Hungary
Hungarian wine has a history dating back to at least Roman times, and that history reflects the country’s position between the Slavs and the Germanic peoples.
The best-known wines are the white dessert wine Tokay (Tokaji), Bull’s Blood (Egri Bikavér) which is a medium weight red wine. There are also fine wines from Villány in the far south to taste. These are made from Cabernet and local gapes such as the Kékfrankos.
Hungary’s most famous wine region lies in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains of the far north of the country – in fact the traditional area crosses into the southeast corner of modern Slovakia. The area is notable for its long warm autumns and mists that come in from the River Bodrog, creating perfect conditions for noble rot. This can contribute towards creating the shrivelled (‘aszú’) grapes for which the region is famous. These are individually picked as late as mid-November into buckets (‘puttonyos’) and crushed to a paste. Varying amounts of this aszú paste are then added to non-aszú must or wine made from a mix of Furmint, Hárslevelű, Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, and Orémus grapes, and left to ferment. The resulting wine is then aged in relatively small barrels in a labyrinth of cellars in the soft volcanic tufa, on whose walls thick blankets of fungus regulate the humidity.
The taste of young Tokaji is lovely, middle aged the wine can seem oxidized, even boring, but in old age the taste is quite divine. The phrase “King of Wines, Wine of Kings” is thrown around quite loosely and often applied to Champagne, actually it belongs to Tokaji.
There currently are no Hungarian wine tours planned for this year, but please call the office or e-mail to register your interest in a future one.
Click here to go to Hungary Wine Notes
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