I wasn´t a fan of sparkling wine in the past due to that I just didn’t understand it and tried the wrong one’s. My time in London, -the Champagne and wine capital of the world- changed my point of view dramatically yet it set standards very high as well.

I remember back in Hungary I tried to avoid any connection of sparkling wine as I just could not understand any of them. Was this due to lack of experience and knowledge? Probably but almost certainly I also did not taste a lot of the “right” stuff.
Yet since I tasted some of the greatest Champagnes, visited the region and had some other outstanding sparkling wines from around the world, specially England, I certainly extended my knowledge and experience and became very much a fan of good sparkling wine made according to the traditional method. I shall just mention that there is plenty of stunning examples out there made according not the traditional method (e.g. transfer, tank, etc.) too.

But here and now I shall focus on the Hungarian sparkling wines produced mainly according to the traditional method which boosts the highest quality results if applied correctly.

During my studies at the Hungarian Wine College we paid the Garamvári Estate (Vinarium Inc.) a visit in Buda, they make the Chateau Vincent brand. Vencel Garamvári a man with knowledge on sparkling wine well equipped facilities and cellar certainly came across as a person who knows his stuff and back at that time I did appreciate the sparkling wines despite my limited knowledge. Some years latter we did catch up again in London at the Royal Opera House during the Annual Hungarian Wine Tasting and he scratched on his images of wisdom when he tried to explain that most German Rieslings smell after petrol, but when I asked what did he taste, he could not mention any producer. However, I shall write about his sparkling wines in a moment more.

There are some places in Hungary which provides good conditions to make base wine for sparkling wine production. Limestone, chalky soil, cool temperatures are the main factors beside many other aspects. Looking around the Hungarian wine regions there are limited numbers of regions which provide a good foundation. I would certainly list the Buda-Etyek wine region as it’s the home base for the biggest sparkling wine company Törley and Hungarian sparkling wine history started here as well. More in a moment.

In the northern Ászár – Neszmély region, limestone and chalk is present, cool climate conditions can provide good acidity in the wines. Chardonnay the leading grape variety but also sparkling wines out of Riesling could be an interesting discovery. Yet I have not tasted any fine sparkling wine from this area despite that conditions might sound promising.

Balatonboglár (use to be called South Balaton wine region, actually) became famous as wine region because of the BB company, biggest wine producer in the area. Sandy loess is the predominant soil variety, neither the soil nor the climate is convincing for quality sparkling wine. Back to Chateau Vincent for a minute, as they actually get the base wine from Balatonlelle, hence from this region.

Things which I do not quite understand. How is it possible to plant Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon all in one place, basically? Somebody must be the black sheep and does not belong there. Just look around the world and the given examples, simple! He makes correct sparkling wines yet I personally believe that if he would have base wines from areas with higher acidity content he could achieve far greater sparkling wines. I did miss the zipp in most of them tasted back in 2008 and 2007 and also the autolysis character despite that he leaves them fairly long on the lees. The tasted sparkling wine samples were: Evolution Rosé 2005 (bit of residual sugar, 14 months lees- pleasant), Prestige Brut (medium body, low autolysis, simple) and in 2007 Extra Brut 2002 and Don Giovanni 2002 (very ripe yet medium weight). As I said there is far more potential in the Vinarium Winery.

Back to the Etyek-Buda wine region and in a tick to the Törley company. To put it in a simple sentence the part which is closer to Budapest (or Buda) makes the better wines (include Etyek for sure) in general. From the sparkling point of view this is also true. Budafok (Promontor) limestone and dolomite (coming into Buda hills you see a lot of it), Budajenö, Tök, Telki all rich in limestone, and sandy soil. The major grape varieties include Chardonnay, Zöld Veltelini (Grüner Veltliner), Sauvignon Blanc and of course Olaszrizling (Welschriesling). Very little red grape varieties mainly Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon. The region talks more acidity then body. The average annual temperatures around 9-11°C and the average rainfall is between 400-800 mm. Overall cooler then most parts of Hungary.

The area around Budafok (vineyards and cellars included) are the birth place for Hungarian sparkling wine production. It was here were József Törley moved his production of sparkling wine from Reims to Promontor (Budafok). The limestone soil (some of it went into the construction of Parliament building) seemed to be ideal and a huge underground cellar system was established. It´s called to be the largest in Europe, over 25 km long, still existing but unfortunately rather difficult to visit.

According to the facts the Törley sparkling wine was very popular all over Europe. Today Törley is the leading brand on the Hungarian market when it comes to sparkling wines. Very little is produced in the dry (brut) style as it seems the Hungarian market rather demands inexpensive to mid priced and sweet sparkling wines (demi sec, doux). Hence if you walk into a supermarket and take a sparkling wine from the shelf you´re most likely to have a sweet one in your flute/glass and to be honest not more then basic sparkling wine. Please wine makers convince me that I´m wrong!

Summary
Overall there is a long way to go for the Hungarian sparkling wine to come even close to the rest of the world. Despite the fact that there are some fantastic terroir meant for sparkling wine (e.g. Buda, Neszmély) available. Consumers have to demand better quality else there will be no will power from the wine maker side to improve. The request above goes to the people of Hungary as well, please demand better sparkling wine!

As I failed to find any Hungarian sparkling wine which would have met my expectations I turned to a lovely 5 puttonyos Aszú from 1999 Tállya, Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region to sweeten New Years Eve.
Happy New Year!

Tags: sparkling

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