Huba Szeremley Rajnai Rizling 1998

One guy who has more than anybody worked for the revival of Badacsony (as this volcanic area on the north-western shore of the Balaton is called) is Huba Szeremley. His 100-hectare estate is a model of the 1990s Hungarian investment. Apart from grapes – ranging from traditional Riesling and Pinot Gris through modern blocks of Merlot and Syrah up to experimental parcels of the rare autochthon varieties of Kéknyelű and Bakator – there is also a herd of historic Hungarian cattle and mangalica pigs, a good restaurant, an open mind, and a lot of projects for the future.

I have followed the wines of Szeremley closely for many years and the most exciting have consistently been the traditional Kéknyelű (a fantastically rich, extractive grape with outstanding minerality) and Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), but their success has too often eclipsed the fine results that can be obtained on the Balaton with Riesling (called Rajnai Rizling locally). A solid acidic base coupled with long even ripening and a clear peppery minerality for the basalt does sound like a winning Riesling combination.

Szeremley has chiefly used his Riesling vineyards for the inexpensive blended Rizling Selection (where ‘Rajnai’ is coupled with a majority of Olaszrizling, or Welschriesling) but has occasionally bottled a varietal version. The 2005 is a little light but finely poised with a good mineral signature of the Badacsony terroir, while the 1997 félédes [semi-sweet] is an opulent take on a German Auslese style with plenty of richness balanced by age, lemony acidity, and basalt.

This 1998 Badacsonyi Rajnai Rizling félszáraz [semi-dry], now fully mature with a deep colour, is a successful dryish interpretation. With a bit of Firne aged Riesling character, complimented by honey, sweet peach and spice, this is not terribly complex but surely interesting. Palate is rather on the dry side, with good fruit but also a bit of underripe green tartness; on the other hand also some obvious Badacsony basaltic minerality. This has aged well and is not declining yet (courtesy of the green acids clearly), and perhaps showing marginally better than at my previous tasting of this very wine in June 2006. While this is far from perfect and lacking a bit in depth and dimension, it shows the great potential of the Badacsony vineyards for top white wine production.