Hungarian rosado: a lovely siller from Kékhegy

Kékhegy Piroska Siller 2018

An almost extinct Hungarian wine style: siller. Basically it’s the same as Spanish rosado, i.e. a darker colored, heavier rose. Classically it’s made from Kadarka, which, being a thin skinned grape results in a siller anyway, but here is a different approach: Cabernet Sauvignon with short maceration.

This is what you expect when a wine is made by a passionate, new wave young winemaker (Tibor Piroska) – what we’ve got here is probably the best rendition of the siller style in this country. It’s full of flavor, juicy, such a nice drink. Perfectly varietal, showing Cabernet’s classic black currant aroma, but with a red, not dark tone, and with the freshness of a Loire Cabernet Franc. Medium bodied with a nice acid backbone, almost as structured as a red wine, but still easy to drink. It’s interesting and fun at the same time, highly recommended.

Rating: good to very good, 86 points.
Price: 2390 HUF (7 Euros) at Pincearon or at the cellar door.
Value: great.
Tasted: July, 2019.
Source: I bought it at the cellar door.
Drinking window: now. It’s lowish on SO2 and not intended for aging, I suggest to drink until the end of 2019.