So how was it then?

Around this time of 2008 expectations about this vintage ranged from good to outstanding in every region although some remarked that a rainy October could leave this vintage short of excellence of, say, 2006. I’m not saying that the same irrational exuberance took over the Hungarian winemaking as it did in Bordeaux but Hungarian winemakers undoubtadly tend to be more optimistic in their expectations lately. Let’s find out how it all turned out on the east bank of the Danube.

Levendula Pincészet – Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008

The winemaking philosophy of Levendula is very different from the well-known Cabernet producers from the south and that’s clearly reflected in this wine. Also Levendula Cabernet Sauvignon is not a typical Cabernet as it lacks many of the “standard” features one would expect from varietal. After the “classic” Cabenet 2007 the 2008 has less chocolate but has more fruits starting from a vibrant, sharp and clean black-currant bouquet with a chocolate-woody-black peppered undertone to a stream of ripe cherry on the palate. Further on boiled apple and pear supported by powdery tannin and harsh acidity. A little bit rustic compared to the other wines to come but it’s the most fruity of the three.

Pannonhalmi Apátsági – Tricollis, 2008

This is a blend of Merlot (40%), Pinot Noir (40%) and Cabernet Franc (20%) but it could easily be sold as a Pinot Noir. It’s rather pale cherry-pinkish and has a very restrained nose of clove flavoured boiled apple with a vanilla accent. On the palate silky texture with very subtle acidity. A light entry turns into a gently fading length with beige caramel from the mid-palate. 13.5% alcohol feels a bit over the top for such a thin wine.

Bock – Ermitage, 2008

This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Fanc, Merlot, Syrah, Kékfrankos, Portugieser and Pinot Noir could be called Bikavér for it mixes these varietals in a way one wouldn’t suspect all these varietals were actually in it. It’s clearly Cabernet Sauvignon-based though with Merlot and Franc being also apparent. Altough having been aged for 14 months in large barrels and used small ones, with it’s dark brownish hue this looks more like an old-school Villányi Bordeaux cuvée rather than an experimental blend. Dense and highly concentrated material. Delightfully structured wine whose perfectly ripe (and a bit sweet), tasty tannins are a robust yet very fine underpinning that doesn’t require any airing to show its best. Perfectly linear flow from the entry to a rather short finish. Acidity could be fine-tuned here but tannin is the most prominent component of this wine and you can forget the rest. Altough being one dimensional and hence soon predictable, it’s worth to buy it just for the sake of tannin alone. A rare example of very smart use of oak.

All three wines are fairly priced. Tricollis and Levendula’s Cabernet are of the same league although very differrent in style, while Ermitage is different from both and more expensive but very reasonably priced at around EUR10.

A stock clearance of a well known retailer provided my with a good opportunity to acquire some bottles for party people coming to visit us from time to time, you know smokers and alike. Some of these wines were so disappointing they drove me to the conclusion I made about mediocre wine reviews in this post. Tiffány’s Portugieser 2009, Tiffán’s Imortal cuvée 2007 and Tűzkő’s Sauvignon Blanc 2008 were good match with cigarettes only really. The following two wines were the best of the lot, so far.

The wines

Chateau Kajmád – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Kékfrankos, 2003

Considering it was made in 2003 we can call this an early bird of it’s kind with it’s 14% alcohol.

The look: A dark core surrounded by pigeon blood hue and a pale brownish rim, with some purplish reflections.

Nose: Interesting spices coming through a stuffy bouquet at first, things like turmeric-favored plum and other oddities.

Palate: Dirty. After 90 minutes it evoles structurally but I’d like more definition to it. The wine’s texture is oily and I’m suspecting a good deal of glycerin here. The tart fruityness I would even call pleasant would it not been ruined by the whole picture including quite a lot of half powdery, half sticky overflowing tannins soaked up by the glycerin. The wine has a dirty character which I associate with many – even not so old – Ch. Kajmád wines, very much the opposite of the clean Konyári or Gróf Buttler wines.

Hilltop – Prémium Merlot 2008

Look: dead ruby.

Nose: mulberry syrup, very fruity.

Palate: Ligh-bodied wine with blueberry wrapped in burnt rubber and licorice aromas. Soft texture and polished tannins. But as a whole it’s too “made” and simple.

Evaluation: forget about it.

I swared a zillion times not to break rule #2: don’t listen to the wine store clerk, not even if you’ve already broke rule #1 (don’t listen to the winemaker) but I did it again and bought this Portugieser 2009 by Maczkó, a reasonably unnoticed winemaker from Villány. It was in my desperate, not to say, obsessive search for red wines under HUF 2000 that I let me convince by the short girl at Monarchia that this selection by Monarchia themselves was a good deal (she almost also convinced me that their Bordeaux glasses for HUF 1700 or so were just as good as the German (sic) Riedel glasses. What was I thinking??). I didn’t lose much, in fact a thousand quickly devaluating Forint isn’t much for a wine that’s fruity, blueberried, vibrant and relatively dense yet quite boring. But it didn’t change my perception about the value of these cheap red wines.

Despite a recent disappointment caused by Ebner’s Chardonnay from 2006, I decided to give them another chance and I bought a Portugieser at Bortársaság who put these on sale with 15% discount. With the recent volatility of euro against the forint, this seemed like a bargain at EUR 5,5 a bottle for a wine which received some nice reviews in 2007.

The wine has a quite transparent, but interestingly beautiful plum, bright purple color. It’s also quite lively which indicated its lack of body. Smell is dominated by wood and a hint of red currant and cranberry. Unfortunately this Portugieser is far too thin to my taste. In taste tannins dominate all and it’s not being compensated by body and fruityness at all.

After an hour I can smell a bit of tobacco and chocolate but not enough.

Score: 3+ points

Price: EUR 6,5

in the opposite corner of the country from where you would expect! Apparently the wine makers of Villány have long gave up trying to make excellent Portugieser. I gave up drinking Portuguiser before it was actually born in Hungary. Kékoportó, as it was known before the EU regulation, has been the entry-level red wine of tier-1 and other wineries of the modern Hungarian wine making (I invented this term for wine making which started in the early nineties but really just happening now). Those who became strong brand by the new millennium could sell their poor Kékoportó around EUR 5-6, well above the similar quality new world products. The lack of sophistication of consumers combined with the relatively affordable price for a well-known winemakers’ product made them successful commercially, however.

And for me that was it. The gastronomy equivalent of the small accessories or perfume of the haute-couture designer label in the fashion industry. An affordable item. Only that many perfumes smell good but very few Portuguisers reached the medium quality level. I had a positive surprise tasting a Bock Kékoportó (from 2005?) brought to me by a colleague, which already reflected some quantity control but still was not sufficiently convincing to actually start buying Portuguiser again.

The review

I am told that the Portugieser from 2003 (the first harvest) of Gróf Buttler (the owner, better known in the gambling industry as László Bukolyi) was unbeatable. We opened the 2006 (another good year) and the color was promising. Dark, intense, deep purple color, nothing like the Kékoportó used to be. It’s so dense actually that it moves almost as lazy as a Solus when you move the glass. Wonderful, lively color and the smell is in parity with it. Blackberry, but mostly sour cherry and lots of freshness. Normally you’re not supposed to keep Portugieser for too many years but I expect that this wine (currently at its peak I suspect) will be drinkable for another 1or 2 years. It’s not a big wine but huge compared to its predecessors.

My overall conclusion is that stop looking around, go now and buy one of the Gróf Buttler (so funny name, I can’t stop laughing at it) and wonder along with me why we had to wait until 2008 to drink a really amazing Portugieser like this.

Score: 7+ points

Price: EUR 14

Notes: this day, I’ve also tasted his Kadarka, Bikavér and Pinot Noir (in this order) and the Portugieser proved to be the best value for money. The Kadarka was poor (and very expensive for such), the Bikavér was very good (6+) and well, I don’t want to judge the Pinot because I was far too drunk by then. And just for the record: I know that probably we should have drunk the Pinot before the Bikavér.