Showing posts with label Blue Danube WIne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Danube WIne. Show all posts

Monday, September 14, 2015

Hungarian Wine at the Junibor Wine Festival in Budapest

Hungary is where I first became interested in wine, sipping dry Furmint and semi-dry Olaszrizling at the Budapest Great Market Hall followed by Kadarka and Kekfrankos on trips to Eger and Sopron. During my recent trip to Budapest I looked forward to revisiting the world of Hungarian wine; but never imagined that I would stumble upon the Junibor Wine Festival held at St. Stephen's Basilica. The festival featured wines from the Hungarian Young Winemakers' Association and represented all the major Hungarian wine regions from Sopron in the west to Tokaj to the east. Although the winemakers are relatively young, most of the wineries were from well established family wineries where the next generation was asserting their influence.


Our presence at the Basilica was not a co-incidence. I had been in contact with Birgit Pfneisl, the highly regarded winemaker at Pfneiszl Organic Estate. I had become acquainted with that winery's Kekfrankos through the Blue Danube Wine Company. When Birgit had mentioned that she was in Budapest at the Basilica wine bar, I incorrectly assumed she was pouring at the Divino wine bar - not at a festival. The winery is located adjacent to the Austrian border in the northeast where Birgit is both the vineyard manager and winemaker and her sister Katrin marketing and sales. I discovered that the sisters speak German to each other which makes sense as they were both born in Austria. Their grandparents fled Hungary when the Communists gained control and had to cede the family land to the government. While in Austria, their Father and uncles started Weingut Pfneisl. In 1993 the family recovered their lost land in Hungary and renovated the property with the sisters responsible for the wine making operation.  But Birgit gained plenty of wine making experience having interned in the U.S., Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile before returning to Hungary. These wine making areas are represented in her fabulous Távoli Világ wine - a blend of Shiraz, Carmenere, Malbec, Zinfandel, Sangiovese. In addition to this wine, Birgit poured her Merlot, Tango, and the "Köszönet I Thank you" Kekfrankos. This last is spectacular, jammy black fruit melding into a complex blend of fruit, chocolate, spice, and creamy dirt.

 
After sampling the Pfneiszl wines, the festival presented ample opportunities to sample Hungarian grape varieties as well as traditional international varieties. There was more Kekfrankos, Egri Bikavir blends, dry and semi-dry Olaszrizling, Portugieser, and Furmint. But one of the most unique was the Hungarian Királyleányka, which originated in Transylvania and now mostly grown in Eger. The  Hernyák Birtok Etyek Királyleányka possessed a strong floral aroma followed by a crisp citrus and mineral flavor profile and noticeable acids. Another unique wine was the Gál Tibor FÚZIÓ 2012, a blend of Viognier, Riesling, and Traminer, which was aged 15 months in oak. This is an elegant wine, one I returned to for a second glass. Part citrus, part stone fruit, some spice, some vanilla; completely enjoyable.


Finally, I have to mention the dry Furmint. Yes, the Tokaji dessert wines get most of the attention, but I am particularly drawn to the dry version. The first to note was the 2012 Estate Furmint from Erzsébet Pince, which I had tasted previously on our trip at various restaurants. I was also familiar with the winery from a WineStudio tasting last year.  This wine combines flavors of stone fruit and minerals with crisp acids - a very nice wine. But one to actively seek is the Tokaji Padi-hegy Furmint 2012 from Árvay Családi Pincészet. The wine's saline minerality seizes your attention, then subsides to delicious stone fruits and crisp acids. I still haven't found a source to purchase this wine, but hopefully Blue Danube will pick up one day. Cheers to Hungarian wine.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Exploring #HungarianWine for #Winechat with Blue Danube #Wine

Blue Danube Wine is my primary source for Eastern Europe wine and they supplemented my passion by hosting this week's #winechat discussion. The focus of this tasting was Hungarian wines and Blue Danube chose three very traditional wine grapes: Kadarka, Furmint, and Olaszrizling.

We started the evening with a slightly chilled red, the Eszterbauer Kadarka Nagyapám 2011 ($18).  The Eszterbauer Winery is located in Szekszárd in southern Hungary near the Croatian border at latitude between the Loire and Bordeaux. Their 8 hectares of vineyards consist of chalk and loess soils which include 9 clones of Kadarka - a traditional grape that probably came to Hungary with the Serbs fleeing the Ottoman invaders.  The name, Nagyapám, refers to Grandfather in honor of János Eszterbauer's father who drank Kadarka straight from the barrel. The grapes for the wine are sourced from the vineyard's oldest vines and the result is a Cabernet Franc like dark cherry wine with subtle spice and tart tannins and acids at the tail.

The second wine was the Bodrog Borműhely Furmint Lapis 2011 ($21.95), a 100% dry furmint from the Tokaj region. Known for the kingly Tokaji Aszu, Tokaj is situated in north-eastern Hungary and is the world’s first appellation system over 100 years before Bordeaux.  Bodrog Borműhely produces a combination of dry and sweet wines,  and the Lapis vineyard, clay and volcanic soils, sits just high enough from the Bodrog River and its floodplains the breezes dry the grapes to prevent Botrytis.  This Furmint was fermented and aged in Hungarian Oak - undergoing full malolactic fermentation and then aged 9 months sur lie. The result is a peach & creamy wine with a toasted sugary pecan nose followed by a steely minerality. The wine finishes with subtle spice and decent acidity. I think this wine was the biggest surprise among my associates as many had never tried a furmint - let along a dry furmint. Well done.

We finished the evening with the Fekete Olaszrizling 2011 ($24.95), produced from the Grandfather of Somló winemaking, Béla Fekete.  Somló is Hungary’s smallest appellation and the area was once an underwater volcano. The oldest writings mentioning Somló wine date to 1093 with viticulture occurring earlier with the Romans.They know good volcanic soil when they see it. Located north of Lake Balaton in eastern Hungary, the app Somló appellation consists of only white grapes with Olaszrizling the favorite. Olaszrizling is actually the most planted wine grape in Central and Eastern Europe known as Graševina in Croatia, Welchsriesling in Austria, Riesling Italico in Italy, and Laški Rizling in Slovenia.

Fekete BélaBéla Fekete started making wine late in life, while in his late 50's, yet because of his longevity has been producing wine for 32 years. Approaching 90, 2013 was his last vintage, so tasting his 2011 Olaszrizling was a great honor.  He uses non-traditional techniques, waiting for spontaneous fermentation  in old 1200 liter Hungarian oak casks. He never stirs the lees nor completely seals off oxygen. And all wines are aged for 2 years before bottling. The result is a complex wine, white fruits, with plenty of minerals and salty elements fishing with good acidity. Cheers to all the wines and thanks to Blue Danube Wine for supplying them.