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Hungarian Wines Tour Day 1: Introductions & a Taste of Tokaj

 

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For the last four years, Hungarian Wines EU, founded by the fantastic Ágnes Németh, has run a writing competition. This was the first year I’d heard of it (thanks to an email from Ágnes and a nudge from a friend!). I entered in two categories, was a finalist in one (you can read me piece here), and actually won! Huzzah! I never win anything. And this wasn’t just anything to win. Winners from each of the four categories (four each in English and four each in Hungarian) were invited to participate in a three-day study tour in Hungary. As soon as I got confirmation, I booked a flight, contacted my cat sitter, and re-familiarized myself with how to pronounce Hárslevelű.

Day 1 began with a 3 am wake up for me. So that was fun. Ágnes met me at the airport, helped me sort out a SIM card, then set me free for a few hours until the official program began. On my way to much needed caffeine (which I found in Budapest’s cat café!), I stopped at St. Stephen’s Basilica which I try to always visit when in Budapest. While the country was having a similar heatwave as several other European countries, Turkey included, a freak storm the night before cooled down the temperature considerably. It was almost chilly (but so pleasant!) as I wandered around and reacquainted myself with the city.

Properly caffeinated and reminded how much I love Budapest, it was time to head to the lunch venue, meet everyone else on the tour, and get the show on the road.

Lunch at the Paris Passage & Meeting the Crew 

Our tour kicked off with lunch at the Paris Passage, a beautiful historic building near the Elizabeth bridge. Before going in, I met my first fellow Hungarian wine enthusiast: Anna Maria Kambourakis of Unravelling Wine and Chania Wine Tours from Crete. We’d “met” on Instagram months before and I was delighted that she, as one of the competition judges, was joining the group. Fast friends already, we went into the Paris Passage where we were properly awed by the stunning (and recently renovated) interior.

After picking up our jaws from off the floor, we met the rest of our new crew:

• Rob Smith Master of Wine, Riviera Wine Academy
• Peder Lehman Larsen, wine writer and wine importer (competition judge) 
• Sebastian Giraldo, wine writer, sommelier, Taste Hungary / Tasting Table (winner in 2 categories! you can read his stories here and here)
• Mihály Lőrinc, wine writer, Borászportál.hu (Hungarian-language entry winner, you can read his entry here)
• Norbert Nádházi, wine writer, webshop owner, VidékBox (Hungarian-language entry winner, you can read his entry here)
• Zsolt Sándor, winemaker (Hungarian-language entry winner, you can read his entry here)
• István Erdélyi aka “Steve” 
• And of course Ágnes and her sister Erika (Capital of Cava / Vino Castillo Borház)

A Tasting with Holdvölgy Birtok

Lunch included a wine tasting with Tokaj winery Holdvölgy Birtok. The winery works with Tokaj grapes: Furmint, Hárslevelű, Kabar, Zéta, Sárgamuskotály, and Kövérszőlő from which they make blends, single varietal wines, dry wines, Szamarodni, and Aszú wines. Holdvölgy Birtok’s, which means Moon Valley Estate, 28 hectares sit exclusively in the Mád district of Tokaj. The soils in the Mád Basin are diverse which allows the winery to create complex wines from the seven crus in which it has vineyards:

• Holdvölgy: Red ferrous oxide soil of high clay content, with scattered highly quarzitic and rhyolitic islands. Rich in silica sediment. Vines planted at 199 to 238 meters.
• Nyulászó: Highly cohesive brown forest soil, with yellow clay at higher places and a residual bentonitic and rhyolitic structure. Rich in minerals. Vines planted at 155 to 199 meters.
• Becsek: Argilluvic brown forest soil with rhyolite tuff at higher points, ferrous oxide soil of looser structure, rich in zeolite minerals. On minor areas surface andesite rock cuttings can be found. Vines planted at 185 to 195 meters.
• Dorgó-Tető: Cohesive ferrous oxide soil of a good water regime with rhyolite tuff and rock crumbles slaty formation. Vines planted at 175 to 190 meters.
• Király: Soil of good water retention, made of red ferrous oxide with high argil content, hard rhyolite tuff and their residues, and rich in microelements. Vines planted at 236 to 258 meters.
• Kakasok: Cohesive ferrous oxide soil of high mineral content, rhyolite tuff, rock cuttings, zeolite, and silica sediment. Vines planted at 180 to 195 meters.
• Úrágya: Cohesive ferrous oxide soil with highly cohesive red clay on top. High quartzite and hard tuff formation. Vines planted at 195 to 205 meters.

We tasted six wines from Holdvölgy Birtok.

Hold and Hollow, 2018

A blend of Furmint, Hárslevelű, Zéta, and Sárgamuskotály from the winery’s Becsek, Dorgó, and Nyulászó vineyards finished with 6.9 g/L residual sugar, 6.2 g/L acidity, and 13% ABV.

So very aromatic with white flowers, crunchy green apple, pears, and a touch of wet stone. More apple on the mouthwatering palate with lime, exotic passion fruit and loquats. Juicy, balanced, and so very dangerous!

“Expression” Hárslevelű, 2018

100% Hárslevelű from their Becsek vineyards both fermented and aged (five months) in French barrels. Finished with 6.7 g/L residual sugar, 6.4 g/L acidity, and 14% ABV.

Chamomile, baked golden apples, and honeycomb supported by a an undercurrent of crushed gravel. Baked quince hits the palate first followed by ginger candy and flowers. Creamy with vibrant acidity.

“Intuition” Kabar, 2018

100% Kabar from their Holdvölgy vineyards, aged for five months in Hungarian oak barrels. Finished with 4.6 g/L residual sugar, 6.7 g/L acidity, and 14% ABV.

All the exoticism of a Turkish spice bazar lives in this wine! Quincy-pear fruit sprinkled with honey pixie dust and bee pollen with candied citrus detail and notes of aromatic herbs and flowers. I could live in this wine. Full-bodied and silky on the palate and less obviously acidic than the previous two wines but oh so elegant.

“Meditation” Furmit, 2018

100% Furmint from the winery’s Király vineyards, aged for five months in Hungarian oak. Finished with 8.6 g/L residual sugar, 6.9 g/L acidity, and 13.5% ABV.

Smoked green apple skin framed by notes of graphite, pink grapefruit, and lime leaf. An explosion of mouthwatering acidity sends a cascade of citrus, passion fruit, and apple over the tongue. Exuberant, zesty, and sophisticated…everything I love about Furmint.

“Intuition” Sárgamuskotály, 2019

100% Sárgamuskotály (Yellow Muscat) from their Nyulászó vineyards aged for six months in steel tanks. Finished with 10.9 g/L residual sugar, 7.4 g/L acidity, and 12% ABV.

The nose presents aromas of elderflower, sweetgrass, and ripe stone fruit. Flavors of peaches and loquats framed with elderflower and lemon skin slip easily down the throat. Semi-sweet but almost unnoticeably thanks to absolutely outstanding and vivid acidity.

“Intuition” Szamarodni, 2008

100% Zéta from the winery’s namesake Holdvölgy vineyards, aged for 18 months in Hungarian oak. While “only” a Szamarodni, it was finished with an impressive 142.4 g/L residual sugar!! Skillfully balances with 7.7 g/L acidity and 12% ABV.

2008 delivered a botrytized Zéta harvest which likely accounts for the high sugar level. This is a lovely, elegant and rich wine with complex flavors. It’s honey-soaked hazelnuts with candied ginger, sundried apricot, and crystalized pineapple. Unctuous with vibrant acidity and a palate that delivers apricots, peaches, and citrus with a long, honeyed finish. There’s so much going on there!

After the lunch and tasting, we all piled into a couple cars and headed for our first regional visit: Mátra.