Discover Hungarian Wine at Budapest's The Tasting Table

If you are spending any time in Budapest and are slightly interested in Hungarian wine then I strongly recommend that you visit The Tasting Table. This establishment was founded by Gábor & Carolyn Bánfalvi that augments their successful Taste Hungary tour company and showcases the many Central European wines they have discovered while scouring the Hungarian countryside. In addition to wine, the venue also provides a wide range of cheese, charcuterie, jams, craft beer, and the essential Hungarian spirit: palinka.

During a recent trip to Budapest we stopped in to partake in a range of Hungarian wines styles and regions. Our host Tamas started by introducing us to three Brut sparkling wines beyond the more familiar  Törley brand. These wines were well made and delicious showcasing different wine regions and grape varieties. The Pelle Pince Tokaji Pezsgo is made using Furmint grapes grown in the far eastern Takaj region. The Rókusfalvy Birtok Nyerspezsgo is comprised of Pinot Gris and produced just west of Budapest in the white grape growing region of Eytek-Buda. And finally, the Frittmann Gold Brut is produced in the Great Plains in Hungary's largest wine region, Kunsági, where vines share space with the Hortabagy horses. This is a proprietary blend of grapes which add velvety texture to the wine's bready effervescence.

We then moved down the dry Furmint path featuring the Hétszölö Tokaji Furmint 2012 and Fuleky Tokaji Furmint 2014. The historic Tokaj region is most famous for the Tokaji Aszu dessert wines but the volcanic soils can also produce minerally driven and racy dry wines. That was particularly true with the Fuleky whereas the Hétszölö contained significantly more depth and texture for this style.

Tamas then presented a few wines creating excitement such as the Böjt Egri Bikavér 2015 and the Böjt Egri Csillag 2017. The Böjt winery is located in Eger - home to the historic Egri Bikaver once dominated by native grapes such as Kadarka and Kékfrankos but now produced with large percentages of Bordeaux varieties. The Böjt Egri Bikavér provides layers of texture as it is drawn from 25 barrels of differing size and toast. It is also predominately Kékfrankos (Blaufränkisch) blended with lesser amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zweigelt (a cross between Blaufränkisch and St. Laurent) and Blauburger (a cross between Blauer Portugieser and Blaufränkisch). The white Böjt Egri Csillag has similar depth but with creamy stone fruit and fresh acids and is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Olaszrizling (Welschriesling), Leányka and Muskotály (Muscat Ottonel). Excellent.

Szekszard is an interesting region located on the left bank of the Danube in southern Hungary just to the northeast of Villany. It is best known for producing full-bodied and spicy red wines and is one of the oldest red-wine-growing areas in Hungary as the Celts first planted grape vines. The Németh János Sygno Szekszardi Bikavér 2015 is an excellent example of a spicy full bodied red as it is a blend of Kékfrankos, Kadarka, Zweigelt, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc.Nicely done.

The highlight of our visit however was the Szaszi Birtok Badacsonyi Keknyelu 2017. This is a very small release from a producer located in one of the micro climates on the hills north of Lake Balaton. Kéknyelű is grown almost exclusively in Badacsony, translates to Blue Stick, and exudes stone fruit -- peaches and apricots -- before finishing with racy minerals and juicy acids. This wine would be so popular in the U.S.; but for now you can only get it at The Tasting Table. Cheers.

FurmintUSA Showcases the Versatility of this Hungarian Grape

This month Furmint USA conducted a ten day marketing blitz in NYC and Washington DC showcasing Hungary's signature white grape Furmint. Most wine consumers are unwittingly familiar with the grape through its use in the prestigious Tokaji Aszu dessert wines.  As the name suggests, Furmint dominates the Tokaj region which was the world's first appellation control designated long before Bordeaux and even Port wine. The region is rich in volcanic soil with the plateau protected by the Carpathian Mountains.

The goal of this media campaign was not only to introduce the U.S. market to Furmint wine, but also to emphasize the breadth of styles available to the consumer. Yes, there are the delicious sweet versions represented by Aszu and Szamorodni wines. But Furmint wines are also encapsulated in range of dry styles from bright acids to creamy layers of citrus.

One of these events was a trade tasting at the Embassy of Hungary. There were 17 Furmint wines poured which included several single vineyard wines providing a peek into terrior, particular the the affects of the volcanic, clay, or limestone soil. A common element among the wines which Shannon Jones of Grape Occasions and I discussed was a funky character that many Hungarian wines possess. I believe this is the result of the frequent use of native yeast and long spontaneous fermentation that these wines undergo.

We started with the bright and acidic Béres Vineyards and Winery 2014 Estate Furmint ($19) which also possessed a hint of minerals drawn from the volcanic soils. That was soon contrasted to the Barta Winery 2012 Old King Furmint ($38) a creamy and velvety wine with an interesting orange citrus profile - as opposed to the more common lemon profile. Winemaker Attila Homonna was present to describe the Burgundian fermentation process using neutral oak barrels for fermentation and 7 months aging. This wine represents the historic Old King Vineyard where grapes have been planted since the 13th century.

Another representative was Natalia Demko from Holdvölgy Winery (Valley of the Moon). Like most Hungarian wineries, this is a family venture, but uniquely, the winery includes a century old 2km (1.25 mile) cellar network. If you are fortunate to visit the estate, the tastings are conducted at various spots within their cellar trail. And expect tasty wines. Their 2013 Vision Furmint ($24) is fresh, lemony, and acidic whereas the 2012 Hold and Hollo Dry Furmint ($21) has more depth and stone fruit flavors.

Gróf Degenfeld Winery provided an off-dry style of Furmint through their 2013 Estate Furmint ($18) which like a well made Riesling, balances the extra sugar with abundant acidity. And their tasty 2014 Zomborka Furmint is produced from organic grapes harvested from the Zomborka Vineyard.

Before the tasting I was most familiar with the dry Furmint wines from Erzsébet Cellar - having sampled their wines during previous media tastings in while in Budapest. Thus I was excited to meet winemaker Miklos Pracser Jr. who along with his sister Hajnalka operate the winery with their parents. Their 2012 Estate Vineyard ($21) has been a frequent visitor to my wine glass and is dry, show fresh lemons, and has an extraordinary long acidic finish. I returned a second time to the 2012 Zafír Furmint ($25) which possessed a stronger bouquet and rounder profile - most likely from the addition of some Hárslevelű. This single vineyard wine was my favorite of the evening.

The one non-Tokaj producer was St. Donat Estate which is located in Csopak overlooking Lake Balaton. This region provides clay and limestone soils and a unique micro-climate provide by lake affect conditions. Their soils vary with the 2013 Márga Furmint ($24) raised in clay infused marl and the 2014 Estate Furmint ($20) grown in limestone. The former is a beautiful wine, creamy & mineral driven with a long finish. The later is on the brighter side, with more green apples than most of the assembly.

There were also sweet wines represented by the Barta Winery 2013 Szamorodni Sweet Furmint ($47) and the Basilicus Winery 2012 Szamorodni Sweet Furmint ($30). Szamorodni refers to "édes" wines made from botrytised grapes and like this wine capture the apricot aspect of Aszu wines without the higher price tag.

Egészségére to Furmint, whether dry or sweet, and to Hungarian wine.

A Tale of Two Wine Regions: Seneca Lake, New York and Balatonfüred-Csopak, Hungary

Seneca Lake from Fox Run Vineyards

I recently discovered that August is the optimal time to visit Balatonfüred Hungary as the village hosts "The Wine Weeks of Balatonfüred". This festival features wines and palinka (grape brandy) produced in the Balatonfüred-Csopak wine region. This is a historical tourist destination located in the northeast corner of Lake Balaton.  August is also an optimal time to visit New York's Finger Lakes as I did as a participant in the 2015 Wine Bloggers Conference. Visiting both regions a week apart highlighted the numerous similarities in viticulture between the Finger Lakes and Lake Balaton and specifically between Seneca Lake and Balatonfüred-Csopak. These similarities include the climate, soil, and grapes.

Vineyard in Balatonfüred

Grape growing in both wine regions benefit from lake induced micro-climates. Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe whereas Seneca Lake is the largest and deepest of the Finger Lakes. Both lakes moderate severe winter temperatures and in some areas, vineyards located a mile from each lake are protected. Seneca Lakes provides more of this thermal retention as the lake never freezes, whereas Lake Balaton sports a thin layer of ice in winter - as it is much shallower.  In summer, the lakes lengthen the diurnal temperature by acting as a mirror during the daytime and elevating the temperature and then absorbing the excess heat at night - preserves the balance of natural acids in the grape.

At various times during our WBC15 visit we learned how diverse the soils can be around Seneca Lake. This was first revealed during the pre-excursion to Fox Run Vineyards and enforced during a presentation at the conference. This slide to the left shows the diversity of soil types in just a small area on eastern Seneca Lake, plots of  sand red clay, brown loam, shale, limestone, poor drainage and well drainage soils. And Fox Run has leveraged the different soil types into a Geology Series devoting two vineyards (Lake Dana Vineyard Block 11 and Hanging Delta Block 7) of Riesling in order to compare the interplay of terrior and wine making techniques.  Soil diversity is also prevalent in Balatonfüred-Csopak as the soils is based upon volcanic shale, mingled with red sandstone, limestone, dolomite, and basalt.  These conditions present a challenge for grape growers -- what to plant in each small plot.

View of Lake Balaton
from Ferenc Csarda

In some instances, the grapes planted in these soils are the same across both wine regions. An obvious similarity is Lemberger-Blaufrankish-Kékfrankos, the same grape known by different names.  That the grape fares well in both regions wasn't surprising after I read Finger Lakes Wine and the Legacy of Dr. Konstantin Frank (American Palate) and A Sense of Place: A Discovery of Finger Lakes Wine History, and Villa Bellangelo Winery, ironically on the plane to Europe. Both books mention that the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva had recommended planting vinifera grapes as far back as 1917, with one being the Hungarian variety Kadarka. This information was lost to the Finger Lakes until vinifera production was revived by Dr. Frank in the 1970s. Whereas Lemberger is a minor player in the Finger Lakes, it is the primary red grape in Balatonfüred-Csopak. Other red varieties such as Bordeaux grapes and Pinot Noir do have roles in both regions, although in Hungary only in the Tihany Peninsula just west of Balatonfüred.

Palinka & Swans

As for white grapes there is a preponderance of cold climate Riesling varieties, just not the same Riesling variety. The signature grape for the Finger Lakes is Rhine Riesling whereas in the Balaton it is Olaszrizling (Welschriesling) - no relation between the two. In fact the origination of  Welschriesling is still being debated - although it is extremely popular in central Europe - including Slovenia and Croatia. In both the Finger Lakes and Balatonfüred-Csopak, the Riesling grapes come in a range of styles from dry to semi-dry with plenty of acids to balance the sugar. Gewurztraminer (Tramini) is another common grape as well as Pinot Gris - although the Hungarian Szürkebarát version is more plentiful. Balatonfüred-Csopakis also home to several obscure indigenous grapes that I recommend sampling whenever possible: Juhfark (“Sheep’s Tail”), Leanyka (“Maiden”), Kiralyleanyka (“Princess”), and Zenit a rare modern day cross of the local Ezerjo variety, with the Slovenian Bouvier grape.Some of these are available at Ferenc Csarda in Tihany and in Balatonfüred at the Figula Borbár.

Wine Weeks in Balatonfüred

The main difference between the two regions - particularly during the "Wine Weeks of Balatonfüred" - is the ease of consumption in the village. Kiosks were aligned along the main pedestrian path and revelers were able to walk along Lake Balaton sipping their wine. No open container or drinking in public laws in Hungary. Would be nice if this policy immigrated to the States. Regardless, cheers to both wine regions.