Hungarian Wine Challenge – 26 to 30
A big part of my wine challenge is being part of blind tastings at the Bortodoor wine bar in Budapest. Each Wednesday, they run a great blind tasting which is very enjoyable. As this was a group tasting, I have not taken individual photos, so this is a bit more text heavy.
Why blind tasting?
One of the things about wine tasting is that our minds are very suggestable. We see a certain label or a certain grape variety listed and we start to imagine we are tasting things that we think should be in it. Blind tasting makes us use only our senses, rather than the other information, and so we are more objective. We look at the colour and thickness of the wine, smell the aromas and taste the tastes. From this we can make some educated guesses what we are tasting.
So anyway, on to the next 5 wines.
Wine 26 – Cseri Sextus Rinaj Rizling
Classic riesling petrol nose, with stone fruit, nectarine and some honeied aromas. Background notes of apple, pear and some lime. A little toast and minerality.
Quality: Very good
Wine 27 – Szarszi Olaszrizling
This was full of flavours and aromas of citrus, apple, stone fruit, and some mandarin. It also had some nutty, floral and saline notes.
Quality: Very good
Wine 28 – Somlói Vándor Juhfark
The Juhfark is a very interesting grape, and one for those who like a bit more complexity. This one had strong minerality, Lemon, some smoky flavours and nuts. It could be described as a little oily.
Quality: Very good
Wine 29 – Demeter Zoltan Furmint
This was a good Furmint with flavours of green apple, pear, citrus fruit, some subtle spices on the finish. High acidity and a fairly full body. Some minerality and a good length on the finish.
Quality: Very good
Wine 30 – Vadászvölgy Solaris
This was a lovely expression of the grape made on the sweeter end of the possibilities. Some notes of florals, pineapple and other exotic fruits. A nice long finish that went on for some time. This particular version had a crazy amount of alchol. But it was hidden incredibly well.
Quality: Very good, borderline outstanding
Much more to come!
I hope you enjoyed this post and the series so far. There is a lot more to follow, some exciting trips, vineyards, festivals. So much to look forward to. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know how I’m doing. And in the meantime, keep exploring this beautiful planet we live on, one glass at a time!