Hungarian Wine Challenge – Kovács Nimród Winery Eger
Like lots of people, I love a challenge! In September 2024, I set myself the challenge, while visiting Hungary, of travelling to multiple wine regions, tastings, festivals and other wine events in order to find some of the best wines in the country. The challenge started on 1 September and finished towards the end of the month.
Along the journey there were a number of places I visited. Among them was the Kovács Nimród Winery in Eger.
About the winery
Budapest is beautiful. A thriving city with loads going on, great architecture and of course some amazing places to eat and drink good wine. However, while there are a few wineries in the city, to really get into wine country, you do need to get out of the city a little. Hungary is a thriving wine producer, with 22 wine regions to explore, and many of them can be explored by train.
Eger is a relatively small town in the North and slightly Eastern part of Hungary. It sits slightly beyond the half way point between Budapest and the world famous Tokaj region. By train the journey time is less than 2 hours which makes it a great day trip or overnight stop. I’ve written elsewhere about the amazing Valley of the Beautiful woman which you can visit and drink wine from one of the 30-40 cellars. But the town also has wineries which you can visit.
The town is characterised by is medieval castle which sits atop a hill and which is a great half day visit. See more information here if you want to visit the castle. It also has a Beatles museum, some great places to eat and drink and a whole range of other tourist attractions which are worth checking out. But one of the things the town is known for is wine. Full-bodied red wines primarily, but other kinds too.
Among those who are in the know, Kovács Nimród is one of the famous producers in Hungary. A great lover of jazz, many of his wines have jazz related names, and would pair very nicely with an evening in a jazz club. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, abound, but there are also traditional Hungarian varietals, such as Furmint and Kékfrankos. In total the winery has around 34 hectares of vines.
The winery itself is situated a little out of the town centre. Its around a 20-25 minute walk depending on where in the town centre you are, with some slight inclines as you get closer to the winery itself. Or of course you can always take a taxi. I walked, and I’m glad I did as on the way past there were other wineries pressing grapes outside their cellars, and so they made for some great photos and videos. The building and tasting area are very pleasant and have a very nice feel to them.
The host, Orsi, was enthusiastic and engaging, making the tour very enjoyable. On arrival there was a nice glass of Chardonnay which was subtly oaked and had some nice flavours of malolactic conversion (think butter, cream, etc…). I did the long tasting which included a significant part of the lineup. Orsi expertly guided the small group (3 of us!) through the tasting, tailoring the wines to our particular tastes. Some of the group preferred to try the rosé wine, while others wanted to move straight to the reds. No problem!
The wines here are high quality. I was particularly keen on the Battonage Chardonnay, which had beautiful layers of buttery, creamy, oaky notes, but not the in-your-face oak style, but something far more pleasant and subtle. Reds were also nice. For the most part smooth, velvety and deceptively easy drinking. The tasting I picked had a mix from each of the ranges, which meant there were some entry level wines, some mid-range and some very good wines.
The tasting was a really pleasant occasion and I felt confident that Orsi really knew what she was talking about, which is not always the case on some wine tastings. It was great to chat about the wines, the methods, see the equipment used and just take in the great passion that NJK (as he’s locally known) puts into his wines.
I thought the wines were really very good, and I think everyone on the tour bought at least one bottle to bring away with them, which speaks for itself. The pace was good and there was a very relaxed vibe to the experience. Everyone was well catered for and all three of us ended up walking back into town together at the end of the tasting.
Overall, this is the winery I’d probably point people to if they wanted to try a good range of very well made Eger style wines. There are probably producers who stick more strictly to the Eger style, and they are good wines, but NJK is focused on bringing out the best in the grapes’ expression and you can taste the care, love and passion for making good wine in each glass.
If you want to book a visit to Kovács Nimród Winery you can find the options on Hellowine – click here. I can recommend booking the tasting with the Grand Superior wines. And for those of you who hate Chardonnay, I’d say give the Battonage a go, it really is totally different. If you do pop in and Orsi is around, do let her know I sent you for a tasting. And in the meantime, keep exploring this beautiful planet we live on, one glass at a time!