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JR's notes:

This article was the result of my first visit to Hungary, and was published in CIRCLE UPDATE in February, 2000. For that reason, it's a little heavy on technical detail but it does cover the basics of what was happening in Hungary in the summer of 1999. The Circle of Wine Writers' website is at www.circleofwinewriters.org

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Hungary - In Search of the Legjobb

John Radford has been to Magyarorszag...

...And it was great: the smell of prosperity, beautiful countryside, bustling Budapest, and some excellent wines (and a few duffers). The wines offer supermarket stuff plus an echo a Sergio Leone western: the jó (good), the jobb (better) and the legjobb (best). Don't forget the latitude here is the same as north-central France, so look for Cabernet-Franc, Sauvignon, and (almost in vain) Pinot Noir as well as indigenous varieties.

Ah, yes, the wines, of course were what we had come to discover. The first day - Tuesday 8th June 1999 - had started earlier (as days are wont to do), at about 0630 to be precise, LHR terminal 2 with paterfamilias Patrick Gooch who runs the Hungarian Food and Wine Bureau. Our party consisted of fellow-members Joyce Rackham, Lilyane Weston, Hugo Dunn-Meynell and Andrea Leeman, as well as a dash'd attractive young gel from Decanter called Catherine Lowe. In order to reduce the level of intra-Circular gossip during the rest of this report, I shall record only the following: Joyce Rackham - never quite enough native bearers to cope with her luggage; Lilyane Weston - living proof that French women only get sexier as they get older; Hugo Dunn-Meynell - told jokes about my being so heavy that I should sit in the middle of the aeroplane; Me - told jokes about Hugo being so old that he still tucks his scarf in so that it won't catch in the rudder; Andrea Leeman - nice t o have a pukka food-writer aboard to talk us through the Gulyás, Fogas, Borjúhúst and Fagylalt; Catherine Lowe - smouldering.

The new Hungarian vineyard has 22 wine regions (call Patrick Gooch on 01-892-664-855 or e-mail rgsgroup@globalnet.co.uk for a map and background details) of which we visited five:

1) Mátraalja (north-west of Budapest)

2) Szeksárd ('isn't it?', Remarked Hugo - well south towards Serbia and Croatia)

3) Villány-Siklós (in the deep south near the border with Croatia)

4) Dél-Balaton (south of lake Balaton)

5) Badacsony (on the north shore of the lake)

However, we need to know that it's perfectly legal in Hungary to truck grapes, must or wine between different regions and to finish them off somewhere else. So you may find a wine made from grapes grown in one region which was actually fermented, aged and bottled in another, and it's still entitled to the name of its birthplace. Many wineries, for example, all over the country, will sell you an Egri Bikaver (Bull's Blood) or a Tokaji Aszú, regardless of the wine region in which they happen to be situated.

Tuesday: MÁTRAALJA - Sõlõszkert, Nagyréde

Recently-privatised co-op - run by two jolly attractive gels called Eszter and Annamária, with 80% of production exported. Two ranges of wine as follows:

(a) Export or die

Supermarket stuff: Zöldveltelini (Grüner Veltliner), Királyleanyka, Zenit (Ezerjó x Bouvier), Pinot Gris oaked (chips), 'Spice Trail' (Pinot Grigio, Irsai Olivér), Chardonnay - all nice, clean fresh wines with some fruit and occasional spice.

Jó: Barrel-fermented Chardonnay, barrel-aged Chardonnay - good, fresh, clean new-world style.

(b) Nagyréde wines

Supermarket stuff: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Cserszegi Füszeres (Tramini x Irsai Olivér), Cabernet-Sauvignon 1998 - nicely made, some spice in the whites, decent tannins and a bit of structure in the red.

Jó: Cabernet-Sauvignon Rozé, Cabernet-Franc barrel-fermented - wines of character, the pink crisp and fresh, the red ripe and 'motoring'.

Jobb: Tramini (=Gewürztraminer) 1991 late harvest (at 240 g/l) - sweet white, honeysuckle- rich.

Legjobb: Tramini 1995 late harvest - excellent balance, lovely crisp fruit, rich, long finish.

Wednesday: MÁTRAALJA - Danubiana, Bonyhad

Wholly owned by Sankt-Ursula in Bingen-am-Rhein. UK representative Len Granger (01-432-371-077; fax 01-432-278-184; e-mail lgsturs@wbsnet.co.uk), this is a new winery which has invested heavily in new kit and market research. The philosophy is export, export and export. The major brand-name is Károlyi, named after a local nobleman Gróf (=Count) Károlyi labelled Károlyi Estate for the UK market, and the style is resolutely Hungarian in naming and presentation: their research showed strong market resistance to anything perceived as German (NB the parent company is German).

Supermarket stuff: Pinot Blanc - fresh, lipsmacking fruit, very pleasant.

Jó: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay (from Gyöngyös), Muscat Ottonel, Kékfrankos (=the German Blaufränkisch, once believed to be the Gamay, but now accepted as a relative) Rozé, Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot - all immaculately-made wines (and all under £4 retail in the UK) but the whites were very cold-fermented (down to 15°C) which, in some cases, made them a bit squeaky-clean. I felt that there had been more fruit waiting to come out and the result, whilst technically faultless, was a bit lacking in 'heart': rather like German wines of the trocken persuasion.

Jobb: Károlyi Sauvignon, Károlyi Chardonnay (barrel-fermented), Egri Bikaver (Zweigelt/ Kékfrankos/Merlot/Cabernet-Sauvignon), Károlyi Vörös (='red' - Kékfrankos/Cabernet- Sauvignon/Merlot/Pinot Noir) - a cut above, excellent fruit on the Sauvignon, lovely rich new-world oaky style on the Chardonnay and very nice, smoky, autumnal aromatics on the Egri. Now that it's a free country, everybody's offering Egri Bikaver and some of them are, frankly, dire. This is an exception. The best of this group are the Károlyi wines, the red having a nice structure, tannins, and aromatics, the whites better still: tight, complex nose and bold, gooseberry fruit on the Sauvignon, lovely balance between the golden, oaky notes and the ripe fruit on the Chardonnay. This is classy winemaking.

Wednesday: VILLÁNY-SIKLÓS - Ede and Zsolt Tiffán, Villány

Run by Ede Tiffán, winemaker of the year in 1991, this is a small (15ha) family vineyard and underground cellar producing about 100,000 hl per year. The band name is Tiffán's (that genitive apostrophe showing the winery's focus on the English-speaking market).

Jó: Rozé (Kékfrankos/Cabernet-Sauvignon/Pinot Noir) and (red) Kékoporto (=Blauer Portugieser). These are both drunk young and chilled, and have plenty of light, upfront fruit. The red is lightly tannic with a 'black pepper' nose and very pleasant.

Jobb: Kékfrankos and Cabernet-Sauvignon: two wines with real style - spicy, complex palate and good structure with soft tannins. The Cabernet has a good, tight, rich fruit. Both a touch austere on the finish but they were from the 1997 vintage.

Legjobb: A stonking range here of excellent reds, including Domaine Mondivin (Cabernet-Franc from 40-year-old vines) the 1996 showing rich, ripe fruit, well-structured tannin balance and excellent length; the 1995 (a better year) coming together deliciously and starting to drink at its peak. Tiffan's Cabernet-Sauvignon with two years in oak has a classic rich, oaky/blackcurrant nose, elegant structure and ripeness; Grand Selection is a Cabernet- Sauvignon/Cabernet-Franc mix with time in old and new wood with impressive style; Cabernet-Sauvignon Külonleges 1993 is even better: rich fruit, powerful tannins, extensive complexity approaching its peak. All the wines in this category may be considered world class.

Wednesday: VILLÁNY-SIKLÓS - Attila Gere, Villány

Attila Gere was winemaker of the year in 1994, and runs an even smaller family firm with 17 ha of his own vines and grapes bought in from a further 22 ha, although only 15 ha is in full production. This was a difficult tasting as it was combined with a buffet dinner, so the tasting notes were coloured by the food, to a certain extent. However:

Jó: Kékoporto - described as a 'light, friendly wine'. Bottled at 6 months old, it's a low-tannin quaffing wine, pleasantly fruity.

Legjobb: Another impressive range of world-class wines here, including a Merlot and a Cabernet-Franc from 1997 and a Cabernet-Sauvignon/Cabernet-Franc mix from 1995. These are exemplary wines which show the legacy of low yields from old vines: rich, tight fruit, well-extracted and the 1995 showing some maturity. Best of all were the Cabernet-Francs from 1993 and 1991 which were showing classic fruit, maturity, character and some considerable length.

Thursday: DÉL-BALATON - Szent Donatus, Balatonlelle

Very smart new winery with 72 ha of vines, whose consultant winemaker is Tibor Gál, winemaker of the year 1999 (he has his own winery in Eger, too). Szent (Saint) Donatus also owns a very pleasant restaurant overlooking the south shore of Lake Balaton, whose cellars mature the best of its wines. Once again, the tasting was slightly skewed by the food and the difficulty of taking notes during a three course meal (Fogas fritters, roasted goose leg, chocolate pancakes):

Jó: Chardonnay, Muscat Ottonel - well-made , crisp, good fruit and an almost Alsace-like dryness on the Muscat.

Jobb: Cabernet-Sauvignon - rather lightweight but deliciously fruity and a pleasant length.

Thursday: BADACSONY - Szent Orban, Badacsonylábdihegy

Huba Szeremley, an Ernest Hemingway lookalike, describes himself as a 'hobby farmer' but has a splendid tasting-room on the north shore of Lake Balaton, and drives Porsche 911 with Nigerian number-plates ('saves money on the parking tickets', he explains). We tasted the first of his wines on a boat in the middle of the lake, and the rest at the winery. This was not the best place to taste, quite frankly, in the blazing heat of early afternoon, and I found many of the wines lacking in character, in that too-cold-fermented style which seems to leave the golden warmth of the fruit behind in the lees - reminiscent of German trocken wines again. However, the winemaking was exemplary:

Jó: 1998s Irsai Olivér, Muscat Ottonel, Olasrizling and Rajnai Rizling (=white Riesling) all showed clean, fresh fruit and crisp acidity, with the Irsai showing best, probably because of its 'musky' character which allowed some fruit to show through. Older vintages (1997, 1996) of Olasz showed less well, indicating that this is very much a wine for drinking early unless late-harvested. Back at the winery we tried a trio of Pinto Gris (labelled with the Hungarian name - Szürkebarát), one barrique, one late-harvested and one sweet, all of which showed well, especially the sweeter version. This seemed to indicate that the winemaking style here was Germanic in origin and that sweeter wines were likely to be jobb... And they were:

Jobb: Late-harvested Olaszrizling from 1997 showed real style: aromatic, spicy and balanced, and better still was the 1996 vintage which had a soft, gentle richness and an elegant, dry finish. Best of all was the 1997 Zeusz late-harvested (Zeus=Zenit) which had a lovely rich sweetness, a good follow-though and an ultimately-dry finish.

Friday: ASZAR-NESZMÉLY - Hilltop, Neszmély

This is a spanking modern winery, part of a larger group which has taken the export market by storm and bottles some wines under half a dozen different labels for different clients in the UK. Front-person is Eva Keresztury, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting at this year's LWTF. The attention to detail, quality control and range of wines is quite astonishing, and quality (and value-for-money ratio) are exemplary throughout:

Supermarket stuff: you name it - Bianka (an organically-grown grape), Rajnai Rizling, Irsai Olivér, Cserszegi Füszeres (rather beguilingly labelled 'the unpronounceable grape' for the First Quench group), the ubiquitous Chardonnay, all turned out in full spice, fruit fresh, crisp acidity, varietal splendour. You could cheerfully recommend these to anybody and the average UK retail price is about £3.49

Jó: a delightful pink, honeysuckle-scented Pinot Grigio, a barrel-aged Chardonnay with good, new-world varietal style, sparky, gooseberry Sauvignon blanc from Sopron, a rather austere Merlot-Kékfrankos and a subtly-complex Cabernet-Franc. Average UK retail price about £3.99

Jobb: Two Cabernet-Sauvignons - a 1997 with bold new-world fruit yet crisp Bordelais tannins and a 1996 version with 12 months in oak which added the final tincture to an already excellent wine.

Legjobb: a cracking Gewürztraminer had all the spice and none of the sweetness which plagues so many co-op Gewürtzes from Alsace these days, and a Tokaji Aszú 5-puttonyos was everything you'd expect: big, rich, honeyed, powerful... And ultimately dry - splendid. Best of the reds was the Hilltop 2000 made (rather surprisingly) from Kékfrankos from Sopron. It had a rich, aromatic 'old vines' nose and all the fruit, tannin, power structure you could shake a stick at. A truly outstanding wine.

And that was that - or, rather - that's the bones of it. An outstanding trip with an opportunity to see a whole spectrum of Hungarian winemaking. Some of it takes its inspiration from Germany (still Hungary's biggest customer) and some from the new world, but with quality control licked, there's room for the whole industry to grow, If the very greatest, world-class wines are all coming from what we might describe as 'boutique' wineries at the moment, then that's perfectly understandable, and long may it continue. The Hungarians are determined that the world should enjoy its wines right across the price-range and, on this showing, they're well on the way to achieving that. Most of the wines are good, many are excellent and more than a few are, already, quite literally, the legjobb.

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