On Saturday we quasi-floated down the Danube River by visiting four Central European embassies -- tasting through regional cuisine in conjunction with a plethora of surprising wine options. (Yes, Czechia technically doesn't border the river, but close enough.). We started at the Austrian Embassy with a cheese and cheery strudel breakfast before entering an hour long
"Fine Wines from Austria" class on Austrian wine presented by
Klaus Wittauer of
KWSelection and hosted by
Decanter Wine Boutique. We tasted nine curated wines from a non traditional Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé and Rotgipfler to the more traditional Gruner Veltliner, Riesling, Zweigelt, Blaufrankisch-Saint Laurent-Zweigelt blend, and Pinot Noir. My favorite was the
Steininger Ried Loisium Gruner Veltliner 2024 Kamptal DAC Reserve.
Unfortunately, next door at the Slovakian Embassy, the line to sample the available wines and mead were too long for a short time frame so we savored a smoked sausage then moved on to their geographic sibling Czechia.
This embassy presented a full blown beer garden atmosphere with a live band, dancers, sausages and goulash, sweet and savory pastries, Pilsner Urquell, and wine. There were two sets of wine tasting, one from
Wine of Czech Republic and the other by
Spevak Winery. I plan on diving deeper into their terroir and grape varieties but on first glance it appears they share some similar grapes to neighboring Austria - such as Gruner, Blaufrankish, Pinot Noir - but have a deeper affinity towards Sauvignon Blanc as well as cultivars bred for the Bohemia and Moravia environments. These include Pálava (Gewürztraminer and Müller Thurgau), Cabernet Moravia (Cabernet Franc and Zweigelt), and Cabernet Cortis (Cabernet Sauvignon and Solaris -- a white wine grape variety originally bred in Germany in 1975). I was very impressed with the age-ability of
Spevak's 2017 Cabernet Cortis - as it retained plenty acidity lifting the jammy fruit. Expect much more to follow on the subject of Czech wine.\
Our final stop was a stroll down hill towards Rock Creek Park and the Hungarian Embassy. They were presenting plenty of dancing, gypsy and classical music, more goulash, chicken paprikas, and a small but excellent assortment of Hungarian wine. We went straight to the
Böjt Egri Bikavér and the accompanying white partner:
Egri Csillag. The first is a masterful blend as required according to the Bikavér regulations and built on a backbone of Kékfrankos (Blaufrankisch) -- 50%. This is followed with Pinot Noir (18%), Blauburger (18%), Cabernet Sauvignon (7%), and Zweigelt (7%). The Böjt Egri Csillag is made based on the regulations requiring Carpathian-basin varieties. This wine is a blend of Olaszrizling (Welschriesling) (46%), Leányka (32%), Sauvignon Blanc (16%), and Muscat Ottonel (6%). Fantastic wines to sip watching the Vizslas run across the embassy grounds.
Our final stop was a stroll down hill towards Rock Creek Park and the Hungarian Embassy. They were presenting plenty of dancing, gypsy and classical music, more goulash, chicken paprikas, and a small but excellent assortment of Hungarian wine. We went straight to the Böjt Egri Bikavér and the accompanying white partner: Egri Csillag. The first is a masterful blend as required according to the Bikavér regulations and built on a backbone of Kékfrankos (Blaufrankisch) -- 50%. This is followed with Pinot Noir (18%), Blauburger (18%), Cabernet Sauvignon (7%), and Zweigelt (7%). The Böjt Egri Csillag is made based on the regulations requiring Carpathian-basin varieties. This wine is a blend of Olaszrizling (Welschriesling) (46%), Leányka (32%), Sauvignon Blanc (16%), and Muscat Ottonel (6%). Fantastic wines to sip watching the Vizslas run across the embassy grounds.
