I will be traviling to budapest this winter and hear Hungary is an
up-and-coming wine producer.

Does anyone have suggestins about what is good, and if it can be found
in the US??? I am a big fan of full bodied red wine and not so much
the sweet stuff.

Sarah

wrote:

> I will be traviling to budapest this winter and hear Hungary is an
> up-and-coming wine producer.
>
> Does anyone have suggestins about what is good, and if it can be
> found
> in the US??? I am a big fan of full bodied red wine and not so much
> the sweet stuff.
>
> Sarah

Try Egri Bikaver, which translates as "Bull's Blood of Eger."

Godzilla

Salut/Hi ,

le/on 15 Sep 2005 22:01:28 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

>I will be traviling to Budapest this winter and hear Hungary is an
>up-and-coming wine producer.

Gulp!! They made world class sweet wine in Tokaj 200 years before France
did! However, there's some truth in that the (egalitarian) communist years
there didn't do anything to enhance quality.

>Does anyone have suggestions about what is good, and if it can be found
>in the US???

I'm afraid I don't know what's available in the USA. However there are a
number of full bodied reds - although Hungarians tend to prefer white with
their food. Bull's blood is one of the best known, though it's not really
world class. There are 22 wine regions in Hungary, and I would be surprised
if you were able to find more than about 2/3 or them in the USA.

Forgive me for asking, but wouldn't it be better to take advantage of being
in Budapest to try wines you _can't_ find in the States?

Anyway, the better (IMO) reds from Hungary are from Villany, Szekszard and
Eger (which despite Bulls Blood, manages to make some excellent food wines.)

In Villany, the producer Vylyan is (IMO) the most interesting, but there are
excellent wines made by Bock, Attila Gere, and Tiffan. In Szeksazrd (the z
makes the 's' sound like an 's' because in Hungarian 's' on it's own is
pronounced like "sh"), Kékfrankos, Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc and Merlot
all are used to good effect, but it's not an area whose wines I know much
about. You'll find their better wines a bit lighter than those from Villany.
Heimann, (try his Szekszardi Bikaver, by the way) Vestergombi and Peter Vida
have a good reputation. In Eger, they are making an effort to improve their
bikaver (it needed it) you ought to try some, but try to get hold of some
from a decent producer like Vilmos Thummerer, or (magic) Tibor Gal whose
Bikaver and Kékfrankos are truly world class.



--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website

Decanter had a special supplement on Hungarian wines this year. They
tasted both wines availble in the UK, and some that were not exported
were tasted in Hungary. Most of the tasters in Hungary were from
Decanter's sister title in Hungarian. All of the best wines in the
tastings were tasted in Hungary and not exported, at least to the UK.

Here are some of the reds they liked and rated as 4 out of 5 star.

Figula Mihaly , Figula Cabernet Sauvignon, Balatonfured 2003;

Weninger Soproni, Kekfrankos Selection, Weninger Pinceszet Balf 2002;

Demeter Pinceszet, Cabernet Franc, Eger 2000;

Gere Attila, Villanyi Merlot Solus, Villany 2002;

Szende Pince, Szende Cuvee, Villany 2000;

They also mentioned several white wines. If you can bring yourself to
taste one, a wine that comes from close to Budapest might be
interesting. You might try Nyakas, Pince Etyek, Budai Cuvee 2002.

I have tasted none of these wines, so if you do not like them, complain
to Decanter :-) .

Reply to .

Ian wrote on Fri, 16 Sep 2005 17:16:47 +0200:

IH> le/on 15 Sep 2005 22:01:28 -0700, tu disais/you said:-

??>> I will be traviling to Budapest this winter and hear
??>> Hungary is an up-and-coming wine producer.

??>> Does anyone have suggestions about what is good, and if it
??>> can be found in the US???

IH> I'm afraid I don't know what's available in the USA.
IH> However there are a number of full bodied reds -


I've seen Egri Bikaver, as well as other Hungarian wines whose
names I forget, in our not too enterprising county stores here.
I'm not just talking about the place in Potomac, which is
the only state store that I know with wines costing well over
100USD.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland.

Cwdjrx _ wrote:

> Figula Mihaly , Figula Cabernet Sauvignon, Balatonfured 2003;
>
> Weninger Soproni, Kekfrankos Selection, Weninger Pinceszet Balf 2002;
>
> Demeter Pinceszet, Cabernet Franc, Eger 2000;
>
> Gere Attila, Villanyi Merlot Solus, Villany 2002;
>
> Szende Pince, Szende Cuvee, Villany 2000;

It's sad to see that with the influx of capital to Hungary's wine
industry, we also find the "Internationalization" of their wines. While
I know little of the history of winemaking there, I suspect that there
were many "indigenous" red grape varieties beyond Bikaver and
Kékfrankos, and that the French varietals were minor players at best.
Some would no doubt argue that whatever was there produced inferior
wines compared to these Merlots and Cabs, but I for one question just
how many more Merlots and Cabs the world needs and that even a
less-than-world class red made from unusual grapes and sold at a
reasonable price might be of greater overall interest. Some of the
recent Portuguese red table wines come to mind as good models.

Just my $0.02,
Mark Lipton

Ian Hoare > wrote:

> or (magic) Tibor Gal whose Bikaver and Kékfrankos are truly
> world class.

Alas, memory wines only, since Tibor died in a car crash in South
Africa last year ...

M.

The Decanter special supplement on Hungarian wines also listed a few
restaurants, some of which have very good wine lists.

Gundel - Palatial, gypsy musicians, and garden for summer dining. Try
plate of different foie gras, poularde in paprika, or the very famous
Gundel crepe. Outstanding wine list. +36 1 468 4040 or . ;

Muzeum - Late 19th century interior, white napkins, haughty waiters. Try
carpaccio of yellow boletus, goose leg with red cabbage, or Hortobagy
pancake. Hungarian wines. +36 1 138 4221. ;

Kispipa - A Jewish restaurant located in the old ghetto. Try soup with
beans and Transylvanian stuffed cabbage. No information on wines given,
+36 1 142 2587. ;

Trattoria Toscana - Although you need not go to Hungary for very good
Italian food, Huba Szeremley's wines are listed. + 36 1 327 0045.;

Also some of the many good hotels have good restaurants with good wine
selections. Hotels listed included Hotel Gellert, Grand Hotel
Margitsziget, Gresham Four Season Hotel, Hilton, Corvinus, and Hotel
Taverna. Details concerning the restaurants within the hotels were not
given.

Reply to .