Wojciech Bońkowski
Master of Wine
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Monarchia Egri Bikavér 2000

Arrived at the 2012 Pannon Bormustra, Hungary’s leading wine competition. What awaits us?

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2011 Pannon Bormustra winners

2011 edition of the Pannon Bormustra was meant to give a new lease of life to this respected Hungarian competition – and it did. The 48 winners confirm this.

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2011 Pannon Bormustra competition

A lightning visit to Budapest to taste the 48 wines awarded at the 2011 Pannon Bormustra competition: hopefully the crème de la crème of Hungarian wine.

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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.
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The Hungarian disease

(Some) expensive Hungarian red wines are a disaster.

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The wines of St. Andrea

Hungary is an exciting wine country with great potential for all sorts of wine but it’s been a little slow in improving its red wines. While the days of overcropped oxidised ancient régime reds are gone, Hungarian vintners have contracted another disease: overextracted, overoaked international-style wines that show little in terms of terroir expression or even regional definition. (See here for an earlier discussion of this).
It’s also been the case of Eger, arguably the country’s most promising red region, where the volcanic tuff soils can yield wines that are both minerally structured and alluringly elegant. Yet the fashion has been to plant Merlot and Syrah and reach for 15% alcohol with a creamy, vanillish, soft-tannic, Chilean-lookalike mouthfeel. The recent scandal with Béla Vincze adding glycerol to entertain this style is quite telling.
Owner and winemaker György Lőrincz (photo taken June 2005).
Although of recent extraction (the first vintage here was 1999), the St. Andrea estate in Egerszalok near Eger city has quickly risen to fame – largely because it’s been able to detach itself from the above-mentioned nouveau riche tendency. Throughout the rather extensive range here the keywords have been balance, finesse, freshness and terroir character.
It was exciting, therefore, to have a look at the new releases here. Take the inexpensive 2008 Rosé: usually in Hungary it’s a way of doing away with surplus grapes rather than building a wine with full identity and justifiability. St. Andrea’s pink is ambitious and uncompromised: based on Pinot Noir it even sees a brief passage in oak. The result is a bone-dry, structured, minerally tense, ageworthy effort that however remains a real rosé, not an underextracted red. The 2007 Pinot Noir is also successful. Hungary has been looking for its own style of Pinot, combing the vegetal and earthy overtone of German Spätburgunder with a more generous Mediterranean fruitiness and, rarely, real Burgundian minerality and finesse. Here the first element dominated (a saline, almost cornichoney backbone) but there’s also quite a bit of Pinot Noir’s elusive poise and crystalline fruit.
Although not my style, I have positive feelings about the two oaked whites here: the entry-level 2008 Napbor (Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc) and the single-vineyard but reasonably priced 2007 Ferenchegy Chardonnay show good (if low-acid) fruit and balanced oak of a quality that’s still rarely encountered in Hungary (where many wines are marred by poorly seasoned and manufactured local oak barrels).
Two big reds to finish; both labelled as Egri Bikavérs (Bull’s Blood: read more about it here) although the 2007 Hangács is based on Merlot with lesser amounts of Cabernet Franc and the local Kékfrankos (a.k.a. Blaufränkisch) while the 2006 Merengő has 50% Kékfrankos and 20% Syrah. The former is a dense, earthy wine with finely integrated oak and a reassuringly continental, authentic style: it nods not to Chile but to northern Italy if anything. The fruit is perfectly ripe with no vegetal deviations but the alcohol remains a reasonable 13.5% and there is good freshness. This wine be had for 10€ retail in Hungary and if you ask me, is a seriously good bargain.
The 2006 Bikavér Superior Merengő retains broadly the same style but packs in quite a bit more concentration, and fruit is riper, taking on an almost Tuscan air. Despite its unarguable weight the wine is finely balanced, and 14% alc. must be seen as admirable self-restraint among modern Hungarian ‘icon wines’ (the equally famous Ferenc Takler’s 2006 Bartina Cuvée, tasted alongside, is 15% and more than a bit port-like in profile).
First produced in 2003, Merengő is a serious contender for the title of Hungary’s best red wine. Two years in a row when I judged at the Pannon Bormustra competition, it came an obvious 1st among 30-odd Bikavérs. This new 2006 is really a non plus ultra.
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Reinventing Bull’s Blood

No easy task…
As a consolation for a trip to Hungary I’ve had to cancel, I opened an Egri Bikavér.

Bikavér means Bull’s Blood in Hungarian, and this brand name is probably familiar to my British and German readers as it was one of the ‘export qualities’ of Hungarian wine in the 1980s. With the simultaneous collapse of Communism and rise of New World wines, Bikavér lost most of its Western presence, and I don’t think it is widely seen today. In Poland, it remains a popular brand at the lower end of the market. If you’ve 2€ to spend, look for the image of a bull on the bottom shelf of the supermarket.

Bikavér is a tricky subject, and in Hungary you’ll meet with all sorts of opinion as to where the name came from, where the wine was first produced, and what it should be today. The unequivocous facts are the following: Bull’s Blood is a red wine blend coming either from the northern Hungarian region of Eger or the southern one of Szekszárd. Theoretically it should be made of at least three different grape varieties, with Kékfrankos (a.k.a. Blaufränkisch in German-speaking countries) dominating, and some Kadarka and Portugieser (formerly called Kékoporto) in the blend. (In practice, there are no few French-dominated Bikavér blends, and the recent tendency is to increase the participation of Pinot Noir).

This lack of definition and consistency is the biggest problem of Bikavér today. There is no doubt both Eger and Szekszárd (as well as Hungary’s third leading red wine region, Villány to the east of Szekszárd) can produce impressive Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon respectively, but it is equally obvious the indigenous varieties need to be positioned more strongly than they are today. No better occasion than to use the Bull’s Blood ‘brand’ to vehicle them to wider recognition. But too many Hungarian producers have been trying too hard. Late harvesting with 14.5% alcohol and ageing in 100% new high-toast oak have resulted in a series of caricatural reds. 2003 and 2006, warm vintages with lower acidity and higher natural alcohol, bring particularly unpleasant memories.

Hungary should not try to emulate New World or Mediterranean styles, nor join the nouveau riche fashion of oak & extract. It is, and will remain, a Central European country with a temperate climate, and should accordingly produce a medium-bodied, terroir-driven, crisp, mineral red from its historical varieties. We are beginning to see more and more such wines on the market (look for St. Andrea and Monarchia in Eger, and the very reliable Ferenc Takler in Szekszárd), but a lot remains to be done.
József Simon with his dog and best wine: 2000 Don Simon. Photo taken June 2005.

Today’s Bikavér is from bucolic and humorous József Simon, one of the good producers of Eger. His breakthrough vintage was 2000 when he produced a spectacular Egri Bikavér, full of personality and earthy spice, and an impressive Cabernet Sauvignon named Don Simon. The 2003 Bikavér is also very good. I am sad to say that the Egri Bikavér 2002 isn’t quite on the same level. The pale Pinot Noir-like colour is OK but the nose is underwhelming: herby, vegetal, meaty, sausagey, showing no depth or finesse I expect from this promising (but so rarely delivering!) Hungarian appellation. Some green bell pepper (from Cabernet Sauvignon?). Of course 2002 was a difficult vintage so the nose could be forgiven. but palate is equally underwhelming. Medium-bodied with again some Pinot Noir associations, a little green, quite alcoholic, with no finesse, depth or much pleasurability. And there is an odd sweetness sticking out (as if some residual sugar). Nowhere on the level of Simon’s excellent 2000. A pity.
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