With a bunch of friends I took a look at a few Hungarian flagship reds in December. These all have some history, in some cases stretching over two decades. They are very well-known (in Hungary) and widely distributed; they are partly or entirely blends of Bordeaux varieties (not surprisingly, as they were created in the late 90s or in the 2000s, inspired by international cult reds).
We tasted blind and I must admit I could not identify many of them. It was fun, though, and it was clear from the first wine to the last that we are tasting expensive, ageworthy wines of concentration. The first one turned out to be Merengő 2021 from St. Andrea, an egri bikavér with a backbone of kékfrankos (a.k.a. blaufrankisch).
This is quite ripe yet still suggests a cool climate origin. Dark fruited and still young, oak is integrated. Lot’s of concentration on the palate, you can tell this is a flagship wine. Polished on the attack, but less so on the finish, it definitely needs time to come together, as tannins, acidity and alcohol is also high. Impressively it has brightness, even though the ABV is 15% – I’m not sure how well that can be integrated on the long run. Hold. 90 points. 30 EUR or 12000 HUF.