I’m not a fan of the 2021 vintage in Hungary, but interestingly it’s a completely different story for Dorli Muhr, just outside the country border. Its her best so far I was told, and when she presented a mini-vertical of her Prellenkirchen Samt&Seide a year ago in Budapest, it was indeed the 2021 which impressed me the most. Continue reading
Hungary’s most planted red grape variety is kékfrankos (a.k.a. blaufrankisch, lemberger, frankovka etc.) but it’s really unfashionable among local consumers and it’s just the minority of the producers who take it seriously. No wonder then that generally quality isn’t good. But this example from Béla és Bandi is a true exception, it sets the benchmark for affordable kékfrankos – both stylistically and qualitatively.
I liked the 2019 vintage of Tanyamacska and have been following the wine since that release. The 2020 was a little step back but still good, and the current 2021 is unfortunately disappointing. I must add that in my view 2021 is a poor vintage throughout Hungary – most wines are sharp and sour to taste, lacking balance and drinkability.
Bock is one the most well-known names in Hungary, one that even not wine drinking people are familiar with. Big, expensive reds made them famous three decades ago, when Hungarian wine started basically from scratch (after the Communist rule, which ended in 1989), but they make lots of cheap(ish) wine for supermarkets.
Kiss Gábor is a well-known Villány producer, but he operates on a lesser scale then big names like Gere or Bock. What I tasted from him in the past did not make me a fan, but his 2022 reds are a completely different story. I liked his cabernet franc quite a lot so I bought a bottle of his entry level Rouge 364, and it’s actually almost as good its pricier brother.
Besides Dorli Muhr, we also visited another highly regarded Austrian producer a month ago, Weingut Prieler. It was another great experience, I was amazed by the hospitality and kindness of our host, Georg Prieler. Also, the wines looked really good at the winery, and I can say that I found their Johanneshöhe just as convincing when opened a bottle at home.
A wine lover’s dream. This is how wines are presented at Weingut Dorli Muhr (picture above). So that you can explore and compare the differences of all the site-specific blaufrankisch they make.
