After the closing ceremonies of the X. Pannonhalmi Bormustra I was diven to Somlo-Hegy, an 800 + ha. wine region (and 3,000 producers!) centered around an extinct volcano, consisting in a raised platform of rock, basalt, planted with steep, terraced vineyards as high as 800 meters above sea level, with mineral-rich, sandy, gravely top soils, and well drained structure. The lower parts of the mountain are covered by forrest. Almost etirely a white wine region, home of Juhfark, there are also plantings of Szurkebarat (P. Gris), Olaszrizling (Riesling Italico), Furmint, Harslevelu and some Tramini. The only red I've tasted was Kreinbacher's 2008 (in barrel) and 2007 Syrah, see below.
Kreinbacher Birtok: boutique property with very good wines, showing a somewhat modern approach, and winemaking expertise, clean, precise wines are made here by a young winemaker, Csaszar Atiila. I liked all the wines I've tasted from barrel and from among the ones from the 06 and 07 vintage Very neat Syrah...lighter style, spicy - floral with great acids, soft tannins and polished oaking...for its novelty-sake I'd score the 2007 ...90... (1,000 bottles made) and wait, the 2008, still in barrel right now, might turn out to be even better. White cuvees (blend of Riesling, Furmint, Harslevelu, some from single vineyard and made in best years only) really good here, perhaps just a tiny bit one-dimensional...winemaker must be fan of "assemblage", and he is good at it indeed. Liked the varietal wines as well, tasted the 2008's from barrel. Acacia barrel aged 2007 Tramini under screwcap is unique (now discontinued to be produced)...for me anyway as I've never tasted one aged in such type of wood before.
Tornai: 54 ha. since 1946, a larger winery. The best Juhfarks I've tasted...! Big, bold, intense and expressive...ripe, almost candied fruit, floral - honey notes with almost salty minerality, bursting acids...not even showing 15% alcohol...! Liked best the 2007 Grofi Juhfark Top Selection and 2006 Juhfark Top Selection. Most wines I've tasted here were good to very good, Olaszrizling, Szurkebarat, aged and some partially fermented in large Hungaian oak barrels, new and neutral ones. Considering the size and total production of the winery, and that is used to be a commercial operation, the quality aspect of the wines here is strikingly high.
Hollovar: Proprietor-winemaker Lajos Takacs bought 4 ha. worth of land here since 1992 from about 35 land owners...! He is a character, seemingly excentric (fashion-wise too!0 with a healthy "I do not give a damn" attitude. His wines reflect that attitude for sure...and they are not for everyone's taste. He harvests based on sugar-ripeness and some of the wines are on the lees for 3-4 months. They are more bodied, alcoholic, minerally, leesy...funky, just like Takacs. Uncertified organic, and he is very proud of that. I liked the 2008 Harslevelu best, the 2007 Furmint good too, with 15% alcohol, and the 2006 Furmint Aszu certainly interesting...and Lajos shared the last bottle of it with me. 4,000 bottles/year average production here. "Garagist"...and or you like them or you don't! "Ennyi"!
After Somlo-Hegy I headed over to Lake Balaton's northwest shore, more precisely to Balatonfelvidek region.
Lesence: one of the larger Hungarian wineries owned by Kalman Kazsmer, a 75 year old former Swiss financial entrepreneur, a risk taker with a somewhat cynic ideology, dry, but realistic overview of life and sense of humour. And listen to this...he does not even like wine! The winery produces an average of 1.5 million bottles of wine per year, off 75 ha. of own vineyards + grapes sourced from elsewhere. Mr. Kazsmer sells in bulk to my friends at Pelee Island Winery in Ontario, Canasda, although the last shipment was refused due to reasons triggered by the current economic turmoil. A whole range of wines are made here in different style and quality designation. Mostly commercial stuff, including some wines made from odd varieties such as Trilla (for sparkling, a grape apparently developed at one of the oenology and viticulture institutes of the country,and cultivated only by Lesence, and I have not even heard about it before...), Turan ("Lambrusco"...?!)...others from unexpected grapes such as Barbera. Others are labeled as Muscat Sylvaner (Sauv. Bl.) Pignola (P. Noir), Franconia etc. They do experiments with canopy, trellis and other vineyard management techniques ala Scott Henry, and I saw steel coated wood, temperature controlled, computer guided fermenters with unique (own design) settings for pumping over, micro-ox etc., etc. Zoltan Csonka is the winemaker. I liked the "Prime" and "Yellow Chapel" (Sarga Kapolna) label designated, premium brand and respectively single vineyard wines the most. Also liked the Barbera. Lovely dinner followed the tasting, a fine fair prepared by Master Chef Kalman Kalla (former Gundel and Washington Hungarian Embassy) and his son, Richard. A meal that made my colleague from Argentina cry.... carpaccio of smoked breast of goose, Balaton pike-perch so perfectly cooked, breast of chicken seasoned with paprika, duck liver of perfection and "vargabeles", sweet sponge cake with vanilla and raisins.... God, I love my job! Dishes were also paired with wines, of course... I liked the 2007 Fume Blanc with the chicken, 2007 P. Gris with pike-perch and the Sauv. Bl./ P. Gris Late Harvest with the dessert.
Other wines that I've tasted in Hungary recently, outside the X. Pannonhalmi Bormustra at dinner functions and gatherings that I was "moved" by...and would have scored them 89 - 90...and above...! See below.
1999 Villanyi Cabernet Sauvignon, Molnar - still youtful, soft black fruit, marachino, mint, cardamom, pencil shavings and flavoured tobacco, soft-sweet tannins, tiny dry heat on finish.
2002 Sessio, Konyari, Loliense - very elegant, fresh fieldberry aromatics mixed with fersh herbal and spicy notes.Loliense is the old name of Balatonlelle.
1999 Somloi Harslevelu, Gyorgykovacs - lemon preserve, leesy, mineral...almost salty, long sour quince finish.
2007 Kekfrankos, Eniko Luka, Sopron - ripe fruit, cherry-berry, spicy, fair amount of oak, but polished, well balanced acid - tannin. Stylish. Feininine...?
2007 Kekfrankos, Sauska, Villany - Very modern, but just outstanding. So pure fruit! Atypical maybe...?! Who cares!
2002 Szaraz Szamorodni, Hetszolo Dezsofi Kasately, Dessewtfy, Tokaj-Hegyalja - dry, marcipan, nutty, coconut with fruit pitt, yeasty - orange notes on its finish.
2000 Edes Szamorodni, Oremus, Tokaj-Hegyalja - just like a very good 5 Puttonyos!
Also tasted the 2002 Riesling Trocken Hochgewachs, Gobel-Schleyer, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer - wow! Stunning Riesling! And you know that I love Riesling! Sour lemon, bee's wax, white blossoms, wet slate - mineral, crisp and persistent.
And my first ever Fruhburgunder, a 2002 from Ahr - do not recall the name of producer...
These last two wines are obviously not Hungarian, but as they were seved to me by my gracious host and Bormustra's organizer, Zsolt Kalman, well, I was "forced" to drink them... Just like the great David Copp would say: "I really try to drink less nowadays!"...However, sometimes we just can't resist the temptation(s)! Amen!