Where should I start? Don’t even know my self, the news came just out last week, the Hungarian Marketing Board has trouble to finance their work and most of their employees resigned and it looks like the end of the Marketing Board if something doesn’t changes, quickly. Dark clouds hanging over the wine marketing situation, once again. It took so long to get some people behind it, to make things happen, financing the whole idea. While other countries advancing, bounding unity and putting a good effort in communicating nationally and internationally their wines, Hungary would make a step backwards if they do not pursuit to be successful in communication and marketing.  Continue Reading »

Tags: communication, marketing

This was the title for the first trade tasting held in London, or to be precise trade and consumer tasting. To summarize the event in one word: well done. This would be actually two words, the venue was magnificent, great producers and everything was just perfect. Decanter, Tokaj Renaissance, Wines of Hungary and ITD Hungary the sponsors for this well organized tasting.

Celebration of 20 years, the new “Tokaji” if you like could have been another title too. After 1989 a lot of new investment hit the wine region, after the Soviet Union collapsed, fall of the iron curtain, Hungary was once again free, so where the wines as well. Independent thinking and quality wine making got re-introduced in this probably one of the oldest wine regions in the world, Tokaj-Hegyalja.
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20/10/2009 Annual Grand Crus de Bordeaux (2007), London Opera House

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Furmint is under the top 5 white grape varieties when it comes to quality wine making in the world.

Today there are only 2 major wine regions in Hungary who produce varietal dry Furmint. It is the primary grape in Tokaj-Hegyalja and a very important grape in the region of Somló. Said this there are other regions like the Zala (Balatonmelléke) which does produce some Furmint and the northern side of the Lake Balaton, like Badacsony and the Balaton Highlands (Balatonfelvidék). It used to be the major white grape variety around the lake (mainly Northern side) until the end of 19. century but phyloxera and then later the communist reign changed a lot. Olaszrizling (Welschriesling) replaced the Furmint at the Balaton and almost got extinct at Somló as well. But slowly, more and more producers realize that it is one thing to have Chardonnay, which by the way is all over the world now, but to do something unique is rather exciting and in for a noble cause comes with it. Dr. Sándor Tóth from the Balaton Highland agreed and pointed out, that back 60 years ago the best sites had Furmint planted and the so called Main Wine (Főbor) was made out of Furmint. Continue Reading »

Thought on the grape, the wine, history and culture. Kékfrankos also known under the name of Blaufränkisch in Austria and Lemberger in Germany, occasionally Limburger overseas.

During the annual Wine Festival in the Buda Castle several seminars were held, one of them was around the grape Kékfrankos and its wine, focusing on the wine region of Sopron. It is the flagship wine of the Sopron wine region as Zsolt Rigler head of the Sopron Wine Region Marketing Board pointed it out. It has or rather had many different names in Hungary as well, not so long ago it was called Nagy Burgundi, Great Burgundy suggesting that it might be of French origin, perhaps. Count Széchenyi posed some land in France he could have probably exported the grape to France. In the district of Zala is used to be called Oporto, according to Zsolt. Continue Reading »

Taschner Kurt

Pfneiszl

Weninger

Luka Enikö

Ákos István

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Without doubt Napa Valley is THE place for Cabernet Sauvignon in the US, within this, the Mondavi Winery is the bench mark, not only when it comes to history and Cabernets with some age but also setting a trend and progress.
It was Mark de Vere Master of Wine who was our guide for the day at the Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville.

Robert Mondavi could be probably called the father of modern Californian wines. He certainly put California on the wine map, mainly with his Cabernet Sauvignons. The Robert Mondavi and the joint venture by Robert Mondavi and Baroness Philippine de Rothschild; Opus One is owned by Constellation today, one of the leading global brands and marketers of wine and other beverages. Continue Reading »

Tags: mark de vere, mondavi, opus one

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Istvan Szepsy plays in a totally different league and can not to be compared to any other wine maker in Hungary. His determination and vision is guiding him on the path to make the best wine, he gets into to so much detail one can almost possible not imagine.
I personally get sometimes the feeling he is guided by some sort of power or energy which is hard to explain. He is the leader not only in the wine region of Tokaj but also for Hungary. Continue Reading »

The best of the Nahe wines have the minerality but with a bold fruit character and volcanic spice like character and good acidity. Diversity is huge, and thanks to the fact that more and more single vineyard wines are emerging, there is a revelation going on, a real deal. The days are over when Nahe wines had to use a different wine regions name to sell their wines. One of the most fantastic single vineyard sites with a lot of history and great quality is the Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle.

It had always a good reputation starting already in the 16. century. It used to have a very close connection to the State Domaine of Schlossböckelheim. According to the tax chart which was drawn back in 1901, Hermannshöhle was taxed with 600 silvergroschen, comparing the lower sites had to pay 15, only. Highest reputation was already granted by the finance ministry.
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Tags: niederhäuser hermannshöhle