Wine festivals in Hungary

Hungary's wine regions deliver a remarkable range of wine styles for a relatively small country. Take off on a flight of Hungarian wines with a fresh and fragrant white from North-Transdanubia, a mineral rich white from the northern shores and environs of Lake Balaton or even a deep red from the lake's south bank. Taste the terroir in subtitle Eger Bikaver, before heading south to Villany and Szekszard for powerful and intense reds. Ending up in the North East of the country the refreshingly renewed, sumptous Tokaji Aszus provide the perfect end to any flight

Tokaj Wine Region

The region that has the world's oldest classification system, which dates back to 1772, has succeeded in keeping the noble Hungarian varieties of Furmint and Harslevelu, which account for 69.9% and 17.8% of the region's 5,840 hectares respectively, firmly in the forefront. Their presence in the mixed volcanic soils and unique terroir at the meeting point of the Tisza and Bodrog rivers encourages abundant botrytis, producing the truly unique and world-class Tokaji Aszu dessert wines. Sargamuskotaly (Muscat Lunel) is not indigenous, it's the same as French Muscat Blanc a` Petits Grains, but is the third most important grape in Tokaj with 7.7% of plantings. It can have a powerful floral and grapey fragrance that can add to the aroma of Aszú. Zéta has 1.9%, and Koverszolo, the so-called "fat" grape, 0.7% of vineyard area and spice up and flesh out Tokaji Aszu blends. Tokaji Aszu 6 puttonyos typically contains around 150g/l of residual sugar while Aszu-essence and Eszencia, the free run juice of botrytised berries, head up to 180g/l and 250g/l or residual sugar respectively. Szamorodni, literally "as it comes" can be both dry and sweet (around 30g/l). As these wines require long ripening, more fruit forward late-harvest wines intended for earlier drinking created their own market. A relatively recent trend has been for terroir transmitting dry wines from Furmint that have met with serious international acclaim. Harslevelu, and now Sargamuskotaly are also impressing in the dry stakes. Kabar is a relatively new crossing of Hárslevelű with Bouvier and is permitted according to the region's regulation. However, other whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, which are practically negligible in terms of vineyard share, are released as so-called country wine under the name Zempleni, after the region's hill range. Foreign investors flooded in during the privatisation of the former state company in the early 1990's and established a number of large state-of-the-art wineries that for the most part pursued a fresher style than had become the norm. This angered many advocates of the oxidised "old" style Aszu, whereby the wine is encouraged to oxidise in the barrel by, for example, half filling it. This method has its roots in the former system rather than in Tokaj's more glorious past when it was in serious demand in the courts of Europe. Now the trend is more for Hungarians to invest in the region. Tokaj's soil is often brown forest soil formed on a volcanic base originating from rhyolite, andesite and the related tuffs. Hard clay, stony "nyirok" soil that is difficult to cultivate also occur here and loess on the spurs of Kopasz Hill. Tokaj has warm summers, long, sunny and humid autumns and cold winters.

Eger Wine Region

This is the second biggest region with its climate typified by long winters and little precipitation. Matra and Bukk are white wine dominated districts. In Eger, since the nineties, blue grapes have become predominant, as opposed to the previously balanced proportion. Those red wines that do come from Matraalja vary greatly from Eger. They serve to widen the assortment and are fragrant, more acidic and lighter. On the other hand, reds have long ageing potential in Eger which is known for its legendary Bikaver blends, which use Kekfrankos as the backbone. Bikaver was formerly known as Bull's Blood on foreign markets. However, most of the district's winemakers consider that name too blighted for its association as a cheap and cheerful, but by no means high-quality wine that flooded western markets in the communist era, that they have started marketing again from scratch. Bikaver continues to struggle as some winemakers continue to put out thin wines under the name and wine regulation has been insufficient to tackle this problem, though the introduction of the Bikavér Superior classification is a step in the right direction. Nevertheless, certain producers still prefer to use another name for what is their top Bikaver.

The region's soils are varied, but rhyolitic tuff is a typical base rock in all three districts, on which black "nyirok" soils (often poor in lime) and lessivated brown forest soils have formed. Eger also has the highly prized south-facing limestone Eged Hill which has perfect growing conditions.

Experimenting is a characteristic feature in Eger. Many believe that Pinot Noir thrives in the cooler northern climate and could make Eger famous, while Syrah also grabbing people's attention. Eger also has real rarities like the rich Menoir (previously Kékmedoc) and Turán, while Kadarka is making a comeback. Fashionable fragrant rosé wines are important in Eger and Matraalja, and are often made from Kekfrankos. Traditional Eger whites include Debroi Harslevelu, Verpeleti Olaszrizling and Egri Leanyka, though the latter does not seem to be able to find its place on the market. Matra is the home of fragrant wines from Rizlingszilvani (11.2%), Muscat Ottonel (7.6%), Szurkebarat (7.2%), Olaszrizling (6.9%) and Chardonnay (6.6%). However, Irsai Oliver, Tramini, Leanyka, Zold veltelini, Harslevelu, Cserszegi fuszeres and Zenit are also important. Late harvest wines are a feature of all three regions.

Villany Wine Region

Hungary's hottest region has long, dry, sunny and often submediterranean summers and mild winters. Szekszard, Tolna and Villany are quite similar regarding soils with loess the most typical to all, supplemented by Pannonian sand in Szekszárd, brown forest soil in Tolna, red clay in Villany, blended with limestone, and dolomite. In Pecs we mostly find brown forest soils with low lime content, and rendzina.

Szekszard and Villany are considered Hungary's two premier red wine areas where red grapes account for 81.9% and 76.7% of plantings, respectively. In Pecs and Tolna white varieties are the most prominent.
The so-called "Bordeaux world varieties", such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot are of high importance in Szekszárd and Villány and many of the great blends are usually made from these. Kékfrankos is the everyday wine in Szekszárd and Tolna, although winemakers, mostly in Szekszárd, have acheived great results with reduced yields. Portugieser is a key player in Villány with 17.1% of vineyard share to Cabernet Sauvignon's leading 17.5%. New wines made Portugieser, not only light red wines but also rosés, play an important role in winery liquidity, since its early ripening makes wine available for St. Martin Day on November 11. Zweigelt is also significant in all areas while trendy Pinot Noir and Syrah have take up a few dozen hectares in Szekszard and Villany.

With its 80 hectares, Kadarka may only be seventh in terms of planting in Szekszard, but it is an intrinsic part of the identity and history of the wine region. It makes a fresh, spicy wine with a lighter colour, that is used to spice up Szekszárdi Bikaver; the backbone of which is typically provided by Kekfrankos.

Austrian Cirfandli is a speciality of Pecs, whilst Harslevelu is a feature of Siklos, the other half of the Villany District. Rose wines, especially those made from Kékfrankos and Merlot are of great significance in the whole Pannonian region, just as in the rest of red wine areas of Hungary