You get what you expect. I’m sure there are more transparent wines made in Ribera Del Duero these days. Continue reading
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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 III.: Heimann Barbár 2019
Heimann Barbár combines Bordeaux varieties with a bit of kékfrankos, and perhaps even more interestingly with a splash of tannat. The 2019 vintage is highly acclaimed by the Hungarian wine media, but it was less successful in our blindtasting.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.
High-end bull’s blood: St. Andrea Merengő 2021
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).
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.
Barta Anna Kadarka 2021
The Mátra wine region is the neighbour of the more famous Eger in Northern Hungary and it’s somewhat similar in soils and climate. On the other hand it’s rather known for white wines, not reds, although long time ago it was mostly planted with kadarka, which is hard to find there these days. I know only two producers who bottle that variety, one of them is Anna Barta in Nagygombos.Aged supermarket wine with a twist: Séguret Les Aumoniers 2018 from Lidl
After my recent rant on the ageability of Southern Rhone reds, this came as a reminder that I was probably too harsh. Here we have a humble supermarket villages wine – a so called “named” village, Seguret – which I bought many years ago for 6 Euros and which was hardly made to age this long (it’s over 6 years old now). Yet this is not declining at all, to my biggest surprise. I think it’s even better than after release!
Recas Castel Huniade Feteasca Neagra 2022
Feteasca Neagra is a local grape variety of Transylvania and there are some plantings in Hungary, too, yet I only tasted very few so far – I don’t really know what to expect. Based on this example from Recas, it’s a variety worth exploring, even though I’m not a fan of the winemaking for this wine.