Behind this stupid name is a blend of Sárgamuskotály, Hárslevelű and Furmint, late harvested in 2007. Tokaj late harvest wines are not only often very good and smart alternative to 3 or 4 Puttonyos Aszú wines, but they reach the consumers quicker than the Aszó wines and I’ve been looking forward to the sweet wines of 2007. Another reason to open this bottle was that I often drink late harvest (mostly Tokaj) wines when preparing sushi at home. Don’t ask me why, it happend once a few years ago and I find them a very good aperitif before sushi and they go surprisingly well with the rice vinegar and the raw fish. I didn’t have my usual suspect in stock this time so I went for this recent purchase from Degenfeld.

Medium-deep yellow hue between lemon and golden, nothing special there. The nose is relatively intense and full of tea with a floral accent. Hárslevelű certainly left its footprint there. It has a mouthfilling palate of ripe papaya, very ripe apricot and peach, quite sweet, supported by well integrated acidity. Good length with returning tea dominance and quite a lot of nutmeat. Later tangerine and tobacco too. Stirring it more will release hints of lemon juice and blood-orange aromas.

Fortissimo 2008 is already on sale but this 2007 will still age well, but I suggest you to enjoy it now.

Score: 6, 6-

Price: HUF 2 600

Sziget Fesztivál has become a must-go event on the yuppie calendar from students’ island 16 years ago. So has changed the line-up, the cultural offering and gastronomy of the festival too. I arrived late from work so I missed the Ting Tings gig and just in time to see the warming-up of the crowed for Bloc Party so I didn’t hesitate and went straight to the closest tent in front of the main stage and bought a very decent chicken tikka with a simple naan, before taking position near the sound control tower to see Bloc Party, where I immediately was almost peed on by German punks apparently fighting pre-mature incontinency. 

The real milestone in the shift of Sziget towards a more civilised event (and this is a double-edge sword) to me was the opening of Ászár-Neszmély’s prominent Hilltop winery’s booth a few years ago. Strategically located just 1 minute from the main stage so you can run to it during an act for refuelling, the booth’s relatively calm and shadowy atmoshpere made it an ideal spot for longer stays as well, especially for drinking and hipster-spotting – one of my favorite pass-times on Sziget. Hilltop’s price policy on the festival makes them very attractive to me, they’re by far the fairest gang on the island. 

Near the World Music main stage area I ran into a surprisingly empty stand of various wines also fairly priced and I went for Royal Tokaji Furmint 2007. Drinking from a plastic cup, I found it smoky and barrel-dominated on the nose but fairly fruity (however very Furmint-like) and rounded, interesting enough for a wine which cost you HUF 2 500 or so a bottle on a festival so I decided I’ll buy a bottle and write a proper review of it later.

This year’s big hit however is Pálinka – and Rézangyal dominated the scene. Their success lies mostly in their artificially flavored, wide offering, many of them mixed with honey which I simply don’t understand. Today, Pálinka is chic again among urban youngsters and middle-aged middle class people but I’m afraid that moving away from the current trend of flavored pálinkas will take just as much time as it took to get here.

I already wrote about how I think that dessert wines can be just as good standalone desserts as any other. As there’s a difference however between dessert and dessert, there are different kind of dessert wines too of course but not just in terms of price and quality, but they can be of entirely different character too. To prove my point here, I now share with you 2 very different Tokaj wines, both perfect desserts but in very different ways.

Degenfeld – Aszú 5 Puttonyos, 2000.

Deep brownish, vibrant brassy color. Burnt walnut aromas on the nose. The palate is rich in sun-dried fruits, tangerine, orange and Gioabada (a kind of Goiaba fruit marmalade from Brazil). They could be supported by more acidity. It’s very sweet. The lemon zest and orange zest elements mingled with lemon grass make it very pleasant though and so does a date fruit element too on the finish. Just an hour later the nose will be lighter but deeper with honey and floral notes.

Score: 5+

Hétszőlő – Főbor (Kövérszőlő), 2007

Almost watery color with greenish reflections. The elegance of the nose is enticing. It’s fairly closed with ripe apple and pear aromas and spring field floral notes. These characteristics carry through onto the palate, which shows  fine citrus, peach and papaya elements and a fresh, lively character. Very soft, very nicely textured and it has a good structure too: not too sweet and so it just enough acidity. This is a light, relatively small-bodied wine with not so much sugar like glue in the mouth as you often find in late harvest wines. The wine follows a nice curve on the palate, it’s very succulent with only a smack of bitterness. Surprisingly enough, the nose has a mineral note too and there’s a chalky-mineral element on the mid-palate as well. But all very gentle and elegant. Everything’s in harmony.

Score: 5+/6