If you ask me, the most dynamic red wine region of Hungary at the moment is Szekszárd. Ahead of others, they moved early from oaky, heavy reds made mostly from Bordeaux varieties to the indigenous kadarka and kékfrankos – and let’s add bikavér to the list, which is based on the former two. Continue reading
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Rioja’s fresher side – Artuke 2024
You say Rioja and oak comes to my mind, before anything else. Too much oak. There are exceptions but you know what I’m talking about. I’m not a fan of wines tasting like coconut extract.
Blindtasting top notch Austrian blaufrankisch wines
I collected a bunch of high-end blaufrankisch bottles in the last two years and earlier this year I was finally able to gather my friends (wine merchants, wine makers) to blindtaste this impressive line-up. The Prieler winery stole the show for me, in my view they are a benchmark when it comes to this variety. Moric is a quite different story – he is a pioneer but I must say it’s hard to like the wine style. By the way, talking about style, it’s so varied from producer to producer, from natural to New World-like, you really have to look for the estate first and foremost. I took my notes after the re-tasting.
Silvia Heinrich V-max 2018
Felton Road Pinot Noir Calvert 2020
I cannot remember the last time I tasted a Felton Road pinot, it might be 10 years ago or so. Based on this 2020 bottling, not much has changed – the style is basically the same and the quality is still high. And the prices just moderately increased during the years, which is a rare thing.
Another outstanding monastrell from Bodega Cerrón: La Servil 2022
A mid-tier wine from my favourite Jumilla producer, Bodega Cerrón. If you are into monastrell or pure, new wave Spanish reds, I highly recommend you to try it.Hungarian flagship reds IV.: Gere Kopar 2020
The last wine from the blindtasting covered by previous posts is probably Hungary’s most famous big red: the Kopar from Gere. It was first made in 1997 if not even earlier, so there’s history to it; it’s made to last and I can confirm that it’s able to age for 15 years or more. Personally I often found it a bit too sweet in the past, but the current release is just great.
Chateau Larrivet Haut-Brion 2020
I wanted to put a great Bordeaux into our Hungarian flagship line-up (see previous three posts), for reference and also for fun. Tasted blind I found it a bit Italianesque with its power and warm, Southern character – thought it was from Villány. It came out at second place for me. As a compliment to the Hungarian ones, they were in the same league, at least when it comes to concentration and complexity.
Hungarian flagship reds II.: Sauska Cuvée 7 Siklós, 2019
Next in the big red lineup I mentioned last time was the Sauska 7 Siklós, a Bordeaux blend from Villány. Compared to the Merengő, it comes from a warmer region and there is no kékfrankos included in it, yet the wine is not that dissimilar.
Standout kadarka: Bock BV 2020
I quite like what the Bock crew brings out from Hungary’s native kadarka grape. With just a touch of oak this fragile variety becomes a bit more serious, yet does not lose its charm – being light and so drinkable.
Four dry furmints from Hungary
Hungarian dry furmint can be challenging sometimes. We got a reminder of that in November, when our small wine club sat together to open a bunch of white wines (I only collected the furmints here). The most expensive turned out to be the least loved, and sadly no one was even surprised…