It’s rare, it’s special – this is tihanyi kék, one of a bunch of almost extinct Hungarian varieties. I’m happy to review the 2020 here, after the 2018 and 2019. Even though I tasted this variety quite a few times, it blew me away again – it is that distinct.
Kékszilváni, which translates to blauer silvaner and is most likely the same variety indeed, can be tasted again from Hungarian vineyards. You guessed it right, the man who brought it back is József Szentesi.
The first review of a laska on this blog! This black grape was planted in Hungary in the past but then disappeared, and of course it’s József Szentesi who brought it back for us. In 2020 it produced a wine that holds great promise for the future.
Kék bajor is another almost extinct Hungarian grape variety József Szentesi is trying to bring back to life. According to him, it gives lighter wines. This is not the first vintage, but I’m not sure if it was ever released on the market – this 2020 is now available to buy.
This is quite possibly the most exciting two cases of Hungarian wines you can get in 2021.
A wine that I started to follow a few years ago – Szentesi Tihanyi Kék. Such an exciting and exotic wine, I can’t get bored of it.
Before raving again about a Szentesi wine, I should probably mention that I’m not always satisfied with his wines. I find quite a few which is not faultless, and I attribute that to his non-interventionist philosophy. But the successful ones are just so exciting… as is the Fekete Muskotály.
I could not name a more exciting Hungarian red wine than Szentesi’s Tihanyi Kék. It’s even more individual than his Csókaszőlő, though both are highlights for me from his range of wines, in every vintage.
Csókaszőlő or simply Csóka is an almost extinct old Hungarian variety, which was probably the dominant red grape here 500 years ago or so. For the XXth century, not much of it remained, but thanks to József Szentesi’s mission of saving the old varieties, it is now coming back slowly.
I’m a fan of the old Hungarian varieties and the work of bringing them back, started by József Szentesi two decades ago. No coincidence that you can find many of these wines covered on this blog (see this link for the posts), and let me introduce you a new wine: the kék bajor from the […]