Dec 16 2008
Syrah in Hungary?! Yes, your heard me right…
Well the world goes crazy or some people just follow a fashion pattern.
I mean a country with strong heritage to viticulture and wine making should not jump into deep water without knowing what’s in there (actually nobody should). Sure there is always room for experimenting and I would not deny, that in certain countries (like Italy or Spain just to name some traditional ones) some international varieties provide great benefit to the wine portfolio (in a blend or as varietal), but most of these are well judged. Planted at the right place for the right reasons and with a goal in mind. See the results…
Let’s see what Hungary does on it’s 50 ha Syrah/Shiraz plantings. I tasted the followings producers (mostly young vines, as the plantings are fairly recent) and came to this conclusion (full tasting notes have yet to be added): Nemeth (Matraalj), Takler (Szekszard), Vylyan (Villany), Szeremley (Balaton)…
Some Syrah did have the typicité at all, in some cases even it had nothing, fairly neutral a wine which you could have called anything but Syrah. Certainly, no body is going to make a Hermitage or Anderson Valley Syrah in Villány or Szekszárd but you must have a clear picture and answer of why and how. Well, every time I asked wine makers they either gave me either no reasons or the strange ones (just for colour, liked the spice). I could not demystify the purpose of the Syrah in the Hungarian vineyards.
Most of the times it’s also planted in the wrong location, together with early ripening varietals like Pinot Noir or Muscat Lunnel. If you’re a carpenter and you have to make a chair you cannot come up with a table instead. It’s really helpful if you know how a chair looks like, just to know it has 4 legs and its out of wood, does not bring you much further. Just because Syrah is a great grape and red wine can be made out of it, I still think it helps if you have tasted some other wines, possible around the world to get an idea and clear picture. I didn’t quite get the expression that the wine makers made an effort in doing that, at least the responds were unconvincing.
Further on I reckon in a country which has such a long and established -50 year communist rule imposed by the Russians, broke ruined a lot- wine history with such a number of native varities must not experiment with grape varities. Viogner, Chenin Blanc (and of course Syrah) just to name a few very new comers and where I feel things are out of touch.
However I´ll keep my eyes focused and my mind open if changes occur I´ll report. But in the mean time my attention belongs to other much more serious Hungarian wines as there is plenty of them.