Lemon yellow with faded greenish reflections. Yeasty bouquet with mayonnaise aroma. Elegantly styled palate with fair amount of acidity, not too much, just enough. Light fruity character with a mixed basket of continental and tropical fruits. Good length too.

Following the Juhfark in Saturday’s post, I’ve become curious about other  Somlói Apátsági wines and I didn’t hesitate to open a young Furmint.

Somlói Apátsági Pince – Furmint, 2008

Shiny deep golden yellow with a vibrant brownish tone.

Very intense nose of higly concentrated minerals and honey with a botrytis accent. A nice weight on the palate. Savory and minerally first, a bit dull and tart from the midpalate. Tea notes emerge over a deep and concentrated layer of minerals, preceding traces of oak.

Somlói Apátsági Pince have built a cult following over the years. Their wines showing an even heavier character and rocky edge in the last two years I really wonder if they can break into the mainstream but I have doubts. I’m looking forward to see where they’re heading next.

It’s time for me to catch up with my other Somló favorite Spiegelberg.

Somlói Apátsági Pince are as clerical as I am although their commitment to artisan methods is almost religious.

Juhfark is a varietal despised by many, including wine critics, never mind that it is now a matter of fact that Juhfark is able to express terroir brilliantly and although the grape’s vinious notes are always present, the wines made of Juhfark can be complex, fruity and minerally in the same time.

Somlói Apátsági Pince not just realised this but they managed to put it into practice, as we have seen in previous vintages. This is their latest attempt.

Somlói Apátsági Pince – Juhfark, 2009

Straw inclined to mid-golden hue. The nose kicks off with rich minerality, a rocky explosion actually that also implies saltyness, cereals and a hint of vanilla, with traces of acidity. Later lime tree blossom and other floral notes emerge.

On the palate it’s rich and ample with fruity aromatics and an exciting minerally texture to it. Although primarily minerally, the palate is loaded with fruit: fairly rich lemon, grapefruit, apricot and even radish and kohlrabi whilst it also reveals a botrytis-like undertone. The sweetness (it could be the 14% alcohol) suits this full-bodied wine as it is rebalanced with a good dose of dense, salty minerality and pleasant acidity.

The finish could be longer, but this is a terrific wine even at higher temperatures. Not cheap, but fairly priced.

Lemon yellow with greenish reflections. Nettle on the nose. On the palate notes of celery and lovage mingled with light chalky minerality. Very short length. The acidity tastes flat and dull.

I’m a bit disappointed.

I don’t pretend I understand Champagne or sparkling wines in general. But I had a quiet new years eve followed by an even more quiet weekend and I decided to share with you my impressions about some Champagne and Hungarian sparkling wines made á la méthode traditionnelle I spent time with during this period. Here they are, in chronologic order.

Hungaria – Extra Dry

This is the top wine of the Hungaria line of Törley group. With no vintage on the label, I can only guess that this is a mix of various vintages and varietals but I couldn’t find any more information about this wine on the winery’s website. Such a shame, although 99.999% of the consumers of this wine wouldn’t be interested anyway. This is a sparkling wine that only sells during the last week of the year, deservedly if you ask me, as it’s only slightly better than the regular Törley line under HUF1000. Pale lemon yellow, bright and charming with citrus notes on the nose. On the palate still a bit flimsy but I didn’t mind having a glass of this one, knowing what was about to come.

Kreinbacher – Syrah Rosé, 2008

Strange as it may be, probably the only Syrah of the Somló wine region went into this sparkling wine. Two years ago we celebrated the new year with the Syrah 2007. It was lovely, so we started 2010 the same way and this had become the wine I most often bought in 2010 when I was looking for a sparkling wine. The 2008 summarises well why.

It’s beautiful, brassy with faded salmon reflections, vibrant and releases charming towers of bubbles like a smoking chimney. Light nose, fairly yeasty and a bit spicy but mostly fruity, although a bit restrained. It’s delicious too: lightly rocky with hints of red fruits. Dry, fresh but not too acidic and has a decent legth.

Szentesi – Pinot Noir Rosé, 2008

Champagne/sparkling wine is supposed to be cheerful and festive. Rosé wines suite these occasions perfectly and I prefer these to white sparkling wines. Just like the Kreinbacher, this sparkling wine is one of its kind, I don’t think many producers venture in the field of Pinot Noir in the Velence region and most of  this little ended up in this sparkling wine. This was our first encounter and it was an immediate success.

Very similar to the Kreinbacher in appearance, perhaps a touch more pinkish, just lovely, festive indeed and very gay. A bit more yeasty and more fruity with raspberry primarily. Very dry, very light with subtle acidity. Light and crisp character. According to my wife, who’s the real authority as long as sparkling wines are concerned, Kreinbacher Syrah is slightly better than this one. I’m not so sure, but again, I really don’t get sparkling wines the way she does.

There are three more Champagnes to come, but let’s save them for tomorrow as I have some unfinished business with a very good Szamorodni right now.

Being an admirer of Takács Lajos I find it unfortunate that my latest encounters with his wines were not the best. I was expecting that the once famous Furmint 2006 would finally put everything back on track and restore my confidence in his (and some other artisan) wines.

Hollóvár – Furmint, 2006

Faded straw to medium-deep golden yellow. Smells a bit tired and oxydated with some notes of hazelnut and salty minerality, later popcorn. On the palate malt aromas of Czech lager and popcorn with a bitter and fortunately not too long finish. The wine lacks the sharp acidity of younger (and perhaps better) Hollóvár wines and I miss the sparkling flintstone blast too.

Although never typical Furmints, it looks like Takács Lajos’ Furmints haven’t been ageing well lately.

Pale hay hue. Unusually gassy bouquet but it lacks the flinty character which had become the trademark of Lajos Takács. It’s stoney though, elegantly minerally. And it’s sharp, light but full of ckicken stock mingled with lovage, kohlrabi and parsley.

On the palate it has a grip and it’s sharp but it’s smoothened by an underlying polished, butter-flavored creaminess. Elegant, just enough acidity except the tired finish which is dull, lacks the vibrant acidity and tastyness of the midpalate.

It’s still a good wine but a bit pricey for that.

Score: 5+ points

Price: HUF 3000

The first bottle I opened was suspiciously wrong, not corked but oxidated and bitter (oddly enough the very same open bottle smelled elegantly 2 weeks later). But this review is based on a new bottle.

From grapes picked from 10-20 year old Olaszrizling vines this wine was aged in new oak for 10 months in contact with some of the lee. Or aged for 9 months in 3-5 years old barrels of different sizes, depending on which information you trust from the website of the merchant (finding them will be easy, both versions are on the same page).

Here’s a thought, so just skip the next few lines and jump to the review if not interested in something personal. One of the reasons I stopped reading Hungarian wine reviews is that most reviews were either repeating too many clichés (Kreinbacher’s minerality, Olaszrizling’s almond finish, or an ideal food pairing is a Paprikás-Turul) even when they weren’t there or trying too hard to be original and to show off to my taste (other reasons include their authors often being too biased and narrow-minded). I must confess I didn’t find the above elements in this wine but this time I checked the bottle in due time and I can confirm I made no mistake taking proper note of the varietal like the other day.

This Olaszrizling is medium pale golden yellow with faded greenish reflections. Light nose with celery and a floral accent. Similarily styled palate with a rustic tartness from the midpalate. Dim acidity gone quickly, the wine has a short finish. Fairly buttered when chilled. Dry character with restrained fruity notes of grapefruit, pineapple and apple.

Score: 4+ points

Price: HUF 2000

I wasn’t exactly a Hárslevelű fan until I met this one here, although it was a late harvest version. I’ve been looking forward to Somlói Apátsági Hárslevelű since I first met this small winery from south-eastern Somló in March at the Somló Tavasz wine event at Festetics Kastély. I was impressed by the mineral, fruity and mouthfilling character of their Olaszrizling, Furmint and Hilla cuvée. That seemed like a very promising start from this experimental and apparently patient winery, established already in 2002 but coming out with their first commercially available sortiment only recently. In March, it looked like they found if not their own style but a path that would potentially lead them to being establishing amongt the most sought after wineries of Somló.

The review

Rather dark golden yellow hue with brownish-brassy reflections. The nose is very intense tea (sweet lemon flavored ice tea actually of a very particular producer) with a heavy mineral undertone and a hint of tobacco, later nutmeg. This set of aromas is translated well on to the palate supported by lot of acidity. The wine has some residual sugar (it’s semi sweet) but with this lot of lemon-grapefruit acidity it feels well balanced, with it’s high concentration of substance including notes of stewed apricot and unripe plum(!). The wine shows some signs of oxidation, intentionally or not (the wine was aged in oak barrels for almost a year). Good length with a slightly appalling tart accent.

This wine clearly has the potential but in 2008 it misses the target, although it shows some very important features of a great wine.

Score: 5 points

Price: HUF 2 500

This Hárslevelű has a very heavy character and I couldn’t drink more than two galsses. It reminded me in character of a Furmint(!) I had earlier this year. I was planning to buy some Árvay wines at the end of the summer then they were aggressively discounted, with 50% off at one of my usual sources. Then I got a call from a friend that a major retailer had the Furmint on sale well under HUF 1 000 and I think he bought the whole lot. Anyway, the notes of the wine have never been published (I do that sometimes, out of lazyness I guess). But that wine had a very similar, heavy, mouthfilling, acidic, mineral character with a tart finish, very much like this Hárslevelű.

My first encounter with Kreinbacher wines didn’t impress me and I still couldn’t get used to their (sometimes overly) high prices although I now at least appreciate their efforts to find Somló’s new old character.

They embraced old grapes through their lower-end label Szent Ilona too. Entry-level cuvée Taposó-Kút is, every year, an Olaszrizling-based blend which in 2006 produced a more Furmint-like character instead. I at least attribute that sour-bitter element on the mid-palate (not at the finish as often seen in Furmint) which is so dominant in this wine to Furmint.

But let’s have a look at the color first: brigh hay hue, not very deep and very lively. Complex, yet friendly floral nose mingled with hints of honey and ripe tropical fruits having a vanilla undertone and a mineral accent. The palate has a mineral and bitter character because of the Furmint I suppose which also leaves its mark on the taste spectrum (along with marzipan).

Aged in mostly used large oak barrels during which the wine had a long contact with the lee (so characteristic to Kreinbacher wines) which is at least partly responsible for the lovely acidity being overshadowed by that bitter taste and texture. This wine would be very exciting without that, but it’s still a very decent effort and a good introduction to this side of Somló.

The wine’s not young and I don’t expect it to get any better with time.

Score: 5 points

Price: HUF 2 500