I didn’t disappear for more than a week because I didn’t drink anything good but because I’ve been drinking too much lately. Mostly in public and mostly way too much and I don’t expect that December would be any better. But fortunately I still managed to spend some quality time alone with some lovely wines, like this one right now when I’m writing this post and will publish soon, although not the subject matter Olaszrizling from Csopat but that’ll be another post anyway.

I asked the winemaker which is the single best white wine he’d recommend me to take away and he picked this one without any hesitation. Although I heard winemakers from North-Balaton complain about 2007 I took it.  You may want to read about this visit and his Syrah 2006, and also about his artisanal ways here.

Tamás Pince – Olaszrizling, 2007

Mature, medium deep vibrant golden yellow. Very densely styled but fairly fresh nose, packed full of citrus fruits and mustard. It evolves into sweet citrus with a minerally uppertone. On the palate lively acidity carries a massive layer of minerality. Very much like Szabó Zoltán’s classic Rajnai Rizling except a fading tart finish and it’s a touch woody too. Very juicy with lemon zest and grapefuit flavoured acidity mingled with adorable salty minerality stretching into a long finish. It seems to develop a more moderately fresh, less acidic character with longer exposure to air.

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.

After two shorter than expected meetings in Bratislava and Vienna the other day already on the Hungarian highway I noticed the bright white Pannonhalmi Abbey on the hills and before I knew it I turned the wheel to pay a short visit to the Winery of the Year. I returned to Budapest full or surprises and excited to open what I thought would be another good interpretation of my favorite white varietal.

Unlike Somlói Apátsági Pince, Pannonhalmi Apátsági still belongs to the Abbey, one of the firsts and one of the lasts still functioning in the country. Huge sums spent on the Abbey are apparent everywhere, from the facelift on the walls to the caves of the cellar, everything invoques the golden days of free peasant labour and the tithes.

Today the abbey’s business model is different. First of all the abbey folks were surprisinlgy friendly (or frightened) considering I was a gate crasher who broke into their office without an agreed appointment at the end of the working day. Whatever their reason they seemed keen to show me around the cellar, starting with the new oaks (they buy lots of them) of the red wine wing. Everything underground is spacious and clean (except the area of one of the steel tanks which was leaking giving away hectos of Pinot Noir per minute). I was so glad to be able to discuss the soil differences between Mosel and Pannonhalma instead of listening to the usual bullshit of winemakers that I forgot to spit after every sample but I didn’t mind.

Two things you should know about the wine. One is that Pannonhalmi Apátsági Pince embraced screw caps very early and have been using it for almost all of their wines and not just reductive ones. Other is that Rajnai reasling is also used to make a barrel selection for double the price and without some qualities the simple Rajani has. I found it way too oaky after 6 months in the new barrel. So below is the tasting notes of the naked Rajnai Rizling.

Pale lemon yellow with platinum reflections and tiny bubbles. The nose is delightfully crisp and acidic with hints of apple coming through. Indeed on the palate it’s sharp and crisp with a very exciting acidity, brilliantly accentuated around the mid-palate. What impresses most is that this excessive vibrant acidity within this small-bodied wine feels just right. The wine’s made more approachable by notes of apple and a chalky saltiness and I also like the minerally texture of it. It has an instant appeal that won’t change even when it gets warmer or more chilled.

Very good, obviously a bit one-dimensional wine but a must have piece. This wine was left in contact with the lee for three months and that’s fine but I’d be interested in what it would be like if left for a few weeks more.

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

Rizling in Hungary can be either Riesling, Olaszrizling, both or none. Laposa’s Badacsonyi Rizling is Olasz Rizling which I can only assume (but not to be absolutely sure) means Olaszrizling.

Pale golden yellow. The bouquet is lovely and rich. Minerally notes mingled with lime, lemon balm and other greenish notes, especially a lovage accent here. Fairly exciting, fresh, not too heavy, interesting. Similarly expressive palate which kicks off with brilliant, sharp acidity with lime juice aromas mingled with a drop of sweetness and a hint of boiled persley. Well balanced long finish with flavours of lemon balm and lime. The palate gets more and more salty.

Relatively coherent wine considering its complexity at it’s price.

Score: 5, 5+ points

Price: HUF 1760

According to the merchant’s website, the grandson of those who bought this pice of land of Köveskál in 1945 took over the winery three years ago which means this might be his first tentative to produce a decent wine on the volcanic hills of northern Balaton. He managed to do it by blending Olaszrizling (2/3) and Riesling (1/3).

Not very intense rocky mineral smell. On the palate it looks older than it is and it’s not fresh either. Very subtle acidity except the finish where it finally shows lemon scented acidity. Good length, stretching throughout all the way in a linear manner.

I find this wine a little bit middle of the road. I’d reverse the proportions to give this wine a more distinct terroir edge and allow bigger body. But not a bad start.

Score: 4 points

Price: HUF 1 950

The name of the guy who invented time machine is Dr. Sándor Tóth, winemaker under the name Scheller and a long-time favorite of mine. It’s difficult to track his work over the years, although rumour has it that he’ll put on the market the wines of 2006 soon (what happened in between is up to you to find out). But his wines from 2003 are still fresh and lovable in spite of being light and not overly acidic, theoretically not exactly suitable for ageing for too long. They’re not in perfect shape any more (perhaps they’ve never been), but you like to think that once they were beautiful, maybe even gorgeous and they are still enjoyable, in some way, after so many years.

This Zöldveltelini from 2003 is pale golden yellow with a light brassy reflection at the edges. It has a creamy, maionnaise bouquet with a lemon zest accent. Creamy texture with a sparkling bitterness from the midpalate. It’s ample but with little substance. Soft acidity. Very empty finish. When chilled, it feels like a lollipop made of butter with a little bit of persley and sometimes other spices too. I finished off the bottle on the third day and it was still as good as 3 days before, and on the second day it turned out to be a great pair with a chicken curry, something unimaginable before. You may laugh now, but you should try it instead!

Score: 4 points (at least)

Price: HUF 1 500

Another “artisan” wine from easily the most beautiful area of Balaton. 2.5 hectares on the southern slopes at 150 m altitude, covered by forest dark soil above the vulcanic sand known as Pannon sand is Péter Váli’s vinyard.

I chose an Olaszrizling with 13.5% alcohol (13% according to their website) because the mineral character which this wine I’d been expecting to have suits better full-bodied wines.

Lovely bright golden yellow hue. On the nose lime and greenish, firm, medium-ripe acidic green apple. On the palate, the formula is: lot of apple mingled with citrus aromas and minerality, inevitably. Later tons of celery, lovage and persil with hints of nettle, supported by lot of young acidity. The finish could be more polished. Rustic style.

Váli deserves more attention.

Score: 5- points

Price: HUF 2000 (cheaper directly from the producer)

For introduction please read this post. For a Concubina white retrospective please refer to this post written almost exactly a year ago.

I never read my previous posts before I taste a wine and neither check it’s bottle. I didn’t even remember how much I liked Concubina 2006. Still, these are two different wines so keep reading.

The review

This cuvée is medium dark golden yellow. Lovely. The nose is very charming, intense, full of warmth and liveliness, a bit perfumy, with notes of pineapple and litchi with a rosemary(!) accent mingled with a hint of very light honey. The very same character’s found on the palate, gentle, warm and soft and certainly could have more acidity. At this point I realise it’s a semi-dry wine with some well integrated residual sugar. The wine will become better and better with more and more minerality which I simply adore. First a mouthful of chalky minerality then rocky minerality, it’s the whole Cenozoic and Precambrian era happening at once. Add a velvety melted butter finish to it. Later on the nose some pistachio. Nice linear finish.

This wine’s at it’s peak or a bit over it no doubt about it. It’s a huge best buy.

Score: 6/7-

Price: HUF 2000