway, I had to drink very quickly because my wife’s been fluttering like the kocsonya (missing from the menu, btw, and it’s a Hungarian food if you would be wondering, basically cold pork bone soup with pork leg in it) so I had no opportunity to discover the rule(s) which drive people to one winery’s quiosque and make them completely ignore others. 

The Information stand however had a middle-aged lady who not only distributed brochures but knew all of the winemakers I asked her about by nickname (I didn’t, so I had to double-check them). I still missed Pontica. 

Due to the strong wind and a rush, my tasting notes are very short and quite unreliable. 

Miklóscsabi – Utazótáska, 2007

This Királyleányka has pale bright color, round acidity and crab apple and pie character on the palate, completed with residual sugar leaving a fresh impression. 

Score: 3+, 4-

Bozóky – Leányka, 2007

Pale, almost transparent color with greenish reflexions. Less intense with less bitterness and acidity, but overall a pleasant wine. 

Score: 3+/4-

Bozóky – Cuvée, 2007

Pale yellow with greenish reflexions, just like the Királyleányka and other Bozóky wines to follow. Bozóky is considered a major winery in Mór but even their cellar is quite small. The old lady who took care of the visitors was very friendly and responsive considering that they attracted most of the visitors interested in a tour in a local cellar. I never quite understood though how can people enjoy a glass of wine in a crowded, smelly room. These notes were taken outside of the building. 

So the Cuvée has a similar pale tone as the others. It’s smoother with less acidity but with a more intense nose and flavors. 

Score: 4-

Bozóky – Ezerjó, 2006

Pale yellow color. More elegant than the others but still with a quite short finish. Better structure and better integrated even with a mineral undertone and an appealing cabbage-like finish. 

Score: 4

Miklóscsabi – Haramia Cuvée, 2007

This semi-dry Cuvée is made of Tramini, Leányka and Pinot Blanc. It’s full-bodied compared to the previous ones and this late harvest character is dominant until the finish. It has a distinctive pale-brassy color. The residual sugar is supported by nice, round acidity. It has better structure than the Bozóky wines. A velvet-vanilla undertone complete the overall nice sensation. 

Score: 5 points

Maurus – Leányka, 2007

Medium-pale golden color and floral notes on the nose. Well balanced with medium body, round acidity and long finish. 

I have to note here that the Maurus wines have very nice labels. And although only the Ezerjó is produced by Kamocsay (on a total of 0,7 hectares) the wines to follow somehow have a common stylish element. 

Score: 4 points

Maurus – Sauvignon Blanc, 2007

Remarkably nice onion-brassy color and nice, round acidity. 

Score: 4+/5

Maurus – Rajnai Rizling, 2007

Pale yellow with green-apple reflexions. On the palate oaky-vanilla notes maybe a little bit over the top. On the palate fruity elements and some residual sugar are supported by medium acidity. It’s a nice riesling with a long finish. 

Score: 5+/6-

Maurus – Ezerjó, 2007

Pale bright yellow. On the palate complex aromas of vanilla, oak and floral notes with gooseberry and acacia elements and round acidity. A little bit sweeter than it should be for a dry wine. 

Score: 6/6-

Maurus – Chardonnay

Elegant wine with some oaky vanilla and appealing bitter acidity and a tobacco-like undertone. 

Score: 6 points

I must admit I am not a regular festival visitor and I was surprised by the size of the Somló Tavasz festival: about a dozen twin kiosks, a hundred visitors and a huge tent describe well the scale of this event on the meadow on the outskirts of Somlóvásárhely. According to my winemaker friend, 40% of the visitors are regular festivalgoers who never miss one (hence the marketing value of the event is a bit questionable). All ages and all types of people were present: old ladies from the neighbouring villages sat in the tent quitely sipping their drinks while staring at the stage to check the appearance of a folklore dance group, there were families wandering around, kids riding horses, and some young folks trying to get a bit drunk. I really couldn’t spot any of the urban yuppies here who usually frequent these types of events. And no foreigners either.

It was charming and looked more like a big family reunion in a family where winemaking tradition’s got its roots from times when Juhfark was not yet recognised as a standalone grape.

Besides the local names (Györgykovács, Tornai, etc.) almost the same number of guest winemakers offered their wines, with few exceptions almost only from 2006 and 2005.

I really don’t think that festivals allow you to do some in-depth analysis of wine, it’s rather a quick scan of where are we standing and tasting unknown wines and trying to memorise those that you would like to try at home. So here are my notes, but since I did swallow all of these (at least in quantities of 1/2 dl) the objectivity is questionalbe. So I keep the order, I leave it to you what “filter” you apply to my judgement.