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Luka Kékfrankos 2008

This post marks my new cooperation with leading Hungarian wine website A Művelt Alkoholista, which will be publishing my weekly column on good and bad bottles of wine from Hungary. Some (but not all) will be cross-posted here on this blog, but do visit the Alkoholista to enjoy the lively and thorough discussions that ensue there.

*****

Luka Soproni Kékfrankos 2008
This is one heck of a wine. I didn’t expect it to be so good (see below for rationale), but it ‘knocked my socks off’ as they say in the US. If you believe in the first-bottle-emptied drinkability factor, two people finished this 750ml in exactly 54 minutes. The drinkability is certainly helped by the 12.5% alcohol only.

In fact this is a fairly light take on Kékfrankos. It’s surprisingly light in colour, and light-medium-bodied with a fair bit of acidity; a profile that was rarely encountered in Hungary before (although it’s becoming more widespread now). Those unfamiliar to Kékfrankos will surely say it tastes like Pinot Noir, and I’d recommend to drink it at 15C. Yet’s it’s a fairly multi-layered wine with reasonable complexity of herby, meaty, earthy notes on the nose and some succulent sweet strawberry fruit on the palate. No oak in sight, very digestible and more elegant than almost any other Hungarian interpretation of the grape. (I’m told Luka wines were formerly much on the oaky and extracted side, but this 2008 is very balanced).

Until recently, Sopron in Western Hungary has been quite a puzzling wine region to me. The potential for serious red wine is obvious, but for too long the region has relied on a single vintner: Franz Weninger Jr. (although it took me some time to accept the amount of oak in his wines). The rest – Jandl, Taschner, Pfneiszl – have been decent but little more. It sorrowed me even more knowing that a few kilometers across the Austrian border, in a patch of land that is historically Hungarian and has almost exactly the same terroir, some terrific wines are being made, red and white, courtesy of such producers as Josef Umathum and Heinz Velich.

Sopron seems to be on the upswing, however, and apart from the increasingly impressive wines of Weninger, it has two great new players: the idiosyncratic Ráspi and the dynamic Luka. The wines of Luka are ambitiously priced – this Kékfrankos at 13€ from the Bortársaság wine shop chain is their cheapest wine – but judging from this bottle, well worth it. Now I’m really curious to taste the other bottlings.
Source of wine: own purchase.

Etna: two fine reds

During my stay on the Etna last summer (read here) I picked up a few bottles to taste at home and get a more complete picture of this very exciting vineyard zone in Sicily. Its superbly mineral red wines provided some welcome refreshment in the scorching summer heat we’re experiencing here in Poland this year.

The estate of Emanuele Scammacca del Murgo is arguably Etna’s most historical one, going back to the mid-19th century when baron Murgo was one of the renowned bottlers of Etna wine. Consisting now of three independent vine allotments in various zones of the volcano, the Murgo winery has taken a slightly different approach than most of its neighbours, and focuses on the production of inexpensive everyday wines; there’s no prestige cuvée and the most expensive red here, the one I’m drinking, is only 11€. (There is also a trio of very interesting méthode champenoise sparkling wines made of the red Nerello Mascalese grape).

So how’s the Murgo Etna Rosso 2007? It’s a very typical Etna red in colour – which is fairly light –, aroma and flavour. Fresh and zesty with bitter cherry fruit, dried Mediterranean herbs and that unmistakeable sweet Oriental spice signature of Nerello. It’s a red with a real sense of minerality, unoaked, transparent, cool and stoney. With firm tannins and high acidity on the finish, it’s a little challenging at this stage without food, but is well-balanced with a sense of drinkability. Fairly low alcohol. A fairly simple wine, and for a while I regretted the good people from Murgo make no more ‘ambitious’ bottling, but after all it’s a welcome choice: inexpensive, supremely drinkable and with a sense of place, it’s unfair to ask more of this wine.

Speaking of ‘ambition’, it’s surely what characterises my second wine: Passopisciaro 2006. Founded by the notorious Andrea Franchetti whose Tuscan wines from the Tenuta di Trinoro have gathered massive critical attention, it’s a sky-is-the-limit interpretation of Etna red wine. 80- to 100-year-old bush vines on remote terraces on Etna’s northern, mountain-cool, arid slope, minimal yields and state-of-the-art vinification yield a wine of stunning intensity and personality.

(There are two versions of this label, some saying ‘Passopisciaro’ below the vintage, but I’m told by the estate the wine is exactly the same).

The colour is almost shockingly light and the nose is meaty, spicy, only faintly fruit with plenty of mineral depth. The first sip on palate is just outstanding. Quite round and ripe (it’s 14.5% alc. in this warm vintage, but well-balanced), it is typical of red Etna in being moderate in acidity but beguilingly refreshing and very digest. Balsamic texture and impressive length add to the picture. In that silkiness and puréed fruit richness, this vaguely resembles a Grenache-based wine from the Rhône or Languedoc, and is similarly elegant to a traditional-style Châteauneuf, but has more poise and those crystalline tannins of the Etna.

This wine costs 30€ (it can be picked up e.g. at the Catania airport). While a bit expensive by Sicilian standards, it is definitely worth it; a Burgundy or Châteauneuf of similar stature would set you twice that. Delicious and supremely drinkable, but layered with a real sense of dimension, this is just great wine.
Disclaimer
Source of wines: own purchases.

Eger’s quest for self

I’m in Eger to explore the current winemaking scene. This leading Hungarian red wine region is going through a difficult period, as everywhere in Hungary. Exports are stagnant and the home market has seen its buying power shrink considerably because of the financial crunch. The numerous recent takeovers and buyouts add to the mood of uncertainty.

There’s been wide repercussion in Hungary of my earlier article (after it was translated on leading website A Művelt Alkoholista) in which I criticised the tendency towards superalcoholic blockbusters, and the issue has boomeranged several times in my talks with the producers. I’ve tasted a large number of 15% alc. wines here, and not all were bad (Gróf Buttler’s 2006 Egri Bikavér is actually spectacular) but I can’t help thinking many grapes are just picked too late: one vintner told me he had hoped to pick his Olaszrizling plots on 9th and 10th September 2009 but due to the wine festival in Budapest he had to attend, this was postponed by 6 days. No wonder some barrels topped 15% and still had some residual sugar last week.

And one producer I don’t wish to name showed us a 2002 Pinot Noir that summed up all the Hungarian disease I addressed in my earlier musings: picked completely botrytised and subjected to cold soak (“they told me in Burgundy it’s how you’re supposed to make Pinot Noir”) that slowed fermentation to several months, it reached 17.2% and over 5g of residual sugar; with vodka-like alcohol and premature oxidation, it’s a complete caricature of a wine (but the producer is very proud of it and predicts a 30-year ageing).

Fortunately there is a legion of very good wines available in Eger and from the everyday consumer’s point of view, the ‘Hungarian disease’ is not a major issue. Customer satisfaction is increased by the fact that to face a penniless local market, many producers have lowered prices, and it’s now possible to buy a fairly serious oak-aged white or red wine for 1500–1800 forints (5.50–6.50€). Some of the best bargains include the 2008 Napbor white and 2007 Bikavér Áldás red from St. Andrea, the seriously structured 2006 Egri Bikavér from rising star János Bolyki, the 2006 Bertram from Vilmos Thummerer (this Bordeauxesque blend is only 3.30€!), and the 2008 Négykezes red from Tamás Pók.

Traditional barrels in the Thummerer cellar.

We also tasted some top-class efforts from the above-mentioned wineries, such as the 2006 Bikavér Merengő (see earlier article here) and a stunningly Burgundian unfiltered 2006 Paptag Pinot Noir from St. Andrea, Tamás Pók’s extremely promising and inexpensive 2008 Pajdos, vibrant, tight, mineral and proudly Central European; a winning 2007 Síkhegy Pinot Noir from Tibor Gál as well as his penetratingly mineral 2008 Kadarka (this traditional grape has at some point almost been abandoned in Eger, but is returning to form, and we tasted a good half-dozen very recommendable wines); and a brilliant series of wines from the controversial Gróf Buttler estate, topped by a world-class 2009 Viognier, a ripe, Mediterranean but beautifully elegant 2007 Nagy-Eged Pinot Noir and the 2003 Phantom, a reserve Syrah of Hermitage-like mineral overtones.

A biodynamic vineyard of St. Andrea; in the background, the limestoney Nagy-Eged, Eger’s true grand cru.

The region faces the stylistic issue of whether to make whites and reds in a more Mediterranean of Central European style; whether the reference should be Viognier and Grenache or rather Chianti and Mâcon. I don’t mind a bit of this stylistic dualism. The former direction seems to have the upper hand at the moment, and the wines of Gróf Buttler, Ferenc Csutorás, Csaba Demeter or the more ambitious white bottlings of Lajos Gál have more than a whiff of the Rhône to them. The rich, broad, puréed black fruits register of the red wines is positively Grenache-like, and white wines with their 14–15% alcohol, low acid and herby aromas resemble Marsanne or Roussanne (and it’s no coincidence Viognier is doing quite well, whether in varietal bottlings or as an ingredient in St. Andrea’s Örökké and Tibi Gál’s Glória). Hot vintages such as 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2009 are surely encouraging this direction, and it would be unfair to say it cannot yield very good wines.

Yet my impression is that the more distinctive, terroir-driven and ageworthy wines are coming from the other side of the equation. It’s interesting that with no apparent handicap for ripe fruit flavours, St. Andrea’s Pinot Noirs can be 12.5% not 14.5%, and Tibor Gál’s various Pinots can reverberate with the sappy crisp cherry freshness that is almost Beaujolaisian in style. Other wines to look for if you like earthy, savoury, tannic, crisp red wines include those of Tamás Pók and Lajos Gál (the best of which was the Egri Bikavér Pajados 2007). Despite the uncertain economic climate and the sometimes vitriolic fraternal fights between vintners, Eger is surely showing signs of energy and progress.

Eger is waiting for a new lease of life.

Disclaimer

Accomodation during my stay in Eger is provided by the Eger Winemakers’ Guild. Meals and all wines mentioned above provided by the producers.

The Hungarian disease

(Some) expensive Hungarian red wines are a disaster.

In the Wachau: why genes matter

Spent a day in the Wachau region in Austria with its spectacular scenery of terraced vineyards in the narrow valley of the Danube, and its beautiful Rieslings and Grüner Veltliners. We visited some of the region’s giants: Franz Hirtzberger with his powerful, late-picked, botrytis-affected wines from Spitz; Rudi Pichler with his meticulous, modern, puristic approach and transparent wines (the 2009 Kirchweg Riesling has fantastic punch and dimension, and is one of my wines of the vintage); Knoll with his very classic, long-maturing, alluringly spicy wines from the warmer Loiben vineyards.

Franz Hirtzberger Jr. in the spectacular Singerriedel vineyard.

But it was a 2-hour tasting with Toni Bodenstein at the Prager winery that proved the most memorable. Though defining himself as Homo rusticus, Bodenstein has a fantastically thorough approach and one of the deepest knowledge of the vine and terroir that I’ve come across. If you think the geological difference between gneiss, paragneiss and amphibolite have nothing to do with the wine in your glass, taste Prager’s two Rieslings from the Achleiten and Klaus vineyards: basically coming from adjacent parcels on the same hill but on different rock formations, the wines are like night and day, the Klaus an acidic, skinny, inquisitive, stern creature and the Achleiten its solar, open-minded, high-spirited opposite.

Toni Bodenstein: Wachau’s deepest mind?

The 2009 Rieslings here are impressive but the Grüner Veltliners are simply awesome (especially in the context of other 2009s, often excessively soft and rich). Bodenstein made the wise decision of acquiring many old vineyards when he took up the property: now these 1940s and 1950s plantings are delivering wines of great depth and complexity. It has also encouraged Bodenstein to reappreciate and saveguard the old clones of Grüner Veltliner that can be found in those old vineyards. The Wachstum Bodenstein, from a small parcel in the Achleiten that was replanted in 2003 with selected old cuttings from a variety of sourced in the Wachau and other regions in Austria, is a glowing testimony to the complexity and dimension that is lost when just a few ‘approved’ clones are reproduced by vine nurseries and replanted on a large scale by wineries. And yet this wine is towered by the 2009 Stockkultur Grüner Veltliner: painstakingly farmed at a record 16,000 vines/hectare on high narrow terraces are forgotten old clones going back to 1937, giving amazing complexity with a vibrant vegetal sappiness and spicy reminiscences of the Orient.

Rudi Pichler (not) posing for a photo.

No relation to the wine in your glass? On the very contrary; the genetic diversity of our grape varieties is a crucial issue for the future of viticulture and winemaking.

Disclaimer
Accomodation during my stay in the Wachau is paid for by the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. All wines were provided by the producers.

Austrian marvels

I’m in Austria for the VieVinum event, the major tasting opportunity for Austrian wines. VieVinum has a more relaxed feel than similar trade fairs and combined with the near-perfect organisation (if only air conditioning was improved…) this makes for a memorable vinous experience.

The VieVinum takes place in the spectacular interiors of the imperial Hofburg palace.

My tastings this year focus on the 2009 vintage which is looking very promising for the white wines from Riesling and Austria’s signature grape, Grüner Veltliner. A warm, dry vintage, it has actually favoured Riesling a bit more, with some Veltliners crossing the thin line between rich and excessively soft. On the positive side, many of the lighter less expensive Veltliners will provide spectacularly good early drinking.

But in general I have a preference for the Rieslings which are both more aromatic and fresher in taste, with a good balance even at high ripeness. There are some lovely wines from the usual suspects such as Willi Bründlmayer in the Kamptal region (his Heiligenstein Lyra is a masterpiece of harmony and completeness), or Prager and Franz Hirtzberger in Wachau. But I’ve also tracked down some lesser-known estates with great bargains. Franz-Joseph Gritsch from the town of Spitz in the Wachau has a lovely range of Veltliners and Rieslings, and overdelivers also in the Federspiel categories (which will cost you less than 10€). Andreas Lehensteiner from Weissenkirchen has an attractively clean, firm style, and at 14€ his Hinterkirchen Riesling Smaragd is one of the region’s bargains. High up in a remote side valley in Viessling, Josef Gritsch of the Graben Gritsch estate is making some impressively puristic mineral wines including a range of lovely Gelber Muskatellers (it’s rare to see so much minerality in a Muscat), and at 14€ his Setzberg Riesling Smaragd 2009 might well be the best bargain of the fair.

Josef Gritsch proudly presenting his Riesling.

There were some very good Veltliners, too, especially at the Erste Lage presentation: 2009 is the first vintage for this new category, roughly equivalent to the French grand cru and German Grosses Gewächs (see here for my post on this). Introduced in the regions of Kamptal, Kremstal, Traisental and Wagram by the private vintners’ association Traditionsweingüter Österreich, Erste Lage is a winning idea: the concept is clear (the best vineyard sites are classified and distinguished) and the quality level of the wines is high.

I’ve tasted through 49 samples and my favourite Veltliners included Salomon’s Lindberg, Petra Unger’s Oberfeld Alte Reben, and Ludwig Ehn’s controversial and bold Titan. But one wine that outshone all others was the Renner Veltliner from Schoss Gobelsburg: after many rich, soft, slightly obese 2009s this is a marvel of crystalline minerality and freshness.

Ever wondered what becomes of opened bottles at wine fairs? …Vinegar!

Disclaimer
I taste at the VieVinum fair on the invitation of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board, which pays for my flights, accommodation and wine tasting programme.

Patience required

Barolo and Barbaresco age well. I checked. Click for details.

Goodbye barrique

My first day at the Nebbiolo vintage presentation here in Alba was dedicated to Roero (the Nebbiolo grape’s northern outpost, with simpler, most rustic wines, and a few standouts such Monchiero Carbone’s brilliant 2006 Printi Riserva, and the lesser-known Ghiomo wines) and Barbaresco. For Barbaresco, it’s the 2007 vintage that’s on the tasting table. I’m really happy with 2007. Most wines are showing some terrific fruit and very good freshness. They’re also tannic, but less dense or structured than in big vintages such as 2004 or 2006. They might not be for the very long haul but the fruit in many is irresistible.

Giuseppino Anfossi of Ghiomo: great guy, lovely wines.

My top wines of the day came from some lesser-known estates (well, that’s the charm of blind tasting) such as Cascina Morassino and Punset (Campo Quadro and Basarin). Tasting 60 to 70 very similar wines blind often distorts your perspective more than non-blind tasting would, but Morassino was top of my list two years ago too, so it’s no coincidence. Marchesi di Grésy and their winemaker Marco Dotta also made some terrific wines: not only the Martinenga 2007 but also the Camp Gros 2004 and 2000 were extremely impressive.

It’s generally been my best Barbaresco tasting ever here in Alba. Not just because the wines were so good (many were) but also because the winemaking approach is very clearly changing for the better. In the past, many Barbarescos were marred by overambitious vinification, overextraction, dry tannins and an enthusiastic embrace of new oak (which is a notorious disaster with most Nebbiolo-based wines). Five years ago the majority of the new bottlings were dark and inky as Chilean Cabernet. This year, the colours are luminous crimsons and rubies with the typical Nebbiolo wide rims often falling into orange. I’ve taken the below photo from a random sample this morning, and it really shows how the return to tradition is gathering momentum. Gone are the years of creamy vanilla new oak Nebbiolo. These wines are becoming the ridiculous anomaly rather than the norm, as the grape’s natural freshness and bright fruitiness is allowed to speak freely. That’s good!

Disclaimer
My stay in Italy including flights, accomodation and wine tasting programme is paid for by Albeisa, the Piedmontese producers’ association. All the wines mentioned in this post were provided by the producers.

Simple pleasures

I’m in Alba in Piedmont for an event called Nebbiolo Prima (formerly Alba Wines Exhibition), a preview of the new vintages of Piedmont’s most important wines: Barolo, Barbaresco, and Roero. It’s a great opportunity to taste more or less all the important wines from my favourite wine region. And it’s consistently one of Europe’s best organised and most exciting tasting.

Apart from its wines Piedmont also has spectacular scenery and some world-class food which I’ll be enjoying over the next few days, from cheese through meat to chocolate and grappa. Before you think it’s a nice vacation imagine tasting around 120 of the world’s most tannic wines every day. It’s really taxing. So today I’m taking it slowly and enjoying this warm sunny Sunday on Alba’s main drag, watching that Italian wonder of social choreography called the passeggiata, and having an al fresco lunch of the local raw beef and tajarin pasta. With this, I’m drinking Vietti’s Roero Arneis 2009, a deliciously unpretentious sugary-lemony light white from the local Arneis grape, as well as the Langhe Freisa Le Naturé 2008 from Pelissero. The latter is crazy stuff like they only make them in Italy: a lightly sparkling dry red with pungent cherry fruit and masses of brett, too. It’s a challenging wine that I’d never let into my dining room with other humans but here, with the pasta under the sun, it somehow works.

Disclaimer
My stay in Italy including flights, accomodation and wine tasting programme is paid for by Albeisa, the Piedmontese producers’ association. I paid for the above lunch and both wines.

Four delicious Barolos

I’m off to Barolo on Sunday for an exciting tasting of the newly released 2006s. As I mentally prepare for the high acids and assertive tannins of this classic Italian wine, I opened a few bottles from the wine rack. Proudly traditional Barolos exactly as I like them.

The estate of Aurelio Settimo, now run by Aurelio’s daughter Tiziana, has vineyards in the village of La Morra, and more precisely in the lower-lying neighbourhood of Annunziata. This is the warmest part of the Barolo district and usually delivers wines of high ripeness and power. But the grand cru of Rocche, due to its special soil, yields a more structured tannic Barolo that usually needs of considerable bottle age to soften. I tasted the 2004 and 2005 Rocche. The former is considered a better vintage. Made in an orthodox traditional style with very long ageing in large oak barrels (botti), the nose here is a little reticent (raspberry, cranberry, minor cherry) but the palate, with its powerful architecture and unadulterated Nebbiolo tannins, is very satisfying; 2004 is a tight vintage for the long haul and it really shows here. While the tannins are fierce here, all the elements necessary for a positive evolution are present: balanced acidity, elegant fruit, minerality and very good length, although it seems a bit low on fruit at the moment.

The Barolo Rocche 2005 is just a little fuller in colour but also with a hint of orange, a real Nebbiolo. The nose is a cooler climate thing than the 2004: plumpier, fruitier, more cherry than cranberry, less rigid and austere at this stage. It’s really quite attractive, and the palate is also more approachable with more presence of fruit at mid-palate, and less aggressive tannins. I have a soft spot for the mouth-puckering no-prisoners-taken style of the 2004 but for overall balance and harmony the 2005 is more attractive today, no doubt. It’s really quite a difference between the two, in fact.

The Settimo style is a bit of an endangered species in Barolo these days, as more and more estates move to a fruitier, less austere expression of Barolo. To me, there’s something beguilingly noble and alluring in the bittersweet, tannic juiciness of these wines. Long may they continue.

The other trio of samples came from Luigi Baudana, a rather obscure traditional estate that as of 2008 has been taken over by Aldo and Milena Vaira of the superstar G. D. Vajra estate; it’s their eldest son Giuseppe that will be overseeing the production here (the labels and ranges will be kept separate). I tasted the rather neutral and forgettable Langhe Chardonnay 2008 that was rather neutral, and two very good Barolos. The simple blended Barolo 2005 is what I would like to drink more often: a simple (but authentic), medium-bodied, everyday drinking Barolo. Low-key on the nose with moderately intense fruit, herby and spicy, it shows a palate that’s very classic in style, clean with good length, balanced tannins, ripe acidity, if again a little unfruity and unintense. Where it lacks in intensity and boldness it scores very high is purity and authenticity: for a duck breast risotto last Sunday I really needed nothing flashier.

The Barolo Baudana 2005 (grapes from the Baudana and Cerretta, on the structured white soils of Serralunga d’Alba) is a more serious affair. Less vegetal, more floral than the 05 Barolo above, it shows an outstanding evolution in the glass. Concentrated and textured, this shows ripe tannins and unaggressive acids, but also more minerality and tannic structure with time in glass. The 2005 Barolos are typically soft approachable wines that will not age endlessly but this one, with its tight minerality, should two or three years. It really bodes extremely well for the Baudana estate under its new management.