Bitch Moan and Wine (unofficially Treehugger Dan's and Bottlehugger Ben's Wine Society for connoisseurs and complainers). Why spend so much for a bottle of wine retail when you can get it discounted from your favourite purveyors of books, Fair Trade coffee, city tours and bike rentals. A huge selection of the best wines Hungary has to offer, along with some cheap but good plunk. Throughout the year we host regular wine tastings, seasonal selections, promotions, and a good 5% off regular retail prices. Our wine tastings promote local, and usually smaller producers of quality Hungarian wine, as well as local producers of gourmet food in the Slow Food tradition. Our creativity and fun wine tastings make us the fun bunch to enjoy the evening out and learn a thing or two while enjoying the company of many old and new friends. For more information: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Some of our wine tastings have featured:

• Sauska Vineyard (Villany) read about the event here
• Tamas Gere (Villany) one of the most talked about wineries in Hungary.
• Baron von Twickel Vineyard (Szekszard)read about the event here
• Heumann Winery 
• Lenkey Pinceszet (Mád) read about the event here
• Agancsos Vineyard  (Villany) read about the event here
  
• Abraham Vineyard (Erdőbénye) read about the event here
• Hilltop Vineyard (Neszmely) read about the event here
• Kvassay Vineyards (Villany) one of the youngest wine makers in the country. He is new, fresh and an up and coming wine maker whom dares to impress and take on the
  older competition. Already making a name for himself in wine competitions. Among the big Villany names Kvassay walked away with a prize for his 2008 Portugieser, as he had done earlier for his Rosé. read more about the event here
  
• Karadi & Berger Vineyards read about the event here
• Csaba Szeremley (Szentbékkálla, Balaton) read about the event here
• Scottish whiskey tasting from the Caledonia Pub
• Árendás Pince (Muzsla, Slovakia). Young wine maker Zsolt Árendás currently plys his trade in one of the best wine areas of Slovakia. His cellar is located in Muzsla which is just across the Danube from Esztergom.  read about the event here

• 								Carsten Schneider (Koeroeshegy, Balaton) read about the event here
  	

SKP Bonbon exclusive handmade chocolates. SKP Bonbon hand-make their chocolates from preservative-free imported Belgian chocolate Some of their offerings include a melt-in-your-mouth truffle covered in crushed cranberry leaves, and rum truffles filled with real Puerto Rican rum. Hajos u. 14, 1067 Budapest. Tel: 70-557-2670. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

David Wilkinson's Homemade Sausages. The Wilkinson family has been producing prize-winning sausages in Yorkshire for over 50 years. In 2005, David Wilkinson started to produce British sausages in Budapest - with a meat content of over 80%, Grade-A pork, and produced in state-of-the-art facilities. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , tel: 30-855-7165

Essencia Cooking School

Table Tom offers Dutch cheeses to the Hungarian market, and Hungarian cheeses to the Dutch. Including Dutch cheeses from Remeker ,Saanenhof , Stolwijk and Zoeterwoude. read more about the event here

Istvan the "Cheese Guy" (Hunyadi ter Market)

"Kitchen from Mars" (Mars Beli Bolt) Home orders and offering daily mix and match pick as you like menus from simple lunches to complete take home ready made meals based on high quality food products created fresh daily.  

Mascalzone Latino Restaurant is a little intimate family run non-smoking restaurant in the Castle District of Budapest, opened in September 2008 by Italian Chef Giuseppe Mosti and his wife Alessandra. Mascalzone Latino Étterem wants its customers to feel at home, with friendly service and traditional Italian dishes made with fresh seasonal ingredients. Address: Donáti u. 40-42, 1015 Budapest Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Phone: +36 1 201 0084 Mobile: +36 20 940 4213 Open: from 12.00 to 14.30 and from 18.30 to 22.30, Tuesday to Saturday 

Artesano Tapas Bar and Restaurant offers an array of rustic dishes from different regions of Spain including specialties from Galicia, Basque, Andalucia, and Valencia. Sergio, the Spanish-Uruguayan chef, guarantees the quality of the original ingredients, the prepared dishes, and most importantly, diner satisfaction. Choose from an extensive Spanish wine menu the wines that best compliment your meal. 1066 Budapest, Ó utca 24-26. Tel: 688 1696, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 Treehugger Dan's Wine Reviews

26 Wines in 4 Hours

Funzine organised a wine tasting for opinion makers with Marci Csillag, one of the owners of lovely M Restaurant and his business partner Laci. I was lucky enough to be counted as one of these people. It was fun evening, and well organised. Besides the wine, there was lots of excellent fresh bread (though I would go with the non-herbal variety next time), soda water from siphons, eggplant cream, cheeses, walnuts and pate.The big spittoons were beautifully done in a folk Hungarian style. When I received the invitation, I understood it was to taste 6-7 wines from the Lessner Vineyard. When I discovered they did not have a web presence, I did not think much of it and kept an open mind. It turns out, Lessner is a branch of Marci's family, and the name of the company that will now begin dealing with wine through the Sexardicum wine cellar at Krudy Gyula u.6. The wine cellar almost exclusively deals with wines from Szekszard, but we tasted wines from many regions - 26 of them to be exact, in 4 hours! I hope they decide to stock with from the Fritz Vineyard also, one of my favorites in Szekszard. The company was a mix of foreigners living in Hungary and Hungarians that live abroad. It was great fun hearing the mix of German, Dutch, French, English and Hungarian flying across the table, and everyone for the most part being able to follow what was going on.

Of the 26 wines, I only recognised a couple vineyards on the list. The ones I knew, like Szeleshat, Mayer, Matias and Csutoras I have tasted before and liked a lot, so I was very much looking forward to them. Strangely, these wines ranked very low on the quality and enjoyment scale last night.

Scale 1-10, 10 being the highest:

White Wines:
1. Irsai Oliver 2010, Matias Vineyard, Villany. I really like Irsai, but this was nothing special, just OK, and too pearish for my taste. Their Cabernet Franc was not bad last year.
Score: 4

2. Cserszegi Fuszeres 2010, Bendek Peter Vineyard, Matra. Nice fresh nose, not herbal (fuszres) as it should be, more like an Italian rizling. A bit too sweet. Benedek was recently hired as the wine maker for the very good Grof Buttler Vineyard http://www.grofbuttler.hu/ in Eger. Try Grof Buttler's amazing Pinot Noir 2006 Nagy Eged-hegy!
Score: 5

3. Nyari Odon Cserszegi Fuszeres 2010, Badacsony, Szt. Gyorgy Hegy. Pear scent, does not taste like cserszegi fuszeres.
Score: 4

4. Benedek Chardonnay 2010, Matra. Very good, perhaps too sweet for a chardonnay though. Powerful apple cider nose.
Score: 7

5. Nyari Odon Chardonnay 2009, Badacsony. Beautiful golden color, neutral without much distinctive character, but with a nice acidic aftertaste. Very good.
Score: 7

6. Nyari Odon Italian Rizling 2010, Badacsony. Good.
Score: 5

7. Csutoras Lyukalatti Leanyka 2010, Eger. Csutoras was a pretty hot vineyard a couple years ago for its Golden Football Team (Arany Csapat) series of wines , but something has clearly gone wrong.
Score: 2

7/a. Csutoras Lyukalatti Leanyka 2009, Eger. Only slightly better. Proved the first one was not corked, just bad.
Score: 3

8. Dorogi Koverszollo 2009, Tokaj. An ancient Hungarian variety of grape recently reintroduced and usually kept for late harvest sweet wines. This dry wine is unique, but the grape must scent does not make up for the wierd flavor.
Score: 3

9. Nobilis Birtokbor 2009, Tokaj, Furmint and Harslevelo cuvee. OK, slightly odd flavor, but it could have been the peppery eggplant cream I had.
Score: 4

10. Szollosi Magnus Cuvee 2006, Neszmely, Sauvignon Blanc-Chardonnay. Yes, there are two vineyards in Neszmely, not just Hilltop. Sweet, late harvest nose.
Score: 8

Rose Wines:

11. Osteros Pinot Noir-Merlot Rose 2010. Blech!
Score: 2

12. Nemeth Janos Vineyard, Kekfrankos Rose 2010, Szekszard. Fizzy, petroleum scent, liquorice flavor.
Score: 3

Red Wines

13. Markvart Kadarka 2009, Szekszard. Good deep meaty scent. Could be a bit drier.
Score: 8.5

14. Bosz Adrian Kekfrankos 2008, Szekszard. Nose like a Kadarka, mulberry aftertaste?
Score: 4

15. Csutoras Kekfrankos '68 2008, Eger. Nothing special, but good. Too light, too dry.
Score: 5/6

16. Szeleshat K2 Kekfrankos 2008, Szekszard. OK for a Kadarka, but it is supposed to be a Kekfrankos. Better to go with their 2007 Merlot.
Score: 4

17. Fekete Mihaly Zweigelt 2008, Szekszard. Very dark for a Zweigelt, meaty like a Kadarka.
Score: 5

18. Mayer Szent Bertalan 2009, Villany. Cuvee of Zweigelt and Merlot. I have had some truly excellent Mayer wines, but this one both smells and tastes like my wet musty towel after being kept in a plastic bag all day.
Score: 1

20. Kis Gabor Kodex 2009, Villany. Cuvee of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Portugeiser and Kekfrankos. Nicely dry, good table wine.
Score: 6

21. Bosz Adrian, Cabernet Franc 2008. Nice and spicy and dry.
Score: 6.5

22. Csutoras Bikaver 2008, Eger.
Score: 4

23. Nemeth Porkolab 2008, Szekszard. 40% Merlot, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon. 15% alcohol. A bit sweet.
Score: 7.5

Dessert Wines

24. Lenkey November 2004, Mad, Tokaj. Late harvest Harslevelu and Furmint. Sweet kiwi, a very good desert wine. They keep on doing it right. See our Bitch Moan and Wine tasting with them here.
Score: 8

25. Lenkey Aszu 6 Puttonyos 2003. A raisin nectar/essence.
Score: 9

A Wine Tasting at Borvin

Bottlehugger Ben and I recently checked out some possible new wines to be served at Treehugger events. Our friendly host was Budai Victoria of Bonvin at Izabella u. 81. The shop has a wide selection of wines and some Italian cheeses. I pleased that Bonvin provided for a proper wine tasting - some crackers, water, and a caraffe to pour the uninbibed wine into. We tried 7 wines:

Bitch Moan and Wine Tasting: Before the Holidays Wine Bash! Heumann and Karadi-Berger Vineyards

Oszvald with Truffles at Doblo

The Doblo Wine Bar has kicked off the new wine tasting season with the Oszvald Vineyard from Somlo at the
western foot of Bakony. The evening also promised truffle treats from the chefs at Arany Szarvas Restaurant. The Oszvald Pincészet began in 1984 in Balatoncsicsó and then continued on 13.5 hectares of Somló Hill since 1998. After a slow start ( my companions had skipped dinner), the wine tasting began with 4 barrel samples, followed by 5 bottled wines, all white.
2008 Olaszrizling hordominta
2008 Juhfark hordominta
2008 Harslevelu hordominta
2008 Furmint hordominta
2008 Olaszrizling
2008 Juhfark
2008 Harslevelu
2008 Furmint
1998 Juhfark
While my companions quite liked the 2008 Olaszrizling hordominta, I found it too sour for my taste. The Harslevelu hordominta had a strong raisin nose, but this was not evident in the flavor. The 1998 Juhfark was
reminiscent of a Tokaj aszu. We all agreed that the 2008 Juhfark hordominta was by far the best wine of evening, followed by the other Juhfarks. Oszvald wines retail for between 2200-3200 Huf (way overpriced, as usual in the Hungarian market). The truffle-enhanced snacks were very well presented, heavy on the meat possibilities. Owner David Popovits was nice enough and quick to get me a plate of vegetarian options. There were some sandwhiches, tortilla wrap slices, sausage, carrots and kohlrabi in dip, mini cream cheese sandwhiches, all flavoured with truffle. The highlight for me were the crackers slathered with onion-truffle jam.

Visit to the Ikon Vineyard in Radpuszta.

One of the founders of this 39 hectare vineyard is well-known vintner Janos Konyari. The place is in the middle of nowhere it seems, so that when you turn the corner your eyes bug out at the magnificence of the building. It looks like the outside of an arena, and you feel ready to go see a football game or a U2 concert instead of a wine tasting. Walking through the gate you are confronted with a gleaming elevator and a line large wooden double doors. The first on the left reveals endless curving rows of wine casks, following the curvature of the building. The next, gleaming fermentation vats, and so on. It is truly an amazing sight. On the second and third floors, the company's offices are furnished with items from old Hungarian pharmacies, complete with those cabinets with 101 drawers. At last at the top you get the view and see what you are really in. The building does not complete the circle, but instead embraces a hill planted with grapes. The view on the other side is Lake Balaton.  The wine tasting was held on this top floor, and included 6 wines from 2007. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Rose, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet-Merlot.  For all the investment, the tasting itself lacked some of the attention to detail one would expect. There were no carafes of water to rinse your glasses, nor was there a carafe to empty wine from your glass if for example you were driving and just wanted to sip the wine for a taste. I preferred, and bought bottles of the Chardonnay and Cabernet-Merlot, while my companions preferred the Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Franc. On another occasion, I recently tried Ikon's Kekfrankos, and while not quite as good yet as the Maltinkszky, Vincze Bela or Vesztergombi, it was right up there.   I am very much looking forward to tasting this year's Syrah.

In the early 1990's János Konyári brought his first wines to market, and was the first winemaker in Hungary to use the barrique technique. Barrique is a French word which means a barrel of 224 liters (59.18 gallons) as well as an old French method of aging wines in new (barrique-sized) casks. The wine absorbs tannin and aromatic oils from the new wood that make the taste fresher and slightly tart. The legend is that the process was discovered inadvertently: during a "boom" of exporting French wines to the English, the dealers ran out of properly "vinified" casks and began to ship their wines in new ones - and found to their surprise that some wines actually benefited from the treatment. Both full-bodied red and white wines can benefit from this treatment. Red wines are aged only in new oak casks, while both oak and acacia may be used for white wines. Controlled aging in new barrels takes anywhere from one to three years depending on the type of wine and its vintage. A barrel may be used twice. Depending on the type of wine and the length of the controlled aging, the first batch can produce a very intense barrique flavour that some find too sharp. The second batch of barrique wine is more mellow and balanced. http://www.matkurja.com/projects/wine/labeling/official/by_method.html

Through the use of barrique, Konyari proved that South Balaton could also produce excellent wines from blue grapes. Konyari's original vineyard and wine cellar from 1757 is located in Balatonlelle on Kishegy, and produces about 200,000 bottles a year from 30 hectares. Konyari was voted Winemaker of the Year in  2008.

The labels are very nice, reminiscent of Klimt paintings

On May 29th, Bitch Moan and Wine headed back to Villany, sampling wines from the new but very large Sauska Vineyard. We tasted:

Chardonnay (green label) 2007 - 3180 Ft
Yellow-golden hued with shades of green flashes. A vibrant bouquet of tropical fruits and flower fragrances, well-integrated wood. It is a focused, full, but energetic Chardonnay with good balance, delicious acids and a long after-taste.

Rosé Cuvée 2008 - 1470 Ft
A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Kékfrankos making a vibrant, fresh, and intense wine; strawberry and elderberry flowers for a bouquet while the taste buds swirl with flavors of red oranges and red grapefruit.  Fresh, nice, sweet, clean, bright and fruity with a vivid sense of acids.

Portugieser 2008 - 1890 Ft
A ‘must' in any Villány winery portfolio, this one has a deep magenta color with hints of fresh strawberry, sweet and sour cherry, and bits of bergamot and anise resulting in a blend of forest fruits for a good texture and a long vivid finish.

Cuvée 13 - 2008 - 2970 Ft
A blend of 56% Syrah, 29% Cabernet Franc, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon gives this wine a bright red/purple color with a distinct mix of spicy and fruity flavors. The bouquet is fully open to a variety of aromas from black currants to plums, with hints of white and black pepper. Great body allowing for a ripe fruity and spicy experience, a pleasant finish and bold young tannin taste.

Kékfrankos 2007 - 3840 Ft
Aged 8 months in new French oak (30%) and used French oak (70%) and bottled in June 2008, this wine has a warm purple color with violet tones. Ripe field strawberries and rose hips complete the bouquet while the alcohol-acid balance is good. The long-lasting finish, combined with tones of vanilla and gentle tannins from the new French oak barrels makes this a very special wine indeed.

Cuvée 7 2006 - 6900 Ft
Blend of 41% Merlot, 59% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged for 15 months, 100% in new barrels (97% French, 3% American oak). Possesses a deep red purple color with scents of black fruits and cherry mingling with anise. Flavors of black cherry, dark chocolate, black pepper, and graphite extrude from a dense core just starting to reveal the full potential and depth of this wine.  It is a very meaty and ripe wine, the sweet tannins persist, creating a long and pleasant finish.

I was disappointed with the Rose and Cuvee 13, but loved the Cuvee 7, and enjoyed the Chardonnay. The Cuvee 7 is one of the best wines I have tasted, and it is going to be even better in a couple years. I just wish a bottle did not cost a mint. I know the Sauska rose was voted the second best in the country recently by Decanter Magazine, but in my opinion the Tachner and the Agancsos are far better.

SKP Bonbon provided a sampling of their exclusive handmade chocolates for tasting, including bonbons specially filled with Sauska Cuvee 7! Kriszta also gave a demonstration of the chocolate making art. The dark belgian chocolate chips were melted to 35 degrees, then spread on a cool marble slab to let to cool to 32 when the chocolate begins to re-crystallize. The form is banged a few times for the air bubbles to rise. The form is banged and then flipped upside down so that some chocolate dribbles out and leaves hollow chocolate forms in the tray. This chocolate is then mixed with a filling of cream and other desirables, and spread back into the tray where it hardens. SKP Bonbon hand-make their chocolates from preservative-free imported Belgian chocolate Some of their offerings include a melt-in-your-mouth truffle covered in crushed cranberry leaves, and rum truffles filled with real Puerto Rican rum. While the Cuvee 7 filled bonbons were great, but the the black truffle and balsamic vinegar dark chocolate bonbons were AMAZING. Hajos u. 14, 1067 Budapest. Tel: 70-557-2670. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

After only one year on the market, Sauska seems to be the vineyard to watch. They also produce Tokaj wines under the ....label. The vineyard has an annual capacity to produce 1700-2500 hectoliters of wine, and 1500 225 liter barrels in the wine cellar. The wines are aged in these American and French dried oak barrels for 3 years.

Sauska's webpage and labeling are beautiful in their simplicity, but the wine prices would be useful.

Sauska Pincészet
7773. Villány
048/10 hrsz. E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,Tel: +36 72 592 120, Fax: +36 72 592 -121

Bitch Moan and Wine: The Abraham Vineyard and Mascalzone Latino.

Monday, May 4, 2009

The family venture began in Erdőbény as a hobby in 1997 by Eniko Abraham and Robert Peter. The property was bought outright in 2006. The cellar is centrally located in the Tokaj wine region at the foot of the Zemplen Mountains, about equidistant (20km) from Szerencs, Tokaj and Sárospatak. In their 3-branched cellar they have a 350 hectoliter capacity. This is a "working cellar." You will not find candlelit tables and tourists, just plain joy to show you around the cellars and introduce you to the quality wines. Wine tasting, with some exceptions, is free. The grapes are grown on 9 hectares including the Szegilongi Gyertyános dűlő, the Mádi Kakas dűlő and the Bodrogkeresztúri Lapis dűlő. Each wine (several types of Furmint, Aszu and Harslevelo) is made in a limited series.

We tried the following
-Hárslevelű 2008 dry Palánkos, limited series - 2600 Ft
-Furmint dry 2008 - 1820 Ft
-Furmint semisweet 2007 Kerektölgyes vineyard, barrique, limited series - 3120 Ft
-Furmint 2007 half dry Kakas selected harvest, limited series 3640 Ft
-Furmint 2007 reservé (reserve wine) Kakas (very sweet) - 5200 Ft
-Aszúessence 2000 (very sweet) - 13000 Ft

Of these, strangely enough I say my favourite was the dry Furmint 2008. I first tried a Furmint in 1990 - my first introduction to the famous Tokaj wines. I disliked it so much that I did not try dry OR sweet Tokaj again for 10 years or more. After years of drinking primarily heavy dry reds, my taste is coming around to appreciating the dry white Furmint and Harslevelu wines.

Mascalzone Latino provided some nice little bruschettas and toasts with mascarpone cheese, along with my Achilles heel, those Italian almond cookies.

Ábrahám Vineyard, Erdőbénye, 3932, Rákóczi utca 1.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , tel: 06-70-365-9087 or 0-670-570-8496 http://abrahampince.com/

Mascalzone Latino, Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Phone: +36 1 201 0084 Mobile: +36 20 940 4213 Open: from 12.00 to 14.30 and from 18.30 to 22.30, Tuesday to Saturday)

Wine tasting in the Pantry

My friend Jeroen's family is in town this week, and he asked the Bitch Moan and Wine Society to organise a private wine tasting for them. We held the tasting at The Spajz (The Pantry) nearby on Lazar u. This restaurant does a passable cold menu of avocado cream, eggplant cream, sausages and other typical Hungarian treats, but the ambiance is what to go for. The place is decorated like a typical Hungarian pantry with hanging sausages, jars of various pickled vegetables and fruits, and everything else you might find in grandma's spajz. Bea from Discover Budapest kept us expertly entertained with stories about the wine and wine regions. For this wine tasting we went for an around-Hungary tour:

• Borbély Családi Vineyard http://www.borbelypince.hu/index.php - Jufark
• Szöllosi Vineyard http://www.szollosipinceszet.hu/ - Irsai Olivér
• Gróf Degenfeld Szolobirtok http://degenfeld.hu/ -Muscat Lunel (half-dry)
• Taschner http://www.taschnervin.hu/ - Rosé
• Malatinszky Kúria http://www.malatinszky.hu/eng/eng_index.htm - Kékfrankos (dry red)
• Vincze Béla http://www.vinczepinceszet.hu/ - Egri Bikavér Birtokbor (dry red)
• Bock József http://www.bock.hu/index.php - Ermitage Cuveé (dry red)
• Kardi Berger Selectio Tokaj (very sweet dessert wine)

The family was very pleased with the wines Bottlehugger Ben chose, but seemed particularly fond of the Irsai Oliver, Ermitage Cuvee and Tokaj Selectcio. The Maltinszky Kekfrankos and Vincze Bela Egri Bikaver remain two of my favourite mid-range wines, but I was impressed with the Gróf Degenfeld Szolobirtok Muscat, and especially the Bock József Ermitage Cuvee. I think Bela Vincze's Egri Bikaver is the best I have ever had, while Baron von Twickel's is perhaps the worst (I poured it down the sink after one sip).

March 29, 2009 Bitch Moan and Wine Society Wine Tastings featured Zoltan and Eva Kovacs of the Agancsos Vineyard

in Villany. We heard about these folks from our friends and regular wine tasting guests Erika and Paresh who had visited their wine cellar earlier in the month and raved about the wines and how friendly the people were. Even so, we went into it a bit blind, but were very pleased with the wines on offer, as were our 50+ guest. We tasted the following wines:

Rosé Cuvée 2008 The fresh and crispy aspects of a Blaufrankish, lightness of a Portugieser and the fragrance of aPinot Noir makes this rosé unforgattable. Best served with summer barbecue food served at 8-10 °C.

Portugieser 2008 This is the wine for a friendly gathering with its deep red colour, fragrances and its smooth silkiness. Best served at 14 °C with typical Hungarian dishes.

Kánon Cuvée 2004 The harmony of silky tannin content and bouquet of ripe fruits defines this fine blended wine of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc completed with the main characteristics of both kinds.
Best served at 16 °C

Kékfrankos 2007 A ruby Blaufrankish with the reminiscent of sour cherry aromas and strong flavors. Best served at 16 °C with game and venison.

Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 A rich bouquet of pomegranate and deep red with hints of fresh forest fruits. Best to enjoy it at 18°C with mushrooms and venison based dishes

Cabernet Franc Barrique 2003 The most precious barrique wine of the winemaker was aged in a barrel for 18 months. Best to have it at 18-20 °C with camembert and game and venison dishes

They also produced a Pinot Noir for the first time this year.

Although all the wines were good, my favourite had to be the Rose Cuvee, and Zoltan confessed it was also his personal favourite. My other favourite was on the opposite end of the wine and cost spectrum, the Cabernet Franc Barrique. An informal survey, and I include my self, found that while many people did not normally like Kekfrankos or Portugieser wines, they liked these. I tasted the Kekfrankos again in June and found I really liked it.

About Agancsos: Love of nature, respect for quality, human closeness - these are the values we have based our wine making upon. This family vineyard was founded in 1990, and upon its renewal, was given the name Agancsos, the name of one hill where our grapes are grown. They currently produce wines from olaszrizling, portugieser, kékfrankos, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc grapes on 6 hectares of land. New this year is their pinot noir. Zoltan and Eva Kovacs await you with fine Hungarian wines and home cooking such as wild game dishes in the friendly atmosphere at the most beautiful wine press house on the main street in Villany.
Wine Cellar, 7773 Villány, Baross u. 48.
Open every day: 10.00-22.00
Tel/fax: 72/492-188, Mobil: 06/30-277-5780 (Kovács Zoltán), 06/30-620-4065 (Kovács Eva)
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , http://www.agancsos.hu

 Bitch Moan and Wine Blind Date

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The Bitch Moan and Wine Society together with Hungary's premier food and wine site/blog Chew.hu hosted its first blind wine tasting on February 20th. Instead of pouring out a mix of different wines under the gaze of the wine maker, we sampled eight comparable bottles "blind," so that participants could let their own taste buds decide which one or ones they like best. In addition to all the practical benefits of letting the wines - rather than the labels - do the talking, this new format opened the door to even more wine-related fun which BMW members have become accustomed to. Not as many people turned up as expected, but perhaps that was because people thought the tasting would be serious and snobby. If so, those people do not know Bottlehugger Ben, Treehugger Dan or Eric D'Amato that well. We really just aim to introduce people to good local wine makers, support local food producers in the Slow Food tradition, chat, network, and have a good cheap piss-up on quality wine. Ben made some kick-ass chocolate fondue. Thanks to Kiado Pub (1061 Budapest, Jókai tér 3. +36 (1) 331 19 55. open: M-Sat: 9-24, Sun: 12-24) for letting us borrow their double boiler. Kékfrankos (Blaufrankisch)can produce wines with smooth tannins and a very deep and rich extraction. Spicy flavors and aromas of blueberries, anise and black pepper are common elements that one's palate will experience.
I am no expert, but my blind tasting notes in parentheses:

   * Günzer Tamás (Villany Region)Kékfrankos (too spicy)
   * Vincze Béla (Eger) Kékfrankos Birtokbor (best)
   * Takler Ferenc (Szekszard) Kékfrankos (burnt plastic)
   * Frittmann János Kékfrankos Selection (tastes like beef)
   * Ludányi András (Matra)Kékfrankos (ok, mid)
   * Dúzsi Tamás (Szekszard)Kékfrankos Leányvári (too light)
   * Pfneiszl Pincészet (Sopron)"Újra együtt" KékfrankosRemete-Bor (undrinkable)
   * Vesztergombi József (Szekszard)Kékfrankos (second best)

Special prizes went to the people who pushed their palate to the maximum and did best in guessing which wine was which. There was a tie, so we probably had Budapest's first ever wine-off. The winners were:
1st place: Szabolcs (from Chew.hu)
2nd place: Mike Griffin, Ulku Tolon, Cristinia Cochee, Michelle Barett
3rd place: Michael Sanders (New York Times)

Chew's article appears here.

Photos by David Ericson here.

Bitch Moan and Wine Society: Tokaj Wine, Scottish Whisky and Dutch Cheese Evening

Sunday, January 25, 2009

The most recent installment of the Bitch Moan and Wine Society was guaranteed to leave us legless, but somehow even with the best intentions, the combination of Tokaj wine, Scottish whisky and Dutch cheese did not leave me with a hangover. Following our tradition of promoting young wine makers and local food producers, we invited Geza Lenkey, and Szilvia Karádi and Zsolt Berger, along with Tom de Smet (Table Tom), and an extra special treat Patrick McMenamin with a selection of Scottish whisky. When I first came to Hungary 18 years ago I tried Tokaji Szamorodni and Furmint, and hated it. Thinking that this is what Tokaji wines are like, not having had the aszu, it took me years to try Tokaji wines again. When I helped my friend Balazs' family harvest out in Sarospatak and had some aszu, it was an eye-openner. Therefore, it was with some trepidation that I approached some of the wines on offer last night. To my surprise, I liked the Hárslevelu the best. Table Tom provided a sheet for people to reflect their preferences for different combinations between his cheeses and the wines. I am still not a fan of young cheeses, but Tom's more aged cheeses, especially the Old Remeker and the Saanenhof old organic goat cheese were tops with me.Patrick from the Caledonia gave a moving introduction to whisky tasting. Patrick had 3 whiskys on offer last night, but has over 140 available and a special tasting room at the Caledonia Bar.

We tasted:
Lenkey Pinceszet
    * Tokaji Hárslevelu late harvest (dry). This is a harvest of the end of November from Holdvölgy, Kishegy, Vilmány, Bomboly, Becsek, the vineyards of Mád and Hegyfarok the vineyard of  Bodrogkeresztúr. Our wine was fermented in oak barrels and aged for 10 month until bottling. We recommend serving it at 10 °C. It is best with crispy-fried spicy pork or chicken dishes.
    * Tokaji Fordítás (sweet). We made our Fordítás as an experiment. We added the must of Hárslevelu from Bomboly wine-land to half of the aszú pulp and added the the new wine of Furmint from Hegyfarok to the other half of the aszú pulp. Following their fermentation in May, the two items were domesticated and matured together in oak casks. We recommend serving it at 12 °C.
    * Tokaji Aszú 5 puttonyos Hárslevelu (sweet). Making our aszú wine we added the new wine of Hárslevelu from Bomboly wine-land, Mád to the aszú pulp. Following its fermentation in March it was matured for 24 months in oak casks. We recommend serving it at 12°C for blue cheese and cold goose liver dishes.

Karadi & Berger
    * Szamorodni 2003 (dry). The well known Tokaj wine categories are capable of renewal. This has become clear in case of the Aszú wines, but now we would like to give the dry Szamorodni a chance as well. This wine was produced by the fine selection of the aszú grapes in 2003 and it was aged in oak barrels from the Zemplén region. The wine has nice light colors and its aromas are reminiscent of dried fruits, bread crust and peanuts. Its aftertaste is complex and lasts for long.
    * Selectio 2006 (sweet). We have been waiting for this wine for a long time. We have been planning to come up with a Tokaj wine which can show the concentrated nature of the Tokaj wines. Yet it is fascinating with its fresh  fruitiness. Its primary aroma reflects white peaches and pears and its taste has overtones of honey and fruit. Its sweetness, however, is counterbalanced by its frisky tannins. It contains 190 grams of sugar so it should be in the same league with the 'Aszú Esszencia' wines. However, it is much younger, fresh and dynamic. It is a "Selectio" because it has been made out of carefully selected aszú grapes soaked into high-quality fermenting must. It is a "Selectio" also because only 450 bottles have been produced and thus is available for a limited few.

Scottish whiskey tasting from the Kaledonia Pub

• Aberlour
• Bowmore Surf
• Auchentoshan

and Table Tom offered the following Dutch Cheeses
    * Stolwijk young, from the Stolwijk region near Gouda. Raw cowmilk, farmercheese.
    * Zoeterwoude old, from the Zoeterwoude region, also near Gouda. Raw cowmilk, farmercheese.
    * Remeker old, made of milk of Jersey cows in the Gelderland region, 100% organic farmercheese.
    * Saanenhof goat cheese old, from 100% organic goat farm in Noord-Brabant.

The Largest Wine Cask in the World

Monday, December 22, 2008

Like last year, I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Discover Budapest staff party. As most of you know, Treehugger Dan's second location behind the Opera House rents space in the Discover Budapest office. Last year the party was at Ben's wine cellar. This year, office staff and guides went up on bus 33 from Moritcz Zsigmond korter (the recently extended tram 56 will also take you there) to the Wine Catacombs (Borkatakomba) in Budafok. I have passed by these buildings on the train for years and have always had the best intentions to go check out the wine cellars and Torley champagne factory up on the hill.  With a bunch of grumbling and joking we were all outfitted with capes before we entered, making quite a few of our company, who did not want to remove their bags first, look like Quasimodo. The white wine we tasted was forgettable, but that was not the real reason we came. The Wine Catacombs came about originally from a massive limestone quarry that provided stone, to among others, the Parliament building. Hundreds of years as a wine region were ended when the Philoxera disease wiped out the grape vines. Instead of replanting the vines, houses were planted instead. In 1974, the largest wooden wine cask in the world (which is still in use) was made in the Catacombs. The 18 ton, 102000 litre cask was carved beautifully by István Szabó with scenes of the harvest. According to the proprietors, such a large cask is useful to winemakers because all the wine will taste the same as opposed to slight variations from using many different smaller barrels.  This year, one of the winemakers to make use of the cask will be Huba Szeremley.

After giving our capes back, we walked along to the Lics Wine Cellar for a wine tasting and dinner. The two vegetarians were very well cared for, with a selection of organic vegetarian "meats," and cheeses. The wine is not high end, but good table wine. Of the 6 wines we tried, I liked the Pakozdi chardonnay barrique and the rose (from cabernet sauvignon) the best.  

Bitch Moan and Wine Tasting: The Wines of the Baron von Twickel Vineyard

Monday, November 17, 2008

Bitch Moan and Wine Tasting: The Wines of the Baron von Twickel Vineyard in Szekszard. For our third wine tasting, sampled a fine selection of red wines from the Baron von Twickle Vineyard in Szekszard (formally Szekszard Zrt.). Representing the vineyard was Mr. Nayan Gowda, the new Head Wine Maker, and Baron von Twickel himself. The vineyard was kind enough to sponsor this event with a selection of 6 red wines, including:

2007 Chateau Kajmád Rosé
2005 Liszt Bikavér
2003 Chateau Kajmád Cuvée
2005 Chateau Kajmád Kadarka
2006 Chateau Kajmád Merlot
2006 Chateau Kajmád Cabernet Sauvignon

Of course, all of these are availbale at a low price from Bitch Moan and Wine.I particularly enjoyed the Kadarka, Cabernet Sauvignon and Rose, in that order.

The Baron entertained us with stories about his family and how they returned to Hungary from Germany and got involved in the wine business.

In our tradition to promote local food producers, the event was co-sponsored the "Kitchen from Mars" (Mars Beli Bolt), who just opened their doors not too long ago. They offer home deliveries and just recently opened a shop in the Fény utcai Market lower level (which is located on the back of Mammut shopping mall in Buda near Moszkva tér). There was some very nice chocolate mousse with chili, polenta with sage, feta cream with sun dried tomatoes and focaccia bread with black olives, and a number of other succulent items to try.

The wine tastings bring together a very good mix of people, and offer an excellent networking opportunity.

Grape Harvest in Badacsony

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Treehugger Dan's and Discover Budapest created the Bitch Moan and Wine Society last month, with an introductory tasting of the wines of the Badacsony Region. The second of our monthly Bitch Moan and Wine tastings was another resounding success, and featured the wines of the Villany Region. The featured wines included:

Tamas and Zsolt Gere - Pinot Noir 2004/2005 (Bitch Moan and Wine product code 220)
Tamas Gere - Chardonnay barrique 2007 (product code 211)
Zoltan Polgar - Kadarka Siller 2007 (product code 247)
Malatinssky - Kekfrankos 2005 (product code 234)
Gyorgy-villa - Merlot 2003 (product code 228)
Tiffán - Immortal Cuvée 2006 (product code 262)

At every wine tasting we also feature a local food producer. In September this was Istvan "The Cheese Guy" from the Hunyadi ter market, and in October David Wilkinson presented his homemade English-style sausages. The Wilkinson family has been producing prize-winning sausages in Yorkshire for over 50 years. In 2005, David started to produce British sausages in Budapest - with a meat content of over 80%, Grade-A pork, and produced in state-of-the-art facilities. David brought samples of the following sausages to taste:

Cumberland: traditionally a little spicier than other British sausages, consisting of a mixture of fresh pork, herbs and spices.
Lincolnshire: a herby sausage with sage.
Plain Pork: a traditional pork sausage with a dash of pepper.
Tomato Chipolata: the children's favourite.
Email David at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , tel: 30-855-7165

Talking with others, it seems my taste in wines quite differ from the majority. However, on the night I preferred the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and especially the Kekfrankos. I found the Merlot, Siller and Immortal Cuvee disappointing. Polgar's Siller is quite exceptional, but it was not cold enough before we served it, and people mistook it for a Rose. On the whole, people were the most taken with the Kekfrankos, Merlot, and Immortal Cuvee.

The following morning, Bottle Hugger Ben and I went with Csaba Szeremley to help harvest and press his grapes. Csaba's wines were featured during our first wine tasting in September (2006 Badacsonyi Olasz Rizling - Bitch Moan and Wine product code 40, 2007 Badacsonyi Olasz Rizling - product code 41, and Irsai Cuvee). His vineyard is located in the hills between Monsotorapati and Szentbekala, a simply gorgeous area. Someone recommended years ago that I buy property there, and now that I have seen the place, I deeply regret not having listened. I have helped friends harvest grapes both in Eger and Sarospatak, but I have never before been party to the entire process. Csaba has just bought a newfangled press in Slovenia that runs on water power. Water is pumped into a big deflated rubber ball that presses the grapes into the side of the press and squeezes the juice out. This greatly sped up the process compared to last year. Fueled on froccs and Csaba's paprikas csirke, we worked until almost midnight. In the morning we cleaned everything up, transferred the grape juice into other vats, and bottled ourselves some must (the sweet juice from the pressed grapes from which the sugar is fermented into alcohol to make wine) to take home. If we had not been exhausted enough, we dug potatoes and carrots from the back garden, picked walnuts and almonds, and spent some lovely hours out in the perfect autumn weather. Actually, I love digging potatoes, digging through the warm soil and coming up with nests of them in all shapes and sizes.

Table Tom's Wine and Cheese Tasting

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Last night Dutchman Table Tom in cooperation with the Boregyetem (Wine University) held a huge wine and cheese tasting. Table Tom has been working in Hungary since
1986 promoting Hungarian wines in The Netherlands and Dutch cheeses in Hungary. But most importantly, he has been teaching Hungarian farmers how to make Dutch-style cheeses! Last night rocked, but it rocked so much I had trouble walking. Twelve wines and eleven Hungarian and Dutch cheeses in the span of 3 hours. Now, I am a peasant and a hedonist when it comes to food and drink, well, life in general. It is my heartfelt opinion that we work hard so that we can eat good cheese and olives and drink good wine - everything else is just a distraction. Maybe this does not make me a food writer like M.F.K. Fisher, but I can at least tell you what I liked and disliked:
Wines

• *Bujdoso Pince Rose 2007 from Balatonboglar - very good rose
• Szike Matyas Kekfrankos 2005 from Gyongyostarjan - didn't like it, too light to carry the smoky barique flavour well
• *Kemendy Selection Cabernet sauvignon-Pinot noir cuvee  2005 from Pazmand - good/very good
• *Puklus Pince Furmint (dry) 2007 from Bodrogkeresztur (Tokaj region) - didn't like it
• Csutoras Pince Leanyka 2007 from Eger - nothing special
• Toth Sandor Zoldveltelini 2003 from Monostorapati - ok
• Kalo Imre Leanyka 2001 from Szomolya (Eger region) - bad
• *Tiffan Ede and Zsolt Regimodi Cuvee (portug.+Kadarka) 2006 from Villany - very good, dark aroma and color with a lighter taste
• Chateau Dereszla T10(Tarcal/Kabar) 2005 from Tokaj region - good
• Arvay Janos Forditas 2003 from Tokaj - excellent
• *Polgar Zoltan Kadarka Siller 2007 from Villany - good

Cheeses

• Kiss Ferenc 1-week old Alfoldi Cream cheese - very good fresh cheese with no aftertaste
• Bukki Sajt (Sandor Tamas) 3-week old cow cheese in tree ash - good, and very rare in Hungary, slight goat aftertaste even though it was from cow milk
• Mo. Bukki Sajt (Sandor Tamas) 3-month old mountain cow cheese - very good, young, soft, with a bite
• Kiss Ferenc 1-week old Parasztgomolya - nothing special
• Balogh Erika 3-6-month old Nagykorosi aged sheep cheese - almost asteless trappista or export edami
• South Holland 4-month old Boeren Stolwijker - slightly better than above
• South Holland Captein Family 1.5 year old Zoeterwoude - ok, like young emental
• South Holland Captein Family 2.5 year old Zoeterwoude - EXCELLENT, just hard enough so as to be on the good side of chewy, with crystaline bits nd a good bite
• Holland/Gelderland/J.D. van der Voort-de4 Groote Voort 2-year old Oude Remeker - good
• Mo. Balogh Erika 2-3 month old Nagykorosi Blue cheese - EXCELLENT, maybe even too powerful
• Holland/Noord-Brabant/Wanders-Saanenhof Family 4-week old organic hard goat cheese - EXCELLENT, with a good bite, almost like a softer Parmesan
• Holland/Noord-Brabant/Wanders-Saanenhof Family 6-month old organic soft goat cheese, EXCELLENT

Bitch Moan and Wine Society's Kick-off Wine Tasting

Thursday, September 11, 2008

September 11, 2008 Bitch Moan and Wine Society's Kick-off Wine Tasting.  Treehugger Dan's in cooperation with Discover Budapest

    * 2006 Badacsonyi Olasz Rizling (Csaba Szeremley)
    * 2007 Badacsonyi Olasz Rizling (Csaba Szeremley)
    * 2007 Szeremley Rizling (Szeremley Huba)
    * 2007 Badacsonyi Olasz Rizling (Borbely)
    * Irsai Cuvee (Csaba Szeremley)
    * 2005 Badacsony Pinot Noir (Szeremley Huba)
    * 2005 Badacsonyi Kekfrankos (Szeremley Huba)
initiated the new Bitch Moan and Wine Society last Thursday. The society promotes high quality local wines as well as local producers of cheese and other gourmet products at a reasonable and very discounted price. Members of BMW are entitled to order excellent wines at a well-discounted price, attend monthly wine tastings, and join monthly tours of different Hungarian wine regions. The first wine tasting featured 7 wines from the Badacsony Region, and local cheeses from Istvan (Hunyadi ter Market). 

Cycling Balaton Part 1

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Having completed the Balaton Swim this year, I started looking for a new goal. With autumn approaching, wanting to do something sporty, and considering my increasing involvement in wine, I thought to get a group of good friends together to cycle around the north side of Lake Balaton for my birthday and sample some of the wines there.  Several family-men had to cancel, and in the end it came down to Jon Gifford and me. Jon and I rented some great KTM bikes from Discover Budapest for the weekend, and hooked up with Bottlehugger Ben on our way to Buda (the "dark side") that night. This was both fortunate (nice new drinking holes) and unfortunate (we had to get up at 5am to catch the 6:20 train from Deli pu.). The first stop was the Lanchid Sorozo (Fo u. 4). This place has the old dirty Pest pub feeling, has some good mushroom sandwiches, and best of all, the classic rock soundtrack. But it is Buda, so beer prices are a bit higher than the average Pest 400 huf Dreher. Escorting Bottlehugger towards home, we stopped in, of all places, to the back of MOM Park where there was another surprise. There is a huge Paulaner Brauhaus. Not only does it have the atmosphere, and the wheat beer (very pricey at 890 huf), but it also has amazing hot pretzels. No, not the Hungarian stale things covered with plastic salty pseudo-cheese. Real pretzels like you can get near Boston Common. I mean these things, you could SMELL the salt. And when we asked for sweet mustard to put on them, not even a blink. Up at 5am, and slightly hungover, we got to Deli pu. in plenty of time, and were even able to jump an earlier train that got us into Alsoors at 9. The first thing we noticed was how high the bikes rode. It makes me wonder if I have a kid's bike frame? The second, amazing thing, was the strange feeling of flying with that ever-present hump of a backpack missing. The shock absorbers did not hurt either! End of part 1...

 
Cycling Balaton Part 2 of 3

Friday, October 2, 2009 

Bottlehugger had recommended a good pastry shop in Csopak, so we headed there first for some coffee and to lighten the load. But it was only open at 10, so we were forced against our best intentions to visit the first winery. As we cycled up the hill in gorgeous autumn weather, I started recognizing  a number of landmarks and realized that I had been in the area before several years ago. You could SMELL the must in the air. The Jasdi Vineyard  was one that Bottlehugger highly recommended we try.  I had been unimpressed earlier in the week with a Jasdi Chardonnay (too sweet), but looked forward to trying some others. Besides, one of Jasdi's  Italian Reislings was one of Borigo's  top picks in June 2009. Istvan Jasdi greeted us even as the harvest was going on. In fact, we were constantly surprised and relieved to find that even with the harvest happening, the vineyards still let us in for tastings. Istvan is multi-lingual (French, German and English at least) and made us feel very welcome at this first stop on our trip. We sampled the following wines:
-    Csopaki Riesling 2008
-    Siralomvago (? + Italian Reisling) 2006
-    Loczedombi Italian Reisling 2008 (not commercially available yet)
-    Loczedombi Szurkebarat (Pinot Gris) 2006 - we found this to have an unpleasant rubbery taste

Not being 10 am yet, we left with a bottle of ???? for the evening, we took a few steps up the road and visited the Tamas Vineyard. They were a bit grumpy this early, but their sign said tastings from 9am. Best to call first. I was particularly interested in trying their Syrah. This grape has become very trendy in Hungary, and I wanted to see what he could do with it. The Syrah 2004 was very good, but the 2006 blew us away. This is a fantastic dry red. At 4000 huf, and almost 5000 huf at stores, it is a pricey wine. Not to pick on this vineyard, but this is yet  another example of the Hungarian wine market being way over-priced. Tamas has a 6 other white and red wines on offer, as well as a wide selection of chutneys and jellies.  We made off with a Syrah 2006, green almond chutney, fig chutney, and a lavender jelly exploding with flavour. Panniers already groaning under the strain of our myriad purchases within the first hour, we thought it was about time for that coffee. The pastry shop was open, but falling way short of the hype if stale pogacsa are any indication. Next stop Tihany...

Cycling on towards Tihany we took a chance on the unknown Salanki Vineyard in Aszofo. Salanki seems to make almost every kind of wine regularly available in Hungary.  I spotted a Rheine Riesling 2008 I was keen to try, after reading the raves about it in Hedonist in the Cellar. The Rheine Riesling was great - probably my favorite wine of the trip along with the Tamas Syrah 2006. Unfortunately, it is not easily available in Budapest - maybe in a Spar or Auchan. But at 825 huf, it is well worth the effort to find a bottle. I wish it would have fit in the panniers
The Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 had a powerfully delicious raisin scent. This wine won the Balaton Region gold medal in 2005 and 2006, but this light black wine tasted almost off. The Mithras Cuvee (Merlot-Cabernet Franc-Cabernet Sauvignon) was black, but betrayed by a lightness, and it was just blah.

I had been up to the top of the Tihany peninsula several years ago during the solar eclipse, but had never had a chance to look around. Since we had taken an earlier train, we figured we had an extra hour to play with and ride up to the top. There is a bunch of gitch and a famous abbey, but the view is what it is all about. A regatta was sailing on the lake, the sun was out, and Jon and I saw the 5.2km distance and route we had swum only a month ago. Let me tell you, we were impressed with ourselves! We made a small mistake on the route down, thinking we could go around the tip, but we got stuck when the road ended in private fenced properties. So we retraced our steps, marveling along the way at all the passed-out drunk fishermen at  11am Saturday.

Taking a turning at Zanka (site of what was once the largest Young Pioneer camp in Hungary), we climbed up to the lip of the Kali Medence. I had been in the area many times before, but on the other side in Kapolcs, Pula, Ocs, Monostorapati , Vigandpetend and Taliandorog for the Valley of the Arts Festival every August. Two people recommended the Koveskali Vendeghaz for accommodation, so we went there directly. The receptionist/bartender at the connected espresso bar informed us that there was only one room, we would have to share a bed, and that the cost was 10000 for the night. Not after the kilometers and the wine tasting we had put in darlin'. After gulping down a cold beer, and chatting with a lively, if drunk, fellow customer, we reconnoitered the area for other possibilities. The Saci across the road was full up. The apartment at the Kovirag Restaurant & Panzio was gorgeous but too large and expensive for our needs (7000/person/night). Maybe sometime later with a girlfriend. The room at the hairdressers was unavailable. But the hairdresser recommended that we check at the ice-cream shop. And there was our drunk friend from the Koveskali Vendeghaz who called into the house. The sister of the hairdresser, her hands full with a toddler, offered us a room with two beds for 5000 huf. Always travel with Jon - he is a great bargainer. The room had been unused for awhile, but with some mopping it was fine (with the exception of the stinky drain in the bathroom). So impressed were we with the ambiance and menu of the Kovirag, we determined to have dinner there in a few hours. Jon had heard of a great new vineyard run by Gyula Szabo, one of the guys from the Bortarsasag, and who had a much talked about Kalibor wine on offer. However, no one was able to point us in his direction, and Jon's Blackberry could not help either. Instead, everyone pointed us to the Odon Vineyard about 1.5km down the road. Odon was very friendly and attentive, if yawning from the harvest. He started us off with a complimentary tonkoly palinka (grappa) made from grape stems. This was probably one of the best palinkas I have ever  tasted, and I wish we would have thought to buy a bottle. And I NEVER say that about palinka. Not very hungry yet, we enjoyed the view  and sunset over Lake balaton from high up in the hills, and indulged in several wines.

One of my favorite white wines is the Nyakas Irsai Oliver, so we tried Odon's Irsai Oliver 2007 first. The Irsai was fresh, unfinished, as was the Cserszegi fuszeres 2007. There was no real burst of flavor. The Rizling-Zoldszilvanyi 2007 had slightly more character with green grass-green apple overtones. The Juhfark 2006 had green walnut overtones, while the Juhfark 2002 Selection had the scent of ground strawberries combined with the legs of, according to Jon, "Marlene Dietrich." Juhfark is one of 4 essentially Hungarian grape varieties, and is known as the honeymoon wine based on the belief that couples drinking Juhfark on the honeymoon night had a better than 90% chance of having a boy. Since so many western aristocrats wanted male offspring, and were willing to pay for a bit of Hungtarian magic, the Communist Hungarian government granted tax-free status to exports of Juhfark to the West.

The Kovirag was hopping when we got back to the restaurant. It was obvious that the owner was on holiday and her brother was trying to cover. But somehow in this chaos, the service and the food were excellent. Odon's Juhfark was on tap, so we had a couple spritzers with that because we figured we needed the liquid. Jon had a strange but good meat-with-meat soup, while I had what could be the best garlic cream soup, if not the best soup I have ever had in Hungary. Don't blame me if it turns out to be the wine talking, but I believe it was a truly great soup. Jon got a burnt risotto which they took back with no problems. Hopefully it was not intentionally trying to pass it off on us. Giving the chaos, we are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. The replacement risotto was excellent. My fried home-made goat cheese with braised vegetables (carrots, squash, eggplant, zucchini) was very good. We finished the evening with Konyari's IKON Vineyard's Merlot, one I enjoyed this summer at their vineyard in Radpuszta. It is a heavy wine, unusual for Balaton, and too acidic for Jon, but I still liked it. We split a pair of turo gomboc for desert, even though I was fit to burst. The turo gomboc (cottage cheese dumpling) was also great, with a nice touch of edible dried flowers sprinkled on top. The entire meal cost us a very reasonable 7500 huf, if you do not include the outrageously priced 1400 huf quince palinka (as much as a main course) at the end. But even in the confusion of the missing owner, the  service and overall character of the food and ambiance was excellent. So much so, that went back for breakfast thinking that nothing would be open on a Sunday. It seems that the place is only open on weekends, so double-check before showing up at the door. Part 3...

Cycling Balaton Part 3 of 3

Sunday, October 4, 2009 

Breakfast is available at the Kovirag from 8:30, but one should note that the Kovirag is only open on weekends. If you are not staying there, knock on the door of the kitchen from the road outside and they will open the gate for you. A good coffee, fresh bread, homemade plum jam, honey and what was probably homemade butter, plus 2 mushroom omelets only set us back 1000 huf each. 

Down, down, down into the kali Medence through Koveskali, Kovagors, Salfold and finally into Abrahamhegy, I fell  even in more love with the area. It did not hurt that the weather was superb. Beautiful houses, small food shops actually open on Sunday morning, friendly and helpful people...Wanting to at least reach Szigliget and the vineyards on this small spittle of land, we cycled on and up to the Istvandi Vineyard after trying unsuccessfully to get into the Szeremley Huba and Borbely Csalad Vineyards. Check it out, they even use Twitter in English, Hungarian and German. Again, middle of the harvest and not even officially open until afternoon, they were happy to serve us up a few wines to taste. Some guests had even ridden horses up there. The view and the terrace are something that just screams romantic torch lit evening.  The Tramini 2000 was buttery, lemony and very good, especially considering it is a 10-year old white wine. The Italian Riesling 2006 was too light, with a slightly musty aroma. The Cabernet  Sauvignon 2008 was a bit bubbly, with earth, and strangely enough, grape overtones. But it was very light with no body and was nothing special. The Szurkebarat 1999 had a great buttery color and great legs, but no body and was almost off.  We finished with the Szemelt Olaszrisling 2006. With tones of apricot, grape, and finishing with something green, maybe lettuce, this fine wine had beautiful color and was so sweet it might have been an aszu. We somehow peddled away with a bottle of this too.

Having somehow missed some other vineyards, and having determined that we would end our tasting in Szigliget, we popped into the Guns Vineyard. This friendly and multi-lingual vineyard (English and German also spoken) is a small operation, and though they have a website, they could do to add some info about their wines.  We had some fresh must to start, and immediately decided to buy some for the train. The traditional Olaszrisling 2008 was not very good, but that could have just been the lingering sweetness of the must. All of our wine tastings missed two basic but important characteristics - a spittoon and crackers or something to clean the palette.  The reductive Olaszrisling 2008 was very good, and we grabbed a bottle of that too. However, we went away with a feeling of being taken a bit, since both the wine and the 1.5 liter must were 1500 huf each. The wine was way overpriced, and the must at Odon would have cost us 600 huf/liter.

Many of the tastings are free, while some charge a cheap 200-350 huf/ glass (1-2dl). But guilt sells, and if you taste, you feel an obligation to buy a bottle, even if you are hiking or cycling. Of the many wines we tried, I think it was great that we found 3-4 that we really enjoyed.

The inevitable Hungarian return to reality set in when we went for lunch at the Huszar Vendeglo at the marina in Szigliget. Jon saw some spaghetti and ordered it. I asked if it was meatless, and the waitress said yes, so I ordered one too. Unfortunately it was full of meat, so I could not eat most of it. The waitress offered to get me a half-portion of plain pasta with cheese and sour cream which I gratefully accepted. Unfortunately, I got charged for both dishes, and the bill of 5200 huf was almost as much as our fabulous gourmet dinner the night before. A bit grumpy and not feeling like going over the hills again back to Badacsony to catch the train back to Budapest, we took the main road back to Badacsony. The tickets, with bikes came to 7000 huf for 2, but the cashier could not change a 10000 huf note at 3pm. Moreover, when  I asked for the receipt she said she was in a hurry to catch her train home, and she closes at 4:30 so she did not have time to write me one. I asked one more time and got a no. That train did not come for another 50 minutes, and that 7000 huf surely went into her pocket.

With 2.5 hours to kill we took a swim in the cold lake, read a little, and then moved to the marina restaurant for some good turos palcsinta and a cold beer. The 3.5 hour train home, even in the fancy new red trains, is a slog, but we met some nice people and finished off some nice Russian dark chocolate (csuccs csoki!) and the bottle of Guns.

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 Five-Star Treatment in the Videk

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 

Heading down again to Szalonna this weekend, my friends Jeroen and Lennard were thrilled to hear I was on antibiotics still and could not drink alcohol. This meant that they had a designated driver for their planned excursion to nearby Szakacsi . Some of you will have met Elisabeth Van Aerde this January when Bitch Moan and Wine did a wine, whisky and Dutch cheese tasting.  The vineyards included  two Tokaj vineyards;  the Lenkey Pinceszet and Karadi & Berger; Scottish whisky from The Kaledonia Pub; and Dutch cheese from Table Tom.  Elisabeth is the Dutch woman that helped Table Tom at the event. Elisabeth has opened an amazing establishment in the village of Szakacsi, in Borsod County. The village is almost 100% Roma, in the poorest region of Hungary, and at the end of a dead-end road - the worst road I have ever been on. It seems a strange place to open 5 beautiful guest houses with swimming pools, a jacuzzi, and a gourmet central kitchen - soon to be restaurant. However, Szakacsi means "village of cooks," since the royal cooks used to come from this village. We arrived at 7pm to the bright sight of red-painted trees in the courtyard. Lennard went to open the gate and was immediately set upon by the guard goose. The goose and the dog have a kind of chorus going on - the dog barks, the goose honks, the dog barks and the goose honks. One would think they are arguing, but they sleep curled up together at night.

The spacious kitchen, largely fitted out by IKEA, would be heaven for anyone who enjoys cooking, and includes extra goodies such as an Italian pasta machine, an ice machine, two gleaming stoves and several fridges. But even if I did not know that it was a Dutch home, I would have identified it immediately by the aromas of Indonesian spices.  Filling out our table last night was Elisabeth's son and Table Tom.  Even though I was suffering slightly by the alcohol ban, and conversations swirling around me mostly in Dutch, it was made up for in the quality of the food and the pleasant company.  The appetizer consisted of a pile of crispy chicken shavings, chicken in aspic, a parsley-garlic-? paste and homemade rye bread.  Everything was great; especially the crispy chicken shavings, but I did not like the aspic. In fact, I hate anything in aspic. It did not taste badly at all, but aspic as a food preparation repels me. Hungarians love everything in aspic, and even have a festival in Miskolc dedicated to it - the Kocsonya Fesztival.  The next one will be in February, 2010. The appetizer was accompanied by a Simon Vineyard (Eger) Pinot Gris 2007 , labeled as a dry Szurkebarat . This surprised me because szurkebarat is normally half-sweet. But I was in for more wine surprises later.  I love tomato soup, and this next course did not disappoint.  I was afraid the tomato soup would be the surprisingly sweet Hungarian version. The main course though was the gem, large tortellini-like pasta stuffed with local goat cheese in a mushroom sauce, and a side of spicy Indonesian-spiced cabbage.  The pasta was made from local spelt flour (tönköly liszt)  from a nearby producer.  The main course was accompanied by a Villa Tolnay (Csobanc) Rajnai Rizling 2004. Having just read the raves about Rheine Riesling in Jay McInerney's book, A Hedonist in the Cellar, where I learned that whereas most dry whites can turn nasty and bitter with Asian cuisine, German Riesling is "the most food-friendly wine on the planet." Meaning, you can drink it with almost anything. McInerney says that the 2004 is like "inhaling a small electric eel." After this big send up, I tried to locate a bottle to try among the 1000 on our Bitch Moan and Wine list, but was disappointed not to find any. So, I HAD to try a sip. While not an electric eel, it was a very refreshing and delicious wine, and it better be for a retail price of over 4500 huf.  The desert was two types of homemade ice-cream, home-made whipped-cream, slivers of prunes, and a dribbling of dark bitter chocolate on top. Our desert wine was another Simon Vineyard offering, a Pinot Noir 2002. Pinot Noir is normally dry, but the label said it was half-sweet. In any case, I chalked up another Pinot Noir I did not like.

The total cost for 3 people was 20000 huf, which is not bad at all if you consider the wine and coffee was included. If you are looking for a luxurious and relaxing weekend in the Cserehat, contact Elisabeth at: 06-48-349-343, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . http://www.move2hungary.com. You can go horse riding, hiking, explore Aggtelek National Park, go wine tasting, or just put your feet up on the veranda.

The journey home with two singing squiffed Dutchies fighting over the music, and driving over terrible roads went better than expected. It was pretty fun actually, especially when I could tease them about their hangovers all the next day.

If you are coming through Szendro, you get the horrible road, but if you go through Lak, the way is much easier.

Drink it for Breakfast?

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 

Down at the house this weekend with Jeroen and Lennard, we were finally able to give something back to our friends in nearby Perkupa. The Kisfalucskai family runs a fantastic B&B (Mária Vendégház, Perkupa, Gyöngyvirág út. 6, Tel.: 48/462-089), and Marikaneni makes, amoung other things, the best pogacsa on the planet. When I stayed with the family most of the summer of 2002 while the house renovations were taking place, Marikaneni cooked a 3-course VEGETARIAN meal every day, and none of the dishes were ever repeated! Amazing anywhere, but particularly in the Hungarian countryside. Maria and Guszti's son Dani made all of the furniture in the house. Every time we go over to visit, they just give, give, give and we could never seem to repay them for their constant hospitality to our satisfaction. Finally, Maria, Guszti and Aniko their youngest daughter excepted a dinner invitation. They were joined by local weaver Jolankaneni, who makes great and stupidly cheap rugs and doormats on a loom (from 1909) she traded 3 chickens for.

We made a kind of csirkepaprikas in a bogracs, potato salad, apple cobbler and a German turo crumble cake and ate outside in the waning summer sun by the fire. Our guests of course brought homemade cakes, pogacsa, wine, etc. and we ended up with almost more food than we started with.

I was once again impressed with Jozsef Vesztergombi's wines, having loved his kekfrankos, this weekend's Remete Cuvee 2005 (cabernet franc, kekfrankos, merlot) was also quite good. The Vylan Villany Rose 2008 was also quite good. The Kunsagi Rose Cuvee 2008 (kekfrankos, cabernet sauvignon) from the Kincsem Vineyard was ok, but I have to quote the back label; "Az egyre divatosabb es keresetebb rose bor a borok Jolly Jokere. Vegyen belole! Otthonra, vendegsegbe, reggelre, estere, ebedre, vagy helyette." - An increasingly fashionable and sought after rose wine, the jester of wines. Drink it at home, for breakfast, for dinner, for lunch, or instead of a meal! While Jolankaneni has a great eye for weaving, her homemade wine must be considered the most vile excuse for wine I have ever tasted.

The next morning, still in training for the Balaton Swim in two weeks, we crossed the Rakacai Lake and back, about 2.5km. This is the largest reservoir in Hungary, holding 5.5 million cubic meters of water, and 1.5 x 3km long. Last week the water was brilliant, but this weekend there was a thick green algae bloom covering the entire lake. It was really disgusting to swim in. The evening before, we had asked our guests about the lake, now used as a resouvior. Local legend has it that around 1956/57 there were sightings of the virgin mary where the lake now stands. The lake was created to keep the Russians away from the rumored uranium deposit there. Swimming across the lake we encountered uncomfortably hot patches, so maybe this explains it?

Next weekend, besides swimming a hopefully cleaner lake, we will be attending the Derenk Bucsu. In 1943 Horthy Miklos wanted a hunting park developed for himself and visiting dignitaries and so bulldozed the village of Derenk for it. The village mostly consisted of ethnic Poles for some reason. Residents were forcibly packed off to nearby villages such as Budoskutpuszta, Martonyi, Szendro, Szogliget, and elsewhere. For the last few years they have held a festival in remembrance of the village and its survivors including Polish bands, lots of food, and of course a mass. Parking is below the village and a bus will regularly pick people up from there. July 19th, all day.

Bitch Moan and Wine Tasting: Hilltop Vineyard

Monday, July 13, 2009 

I had the best intentions Thursday  night to take notes on all of the wines, but you know honestly, I just got distracted by conversations with all the lovely women that attended. But, what the hell, that is what Bitch Moan and Wine is all about: good wine, good price, good conversation in a laid back atmosphere. There was a very good vibe last night.

Bitch Moan and Wine Tasting (unofficially Treehugger Dan's and Bottlehugger Ben's Wine Society) Big Summer XL Wine Tasting featuring Hilltop Vineyard's was hosted by David Popovics, Sales Manager of Hilltop Wines, at his new wine bar. It was a pretty special event since this was the first event hosted at the venue, only scheduled to open next Wednesday. Moreover, this tasting was the pre-release tasting of the new Hilltop Selection family of wines .The Hilltop Selection Family consists of 11 wines - some are premium, some are Hungarian varietals, and all will hit the market in late July. We were the first customers to taste these wines, fresh from the vats.The bottles did not even have labels, but the ones Hilltop finally settled on are very nice line drawings of birds and insects.

Doblo Wine Merchants, on the corner of Dob u. and Hollo u. is conveniently located near 2 local 7^th District favorites, The Mumus and Kisko Leves. Kiskoleves also has a very nice recently opened beer garden around the corner from the restaurant. When I first  entered Doblo, I was blown away by the beauty of the place, which makes extensive use of old bricks with the pictures on them, ( I don't know what the damned things are called, but I love them ) big windows, and high ceilings. Doblo features a very good open space around a big L-shaped bar. What is particularly nice about the concept is the pricing. I think we are all appalled at the mark-up for a bottle of wine in restaurants, where they often charge 4000 huf for the same bottle you can get at a supermarket for 1000 huf. Doblo will sell the wines at normal retail prices. The shop is at Dob utca 20, and should be open from this Wednesday, July 15th.

This time, at the urging of a recently pregnant wine-loving friend Magda, we offered special tickets for pregnant women. Often a couple wants to come to a wine tasting, but the guy feels guilty leaving the woman at home, and the woman feels frustrated not being able to drink. Therefore, we offered "pregnancy tickets" for the sake of family peace and enjoyment. Doctors in the UK now say that 2 units of alcohol (about 1.6dl of wine) during pregnancy is ok, so we offered 2 spritzers and food for 1000 huf. This instigated a slightly unnerving run on these tickets. So settle down boys, Claudia, Mariann, Maria...are not pregnant, they just did not want to get shit-faced on 11 wines. On the other hand, by the evidence left behind, some adventurous couple appears to have inaugurated Doblo's toilet!

Hilltop was founded in 1991 by Éva Keresztury, Imre Török, Judit Storcz and Ákos Kamocsay, who are still at the helm of Hilltop Neszmély today, working together with a staff which has grown to almost 150 people. Over recent years their  wines have won dozens of medals at major wine competitions around the world. Their chief winemaker Ákos Kamocsay was "Winemaker of the Year" " in Great Britain in 1997, and won the title "Wine Producer of the Year" in 1999 in Hungary. In 2004 they won the titles "Estate of the Year" and "Hungary's Premier Estate." It is also the largest wine producer in the country.

Tapas for the event was kindly provided by the Artesano Spanish Tapas Bar and Restaurant. The restaurant served up a huge amount of food, about 100 pieces of tapas in 5 varieties. Being vegetarian, I only sampled three of the tapas on offer, the tortilla (not to be confused with the Mexican version), and the rouquefort cheese mini-pies and the spinach mini-pies. I liked the roquefort bits best, and Eleonor from Artesano was kind enough to put a plate of them aside for me, but Bottlehugger Ben found them and put them out for the mases. Probably for the best, since I would have gorged myself on them otherwise. The restaurant also offered 10% discount coupons to the guests. Artesano, in the neighborhood of the Opera House, offers a unique array of rustic dishes from different regions of Spain including specialties from Galicia, Basque, Andalucia, and Valencia. Sergio, the Spanish-Uruguayan chef, guarantees the quality of the original ingredients, the prepared dishes, and most importantly, diner satisfaction. Choose from an extensive Spanish wine menu the wines that best compliment your meal. The interior design of the restaurant mixes traditional Moorish architecture with the 21st century. The location and the menu provide a perfect place for an after Opera tapas dinner. Artesano hopes to welcome you soon for a weekday lunch menu or a Saturday South American tapas buffet. 1066 Budapest, Ó utca 24-26. Tel: 688 1696, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , http://www.artesano.hu

We tried the following wines:

• Neszmélyi Irsai Olivér
• Neszmélyi Cserszegi Fűszeres
• Neszmélyi Sauvignon Blanc
• Neszmélyi Chardonnay
• Badacsonyi Szürkebarát
• Móri Rajnai Rizling
• Neszmélyi Hárslevelű
• Neszmélyi Pinot Noir Rosé
• Szekszárdi Kékfrankos
• Szekszárdi Cabernet Farnc
• Szekszárdi Cabernet Sauvignon Barrique

As I said, I did not try all of the wines, nor did I take notes this time. From what I do remember:

The Rajnai  Rizling was almost colourless, but very refreshing.

The Cserszegi  Fuszeres many of you will recognise by the beautiful woodcut on the label of, a woodcutter. Luckily David Erickson did not get a picture of Treehugger Dan partaking from this particular bottle; otherwise my street credibility would have been blown.For me, the Cabernet Sauvignon Barrique was the hit of the night. Judging by the consumption of this particular wine compared to the rest, I think it was a hit with most people.

Tasting Notes from Hilltop:

C H A R D O N N A Y

Created from Chardonnay grapes and grown in possibly the best located vineyard of the Neszmély Region, a relishable but peachy wine was born. Each virtue of nature can be caught here. Besides its jauntiness and creamy touch, its structure is very sophisticated and contains smooth acids. Hilltop Chardonnay brings all the elegance with rich yellow blossom, pineapple and butter flavours that we love in this wine.

R A J N A I  R I Z L I N G

Rajnai Rizling is a fairly popular varietal worldwide that has recently been rediscovered by wine experts. Its discreet but expressive apple-marguerite aroma and fine acid harmony is jaunty but elegant. Its concentrated structure makes it an appropriate accompaniment to fried vegetables, asparagus-based meals and light patés. Due to its long-term evolutionary potential it gives a marvelous experience - even after years.

K É K F R A N K O S

Hand-harvested, perfectly matured, healthy Kékfrankos grapes from our vineyard in Szekszárd that we perfected in the form of  wine at our winery in Császár. Its smell is ruled by spicy fruits in which cherry is the most dominant. However, you can also find prunes and marmalade in its taste. Its fruity character is coupled with fresh, breezy acids. Garden spices make its flavour rich. It is a well-structured red wine with matured acids. We recommend it served at 18°C as an accompaniment to Hungarian gastronomical classics.

P I N O T   N O I R   R O S É

With hand-harvested Pinot Noir bunches we have created a charming rosé. With its elegant salmon rose color and the scent of strawberries, this is the wine of summer sunsets. Due to its cheerful, fruity acids and gentle carbon dioxide content, it is an exciting and refreshing drink. We recommend you to serve it chilled. Use it for get-togethers, and have it with meals of fish and white meat.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON BARRIQUE

We made this wine through traditional winemaking processes, from excellent quality grapes found on probably the best red wine terroir in Hungary. It is a great deep purple-colored wine with long, fine, round acids and neat, flowing tannins. In its flavor we can find blackcurrant, cherry, some black pepper and red paprika, as well as vanilla characteristics as a result of the time spent in old fashioned barrique barrels. A complex, matured, determined personality that fully unfolds after a long aeration. Serve it with big game and heavy roast joints.

I R S A I  O L I V É R

A bunch of fresh grapes locked in a bottle - peachy, redolent and crisp. The purpose is to preserve the values of the grapes into the wine. A real "soft drink." Recommended to ladies, gents, young and elderly people who love rich, intensive aromas. Can be a chaser for poultry with fresh herbs or simple salads, but it is also perfect for get-togethers. Serve it chilled!

C S E R S Z E G I  F Ű S Z E R E S

A fresh new type of grape. This wine was created by our expert winemaker Ákos Kamocsay, and won the "1998 White Wine of the Year" in London. Uniting its parents' characters, the fruity Gewürtztraminer and the redolent Irsai Olivér, this vintage is stylish, peachy and luscious. Chilled to 12°C it is an excellent partner for appetizers, white meats and rich salads.

S A U V I G N O N  B L A N C

One of the most acknowledged and fancy wines of the world. The finest examples are made in New Zealand. Ákos Kamocsay and his dedicated winemaking team used their skills to create this wine so that  it brings out the easily recognizable "green" flavours like nettle, green pepper and elderberry. A great wine experience with dynamic and harmonious acid content and a beautiful long aftertaste. We serve it chilled to 12° C. A great companion to fish and seafood.

S Z Ü R K E B A R Á T

The fresh grapes were taken to our Neszmély cellar from their home among the basalt hills of Badacsony by Lake Balaton in Szürkebarát. Using the most appropriate winemaking procedure we made this juicy wine, accentuating the flavours of luscious peach and grapefruit. The dryness and crispy acids show its real value. Serve lightly chilled with poultry and light pastas.

H Á R S L E V E L Ű

Hárslevelű is an authentic Hungarian varietal. We bottled its unique, lime-blossomed flavours just for you. As a result of the late harvest, solicitous selection and professional winemaking we have a delectable, high in acid, fruity, at times mellifluous and peachy sweet wine. This wine is created by our expert winemaker Ákos Kamocsay and his gifted team. Have it with goose liver, duck liver, blue cheese - but also a perfect chaser for deserts.

C A B E R N E T  F R A N C

Catch the raspberry scent of this sweet cherry brandy-tasting, dark ruby Cabernet Franc. It is deliciously supported by a slight character of oaken vanilla-tobacco. Its tannins are rather spicy, even chili-flavored. Sleek in the mouth while its acids are fine, dynamic and complex. It is a full, authentic Cabernet from Szekszárd with the rich flavours of blackberry-plum. A rich and worthy companion of roast, red meats and deep-dish casseroles.

Photos by David Erickson

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Xpatloop.com & Izabella Zwack Wine Tasting

Friday, July 3, 2009

Bottlehugger Ben and I were very happy to get an invite from Xpatloop.com to attend their wine tasting with Izabella Zwack last night (June 30) at the Radisson SAS Béke Hotel on Terez Krt. Yes, it is Izabella's family that is also responsible for unicum. Their joint wine club is now in its fourth year. I first encountered Zwack wines last year when Izabella provided the wine for her mother's book launch of Diplomatic Corpse. At that time, the Gróf Buttler Történelmi Borászat Egri Pinot Noir 2006 Nagy Eged-hegy she brought was fantastic, probably the only Pinot Noir I have ever liked. Her vineyard also offers people a chance to help with the harvest in October, and quite a few of the guests last night had already participated. Just as with our own Bitch Moan and Wine Club, Izabella Zwack aims to promote lesser-known Hungarian vineyards and "garage" wine makers. This event featured her picks of the following wines:
* Szigligeti Olaszrizling - Szászi Endre
* Tokaji Furmint (dry) - Dobogó, Zwack Izabella
* Szo"lo"skislaki Rosé - Légli Géza
* Egri Indián Nyár (Kékfrankos) - Bolyki János
* Tokaji Furmint Late Harvest - Disznóko" Pincészet

Izabella stated that the first wine, the Szigligeti Olaszrizling, was her favorite of the year. In fact, she likes it so much that she bought 100 bottles. We all have different tastes, and unfortunately, I did not like this one at all.

My tastes seem to be moving back towards dry whites after a long hiatus, and for me, the Tokaji Furmint was the highlight of the evening. I could not put my finger on why I liked it so much, but Rob Smyth of Time Out may have hit on it. It tastes almost like a chardonnay. The wine was so fresh as to be almost neutral, but it really hit the spot last night in all that humidity.

I am a huge fan of Rose wines, and it is very hard to disappoint me. I particularly love the Agancsos, Takler and Sauska roses. However, the Szo"lo"skislaki Rosé was a let down. It had a strange flavour, perhaps grapefruit or watermelon.

It is very difficult to find a Kekfrankos I like, so it was no surprise that I did not like the Egri Indián Nyár. It tasted a bit like gunpowder, or rather gunpowder tea. On the other hand, this was Bottlehugger Ben's favorite of the evening, and he likes Kekfrankos. If I am going to drink Kekfrankos, I prefer the Maltinszky. However, Legli's Per Egy is a great dry white if you can still find a bottle.

Lastly, we sampled the Tokaji Furmint Late Harvest. This was a very nice sweet, but not too sweet wine. Very enjoyable, and we see again why Disznóko" is arguably currently the best vineyard in Tokaj.

The Radisson Hotel's Olive's Restaurant is due to open in September, and they provided the yummy Mediterranean style finger-food for the event.
* Tramezzini with smoked salmon
* Savoury pastry filled with soft cheese cream
* Hot minced beef and spinach
* Savoury pastry filled with Roquefort cream
* Mini mozzarella with cocktail tomatoes
* Savoury pastry filled with a mousse of duck liver and Tokaji wine
* Apple served with roasted savory walnuts
I only tasted the vegetarian snacks, but they were all nice, and cleaned the pallet well.

It was also announced that Timeout Budapest is now cooperating with Xpatloop.com,

The afterparty moved to Caledonia, our local to watch football. Patrick and Zsuzsa run a good kitchen, offer 140 whiskey's, an extensive cider list, and a bargain Irish whiskey tasting of 4 for 3000 huf. Cider is thankfully finally becoming more popular in Hungary, but it seems that Hungarian law classifies cider as wine, and for that reason, you cannot offer it on tap. What?! A couple more drinks here and we wandered up to Arriba for a quick taco to line our stomachs after-the-fact. Not only does Arriba offer the best Mexican food in town, but it also was the first restaurant in Hungary to serve exclusively Fair Trade coffee (of course, from Treehugger Dan's)

I know I have not reviewed most of these wines positively, but that is irrelevant with regards to the evening. I was happy for the possibility to try some new wines and meet new people. Furthermore, wine tastings are all about tasting new wines and figuring out what you like, as well as good company and conversation. Sometimes its a hit, and sometimes a miss, and out of the five, I really liked two. Without people like Izabella Zwack who goes out of her way to introduce us to her hot picks, and the crew at Xpatloop.com, such opportunities to sample wines from smaller and relatively unknown vineyards would be very infrequent. In this respect, the evening was a great success, and I am looking forward to the next one.

Photos by Sanyi of the event here

Mookie Brando Concert and Eszterbauer Wine Tasting

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Thursday was a very busy night. Besides hosting the Mookie Brando Concert at Treehugger Dan's, Bottlehugger Ben and I had received VIP ticket's to a wine tasting at Doblo Wine Merchants (on the corner of Dob u. and Hollo u.). Somehow I managed to attend both. Having informed Mookie that I would have to leave early, he was kind enough to sing some of my favorites at the start of his set, including Stevie Nick's "Landslide" which makes me cry every time. Doblo is run by the sales manager of Hilltop Wines, David Popovits (see here for blog on Bitch Moan and Wine's Hilltop wine tasting at Doblo). This night, his tasting featured Eszterbauer from Szekszard.  The first thing you noticed was that this guy has some good marketing going on. He has some beautiful brochures, stand-alone posters, and the labels are great. The labels are sepia-toned photographs of village life and wine making. If you place the labels of the boxes side-by-side, you can piece one big picture together.  It does not sound very exciting perhaps, but I thought it was pretty cool.  Unlike some recent wine tastings I have attended, there was also a spittoon, soda water, bread and crispy chicken bits to clean the pallet (however, a price list was missing). Well done David! Now for the wines:

• "No...Fiam" Chardonnay 2008 - this would have made a great Olaszrizling, but it's a Chardonnay...Buy it if you like Olaszrizling, but not if you want a Chardonnay.

• "Orom" Szekszardi Kekfrankos -Kadarka Rose Cuvee 2008 -  unimpressive. The color is faded and there is no fruity explosion one comes to expect from a Rose.

• "Nagyapam" Szekszardi Kadarka  2008 - spicy, great color, good body, with (for me) an unpleasant meaty, maybe sausage aroma. Beyond the strong aroma and spiciness, I could not taste much.

• "Pinceatlag" Szekszardi Cuvee 2007 - a cuvee of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Kekfrankos, Pinot Noir and Kadarka. This smells like a Bikaver (which of course it basically is), a dark red wine. It is dominated slightly by the spicy Kadarka, which lingers. Time in a barrel would soften the acids. Good for Christmas.

• "Tuke" Szekszardi Bikaver 2007 - The last wine I tried before going back to the concert won the Pannon Bormustra 2009 Csucsbikaver award, along with the Vinagora 2009 gold medal. With its very nice aroma and slightly fruity flavor, it is a good Bikaver, but not quite very good. Strangely, neither the label nor the brochure mention what grapes are used in this cuvee.

Eszterbauer himself still has to understand that most of the people that come for wine tastings come for the wine and the company, not to hear someone droning on for 2 hours about the wine. If he adjusts the amount he speaks about his wine to just a couple sentences each, it would make for a more pleasant evening all around. Although I was frustrated by his speech, I was also embarrassed for him because all the people not showing any respect and speaking during his talk. He should have taken this as a sign.

Thanks David for the VIP tickets, the excellent space at Doblo, and for arranging this tasting. Learning by doing is what it is all about. Wine tasting is like teachers; if you get one good teacher in 100 count yourself lucky. But once you find a good wine or a good teacher, life is sweet.

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Haraszty Wine Tasting at Doblo Wine Merchants

Halloween afternoon, before the pumpkin carving, David Popovits of Doblo Wine Merchants (corner of Hollo and Dob u., VII. District) invited Bottlehugger Ben and I over to taste a range of wines from the Haraszty Vineyard in Etyek, along with some French wines he had just gotten in. A good idea, but maybe this should have been done after pumpkin carving with knives  ;-). Bitch Moan and Wine held a winetasting of Hilltop wines at Doblo a couple months ago. Since the, David has added some furnishings and decorations to spice up an already impressively beautiful shop.

- Haraszty Irsai Cuvee (kiralyleanyka, chardonnay, irsai oliver) 2008. This was probably the best wine we tasted on the night. The irsai is dominant, but the cuvee is almost a half-dry wine with peach tones, brings to mind a walk in the Autumn woods.

- Haraszty Sauvignon Blanc 2008. Marked by a slightly peachy and lime tree (harsfa) flavour, which turned bitter at the end. I would not buiy this.

- Haraszty Chardonnay 2008. This non-descript peary wine is too tangy and does not taste like Chardonnay.

- Haraszty Terroir Cuvvee 2008 (Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Zenit, Kiralylenayka). It somehow tastes green. It is good for spritzer but breaks at the end.

- Haraszty Rose (Pinor Noir). Yukk!

- Haraszty Barrique Chardonnay Quixotic 2007. A nice butterscotch, but not quite as good as the barrique chardonnay I had from the Lics Vineyard last Christmas

Chateau la Croix Du Duc 2006 Bordeaux Superior. This French wine smelled much better than the taste. Even so, it had good heavy cherry and blackberry, but it was almost off.

- Domain de la Perruche Saumur Champigny. The best red wine of the night, with fennel tones, but a weak finish.

- Domaine Cances Cuvee (Grenache,Syrah, Mourvèdre, Carignan, Cinsault,) 2003. Great black cherry and white chocolate tones, good body.

David provided some dried plums stuffed with unsalted peanuts, Ben brought some brie cheese and crackers, and I had brought along some chutney, green almond jam, and lavender jelly from the Tamas Vineyard in Csopak.

It also just so happened that David was interviewing three young ladies for a job that afternoon, and they joined us for pleasant company during the tasting.

Il Terzo Cerchio and Nero D'Avola

 October 31, 2009

Last week I had a business lunch at Il Terzo Cerchio near on Dohany u. near Blaha. One could not have asked for a better renovation - the high-domed brick interior is really beautiful. Recently relocated from smaller premises, Ben wanted to go and have is gorgonzola fuszili. Unfortunately, the dish did not make the move with the restaurant. The riccotta stuffed ravioli with sage and butter was very good, but for about 6 pieces at 2400 huf it was outrageaously expensive. Pizza and pasta are two of the cheapest dishes you can find, usually under 1200 huf anywhere in Budapest, but at Cerchio's they average 2400. The waiter, while friendly, did not seem to speak
either Hungarian or English very well, and he forgot (and we never received) half our order.
Going with the Italian theme, we split a very good bottle of Nero D'Avola 2007 from from Caruso & Minini in Marsala, Sicili. Nero D'Avola is Sicili's most popular red grape, but until the 1980s, commercial use of Nero d'Avola was dedicated almost exclusively to fortifying weaker reds in France and northern Italy. Often, wines from this varietal were syrupy, with an alcohol content reaching 18%. The grape is often compared to Syrah. I was excited to find a good full-bodied red wine (14% alcohol) this week and it went down a treat. At 4500 huf (retails for about 7.5 euro in Italy) it was also the cheapest on the wine menu. I am going to be on the lookout for Nero d'Avola in the future.

Essential Food (and Drink)

A Wine Weekend with VinCE

 A Wine Bar

 Valentine's Day Rose Wine Tasting at Doblo Wine Bar

Pre-Valentines Bitch Moan and Wine Club: Kvassay Vineyard

10 bottles of wine, all under 650 huf