“A wine which cannot tell a story while you drink it should not be called wine“

Quality Spanish wines in Württemberg, La bodega Mehlo. The combination with delicious Spanish, tapas food is crucial. “Call me on my first name”, the encounter. Home of great spirits, handcrafted rum and Cardinal Mendoza and massage in a chair

The Germans like to build things and they’re usually good at it too. Whether is makes sense is another question. There is this bridge over the Mosel which they have in planning and it could be well a disaster not only for the unique landscape but mainly for the vines, vineyards. But this should be another topic. chapter.

Stuttgart 21 is the project which tries to move the tracks from the main railway station several meters below the ground and make from the dead end terminus a through, transitive station saving time for the passengers. You can guess that this idea of having a huge construction site is not favoured by everyone, the money spent will be immense as well as traffic jams are yet to come not to mention other factors. The first very old trees are cut and much more is to come, the peoples protest is growing. The vineyards behind the station are at least not affected, not as at the Mosel.

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Day two, when the rain never stopped. Zero tolerance, beware! Where God left his hat – the big Somló + vintage chart. New impact in Mór, exciting. Grapes are more important then “terroir”?! From Tokaj to Tokaj, finishing with the best wine!

I shall start with a sort of public announcement. In Hungary there is “zero limit” when it comes to driving and alcohol, not a single drop is allowed. On Thursday night police was stopping every car (except the taxis’) coming down from the castle and you can guess the rest.

I felt like Noah. No, I didn’t get drunk in my tent but the rain did not stop for one minute in addition to this some cold wind assisted to make matters worse. Many of the wine houses remained closed, at least for a couple of hours. Despite there was a “house order”, you have to close at 23.00 (they stupidly force this) and open on time. It feels like in a high school dormitory, where you been told what to do. Certainly the customer is annoyed when he or she finds the wine house closed. But at the end of the day when you can afford the luxury to pay 500,000 HUF for a whole house (or 50% for the ½ ) and give 20% from the income to the organisations you might be old enough (or rich) to decide for yourself. Continue Reading »

Tasting wines from Eger the Demeter winery. Discovering Olaszrizling and the possibility it might be better in the Badacsony region as Rajnai. Or is it down to the clones and wine making techniques? Visiting the Carpathian basins’ wine region, going back to big Hungary. Finishing up with some exciting spirits, Brill Spirit House.

It was the 19^th annual wine festival in Buda. We became a habit (my translation) – is the general slogan and indeed over several days beside the main even (wine tasting), the line up included folk art, jazz and gyps music and much more. Special guest this year were Hungarian wineries from the Carpathian basin. Such as the Maurer winery from Serbia (Hajdújárás), Bott Frigyes from Slovakia or Balla Géza from Romania (Arad), etc. Continue Reading »

I just received some newsletter from “Wines of Uruguay” which also reminded me I should post my long due article on Tannat & Co. There is plenty of effort put in by the Wine Board of Uruguay to market their wines. They lunched recently a campaign representing 12 different wines (emphasizing Tannat) from leading wineries to show the different production and region. Continue Reading »

One day at the London Wine Fair (LIWSF) is just not enough. A lot of interesting wines, passionate producers, people from the trade, friends and much more. I met briefly Erich Krutzler originally from Austria today in charge with the Marof winery in Slovenia, he was enthusiastic about the changes and developments of his “new” country. On that day I missed out to visit Slovenian producers, wine makers and to taste their wine but was lucky enough to make up for this…

The Slovenia Trade & Press Tasting

It was a really exciting trade tasting, organized by Tina Cody and Jane Hunt MW, the subject: Slovenia. A welcome opportunity to focus on this rather new country to me. Well, when I say new, I remember my first Slovenian bottle of wine which I got as a present from the Polytechnic School of Celje, as a thank you for my work during the Alp-Adria symposium in 1999. I cannot recall what it was other then being a 0,5l bottle, sweet white wine with picture of a holy monk as label and the wine tasted delicious. Continue Reading »

Tags: slovenian wine

It was held at the Hungarian Cultural Centre at Convent Garden London, which belongs to the Hungarian state (but no passport is need it to enter the building). They were so kind to offer the place for free, great compliment for them. It was Gabor Cseke who recommended the place, he has done a trade tasting here before with success. Our aim was different this time, approaching the general public, consumer who are interested in Hungarian wines. A free tasting with guidance, 10 wines from different regions and different varieties with no particular theme in mind, just being unique. Hungary is unique, so are the wines.

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Tags: hungarian wine house london

AUTHOR: DR. ROBERT CEY-BERT

The anxiety over the Tokaji ASZÚ

The prestige of the Tokaji Aszú is on the line and the Hungaricum name

Revised edition of: Tokaji or Tokajsky? Of course only Tokaji!

With the sub titels

SOS TOKAJI WINES

Attacks against the prestigious Hungarian origin of Tokaji wines

Since centuries is the Tokaji Aszú wine the most well known Hungarian product in Europe, it recalls on the highest level of prestige and with the elevated aromas and flavours the Hungarian values. Only very few nations have a similar product with such a prestige, certainly France has its fantastic Champagne, which is throughout the world associated with success, victory, celebration and the elegance of the aristocracy.

Tokaji Aszú is an exceptional royal liquid (according to Louis XIV: „King of wines the wine of kings”), the beverage of the principality, the roots date back to the XVI. century Hungarian Royal aristocracy, to the values of the noblemen’s cuisine. The Tokaji Aszú wine from the XVII. century was one of the most sought after products from the Hungarian Kingdom in the European Royal Courts. Through centuries the fame and reputation of the Tokaji Aszú was attached to Hungary, it favoured the good reputation of Hungary, similar to Champagne which was the prestigious product of France, it referred to the elevated French lifestyle.

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Stunning architecture from outside, impressive cellar from the inside, high-tech modern equipment, state of the art winery, great wines with personality. Summarizing in one sentence Cos in the Saint Estéphe commune of Bordeaux.

“When you get to the elephant, the gate will open automatically.” A quote from the Bordeaux Chateaux book by Flammarion, I really had to smile when I read this. It’s more then just the –usual- wow effect, when you get to the estate, you could wonder if perhaps you went through a “star gate” and got teleported to a to a different country or simply a different planet all together. The place has a distinct Oriental flair, with the pagodas, palm trees and the garden, a fusion of architecture from the East and chateaux like fortification. And this fairly tale of design which could well be in Ali Baba and the forty thieves a scene was just the outside. Continue Reading »

Tags: cos estournel, gravity

Just a week ahead of the general election in Hungary the embassies abroad hold their poll. As I´m on my way off to London and I have nothing better to do I glance through the programs of the major parties (who´re most likely to make it into the parliament).

Wine is not exempt from politics, they sign of the bills which affect wine makers, people in the trade and at the very end consumer as well. Just a few weeks ago was the duty increase in the UK, making it difficult to sell wine to the prior prices and not loosing on the margins. While prices are rather done by producers (accept to see sometimes strange wine pricing) in Hungary, nevertheless VAT is high (25%) and a lot of other taxes imposed on the business come into play.
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Tags: election

I had the pleasure to taste some of the 2009 vintages before the official future, en primeur campaign got on its way. A quick note on some of the tasted 09’ with the MW students (more notes from 09’ will follow).
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Tags: en primeur 2009