2011 Pfneiszl Kekfrankos "Ujra Egyutt" Sopron Quick Review

So its been awhile since I've posted anything new due to an extremely busy summer where I spent lots of time sipping wine but very little taking notes or writing about it.  In the interest of keeping more active online, I have decided to add "Quick Reviews."  These will have less background story on the winery, region, etc...and be just more to the point on the wine, so here goes...

The Basics:  From the Sopron region in northwestern Hungary, the wine is made from the Kefrankos (aka Blaufranksich) varietal.

In Your Glass:  The wine is garnet red in color

On The Nose:  Red fruit dominates the bouquet.  I get some strawberry, sour cherry, some floral notes, and just a bit of barnyard that doesn't overwhelm.

On The Palate:  Sweet and sour cherry fruit that is beautifully balanced with nice acidity and a bit of minerality.  Light bodied with very mild tannins.

Overall:  This is a very nice, easy drinking wine that can be had for under $15.  It's a lighter red that is very food friendly and versatile.  We paired it with some grilled Hungarian sausage and it worked very nicely.  This is also a great summer red that benefits from a little chill before serving on a warm summer day when you just don't want white.

Cheers!

Gere Attila Cabernet Sauvignnon 2007 Villany

When you think Cabernet Sauvignon, chances are that the places that come to mind are Bordeaux and California. If you're a little more adventurous maybe Chile or even Tuscany. When you think about Hungary and wine, you probably either don't think about anything at all or you think about wines from the Tokaj region. Surprisingly there is quite a variety of wines from this small country in Eastern Europe, and many of them are quite good. The problem over the years has been that many of the good wines weren't making their way out of Hungary for the rest of the world to taste and enjoy. Finally that is starting to change a little bit and some of the interesting and outstanding wines of Hungary are making their way into the United State and other markets.

Today's subject is a Cabernet Sauvignon from the Gere Attila winery in the Villany region of Southern Hungary. This region, which I had the pleasure of visiting a few years ago, is Hungary's version of Bordeaux. Similar in latitude and climate, it produces some excellent wines from a few of the classic Bordeaux varietals - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. This offering is no exception. In your glass the wine is intense ruby red in color with just a hint of rust at the edges. The nose brings blackberry and cassis and smells like a classic old world Cabernet. In your mouth you get some more of the blackberry and cassis, but very dark black cherry flavor dominates. The tannins were present but mild after pouring through a Vinturi aerator and swirling in glass for 5 minutes. The dark fruit flavors lingered pleasantly for quite awhile on my palate.

Overall this is a very nice Cabernet from Southern Hungary. For a price tag in the low to mid $20's it also represents a very nice value. This wine will pair nicely with grilled beef or game and would also pair very well with some authentic Hungarian dishes. If you are interested in learning more about or buying Hungarian wines, I highly recommend checking out the Blue Danube Wine Company at http://www.bluedanubewine.com/

Cheers!

Gere Attila Kopar Cuvee 2006

For most of my life as a Hungarian American, I was convinced that Hungarian wine (other than Tokaj dessert wine) was pretty awful. For many years my Hungarian born father served me Egri Bikaver (or translated Bulls Blood from the city of Eger) with the best intentions of giving me something good, and every time I tried to gently tell him that it really wasn’t so good. In fact, it was quite bad.

It was only after I visited Hungary that I learned that the country not only produces some good wines, it produces some great wines from many different regions. The problem is that most of the wines being exported to the US are from large cooperatives set up by the old communist government. These cooperatives were (and some still are) much more interested in quantity than quality. Having only experienced these export wines, I initially resisted visiting the city of Eger and its numerous wineries, but after my father’s insistence on taking me there, I was very pleasantly surprised by the many excellent wineries I found there. Moving on to other wine regions from there, the surprises kept coming.

The region that impressed me the most during my visit to Hungary was Villany in the south. After visiting a few wineries here, it was apparent that this region had some pretty special terroir. Wineries like the Jozsef Bock Winery and the Gere Attila Winery were making some great wines from native Hungarian grapes as well as classic Bordeaux varietals. I also quickly learned that it wasn’t my personal favorite Cabernet Sauvignon that was the star here. I discovered that the terroir in Villany is perfectly suited for Cabernet Franc as well as pretty darn good for Merlot. It became apparent that this region in Southern Hungary had something in common with the Right Bank in Bordeaux. My biggest frustration after packing as many bottles as I could of these wines into my suitcase was that the wines of Villany were just about impossible to find in the US.

Although most of these wines are still not distributed in the eastern half of the US to my knowledge, I did just discover that K&L Wine Merchants in San Francisco is now offering some Gere Attila wines for sale on their website. Upon finding this out, I promptly ordered a number of bottles of the Gere Attila Kopar Cuvee 2006 and had them on my doorstep 36 hours later.

I then promptly showed my impatience and uncorked a bottle, putting aside any fear of bottle shock that I had. After decanting for about 45 minutes, I poured the wine, closed my eyes, and found myself back in Hungary for a minute there. The 2006 Gere Attila Kopar Cuvee had a beatiful garnet red color in my glass. The bouquet was wonderful and complex. Floral elements, leather, and spice added to the black cherry fruit on the nose. On the palate, I got black cherry as well as currant and blackberry that was balanced by some subtle minerality, decent acidity, and very nice, smooth tannins. The finish was long with a touch of dark chocolate that lingered for quite a bit.

Overall this was a lovely Bordeaux Blend done in more of a Right Bank style composed of 52% Cabernet Franc, 46% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine had a wonderful dark fruit profile to it with very nice balance and structure. For a price tag of $51, it compared favorably to similarly priced wines Bordeaux wines. I enjoyed the wine with grilled venison steaks with a port wine-mushroom reduction, and the pairing worked beautifully. So if your looking something unique and different, but still delicious, give this Bordeaux style blend from the Villany region of Hungary a try. You won't be disappointed.

Cheers!