Budapest Daily Review

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

I missed Somlói Tavasz Fesztivál this year taking place this last weekend so I decided to open a Juhfark.

Csordás-Fodor is a small but well known winery from Somló. You can’t miss the winery’s relatively big building if coming from Veszprém direction and you immediately notice that this building is located on the almost flat part of the southern slopes. Juhfark is one of the flagship wines of the winery made by chief winemaker Andrónyi László on the 8,5 hectares which today belong to Csordás-Fodor. They’re proud of their recently deployed cellar technology which results fermentation and maturing in steel until some of the wines are moved into large barrels for further aging. This was the case probable of this Juhfark 2007. The wine has deep golden color with brownish reflections. Lot of farmyard elements (including cat pee, yes, in Juhfark) on the heavy nose with hints of pear aroma. Medium-full bodied with a bitter-acidic character. I miss the other components and the freshness here. This wine’s very different from the ones tasted at the Somló évjáratbemutató. Too heavy and already too old without relevant substances. It comes in a nice bottle though. And it doesn’t go too well with green asparagus with anchovies, but that’s not necessarily the wine’s fault.

Score: 2+/3-

Price: HUF 1500