Hungarian Wine Challenge – 6 to 10
Like lots of people, I love a challenge! And this month, I am in Hungary, travelling the country in search of at least 100 wines. I have 27 days to do it. Lots of people think good wine is limited to the big brand name countries like France, Italy and parts of the New World. But the problem with that is that it ignores the potential to make good wines in a lot of the world.
Traditional theory has it that in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere good wine is made between 30 and 50 degree latitude. And with a few exceptions and an increasing creep further North and South due to global warming, this is generally true. Budapest, Hungary’s capital lies at 47.5 degrees, well within the range for making good wines. In fact this places it roughly between the latitudes of Epernay (think Champagne) – 49 degrees and Bordeaux at 44 degrees.
So with those latitudes and some great wine growing soils the wines in Hungary have the potential to be absolutely delicious. And they are!
This is not a journey I’m doing alone
The purpose of the ALotToWineAbout website is not just to write about wine, but to combine my passions for wine, travel, people and creativity. And for me, the people make the journey. On this journey I’ll be sharing tastings with other people. Some I know, some I am yet to get to know. But I’m also sharing the journey with the readers of this website and followers on Instagram. You have truly inspired me with you likes, shares and kind words. You are my tribe!
In part one, we focused on five wines from the Bortodoor wine bar, and I can’t do wines 6 to 8 without mentioning the very special people at Bortodoor. Of course, I can’t list them all, but for the tasting this week, I want to give a big shoutout to Suze, Rebecca, Anna and Babli who made the evening so enjoyable. As I say, the people make the journey.
So anyway, on to the next 5 wines.
Wine 6 – Etyeki Kúria Pinot Noir
If I say this was a text book Pinot Noir, I don’t mean that in a disparaging way. It displayed the varietal characteristics of red fruits and light spices. This was a light wine which was pleasant and easy drinking, but lacked the complexity the grape is capable of.
For me this was a Very good quality wine. That puts me a little behind Decanter, but I know I’m a tough judge!
Wine 7 – Zsirai Gavaller
This was a more full bodied wine with medium to medium plus tannins. It had a very nice finish. The wine had nice fruit character with nice spicy notes. Red fruit based, but I thought there may be some hints of some darker fruits in there as well.
Quality: Very good
Wine 8 – Malatinszky Kúria Estate 2015 Signature
This wine was a recommendation by Anna and I’m so glad to have had the recommendation. This is an organic wine with beautiful complexity and tertiary flavours. This is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance is just perfect. The vintage was also a good one, and it really shows in the wine. A nice blend of red and dark fruits.
Quality: Outstanding
Wine 9 – Valibor Badacsonyi Pearl
A fresh lightly sparkling wine with a delicate mousse, flavours of green apple, lemon and hints of cream and delicate spice. Easy drinking fizzy wine – a great palette cleanser.
Quality: Very good
Wine 10 – Valibor Badacsonyi Budai
This wine had a medium plus acidity, was slightly spicy, and had flavours of apple, pear, lemon. I felt there was some residual sugar which gave it a slightly sweet finish, but it wasn’t off-dry. It had clear minerality and some ripe stone fruit.
Quality: Very good
Thank you
So thank you for stopping by for the second five wines. I hope to see you back to check out the next five! And in the meantime, keep exploring this beautiful planet we live on, one glass at a time!