Author: Wine Hungary

by Lilla O’Connor-Varga Rocking on the way home to London after a very successful Hungarian tasting held to the Manchester Wine Society. I am contemplating the re-birth of Hungarian wines in the UK. Trying to summarise this is so difficult, as after 3 years of doing the groundwork, we seem to finally have a breakthrough. Several breakthroughs, in fact! Wines of Hungary was formed in 2014 by me, Lilla O’Connor-Varga. Many of you who read this newsletter will know me personally, and hopefully tried all of our wines. For many others, we are already working together. I could never...

by Caroline Gilby MW Central Europe’s most important red grape grows under many guises. Kékfrankos, Blaufränkisch, Frankovka, Franconia, Lemberger, Modra Frankinja, Burgund Mare to name a few. Many of its names include the word “blue” in translation (Blau, Kék and Modra) for its blue-toned skins, while the story goes that back in the Middle Ages better grape varieties were called “Frankisch” to show their superiority over the less well-regarded “Heunisch” varieties, nothing to do with any French connection. Today, the variety’s prime name is deemed to be Blaufränkisch, in line with the belief that it comes from Austria where...

by Joe Fattorini What do you suggest to the cautious who want to play safe? The dinner host who wants to impress? The wine adventurer starting out? The answer is usually “dry Furmint”. Hungary and I didn’t get off to a promising start. It was in 1992 in a seedy restaurant in Budapest. A young woman offered a striptease. We paid her to keep her clothes on. She was doing what she felt she had to in a country finding its feet, building its economy, restoring its national pride. I hope she’s proud of what her country has become...

After a fairly extensive mooch around Central and Eastern Europe we’re delighted to be launching our first Hungarian agencies this month. The knowledgeable and ever helpful team at Wines of Hungary introduced us to Nimrod Kovacs, whose winery is located in Eger in the north of the country. Eger experiences a climate similar to Burgundy and Nimrod specialises in varieties which enjoy these cooler conditions. We were immediately struck by the purity and freshness of his Kekfrankos and it’s clear the region has great potential for Pinot Noir. The second producer we have found is the Kardos winery in...

The current wine cellar collection in UK Lidl stores features 15 Hungarian wines ranging from familiar grapes like Pinot Noir to obscure local varieties like Zenit and of course including Tokaji in multiple guises including sparkling, dry and sweet late-harvest wines. Customers have responded well: this is Lidl’s most successful cellar to date with Dereszla’s Dry Furmint selling particularly well. This suggests to me that consumers are much more open to Hungarian wines than the trade likes to think (still often classing former Eastern Europe countries in the “too difficult” category). This is the third cellar collection to include...