Hungarian Wine Tasting – Hotel ICON, Tsim Sha Tsui

Wines tasted:

1. Benedek, Cserszegi Füszeres, 2011
2. Szepsy, Furmint, 2009
3. Etyeki Kúria, Pinot Noir, 2010
4. Gere Attila, Kopár (Cabernet Franc blend), 2007
5. Malatinszky, Kúria Cabernet Franc, 2007
6. Tokaj Nobilis, Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Lunel), 2008
7. Disznókő, Aszú, 5 Puttonyos, 2005

Recently I tasted a range of Hungarian wines at a presentation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary (MFA) and Veritas Wines.

Helga Gál, Hungary’s first female sommelier and Wine and Gastronomy Advisor to the MFA, gave a brief history of wine making in Hungary while we tasted.

In all there were seven wines on offer:

• Two dry whites made from local varieties with the characteristic acidity of Hungarian whites, a Cserszegi Füszeres, and the fuller bodied Furmint, coming from renown winemaker Iván Szepsy.
• Three reds, a Pinot Noir and two Cabernet Francs. One of the Cabernet Francs was a blend, the other 100% unfiltered Cabernet Franc.
• Two sweet wines from Tokaj, a late harvest Sárgamuskotály and an Aszú, 5 Puttonyos.

The Cabernet Francs were both from Villány in the south of Hungary, reflecting a preference among wine makers there to produce Cabernet Franc – no doubt in part helped by the support from well known Decanter writer Michael Broadbent MW who, in 2001, wrote that perhaps Cabernet Franc had found its home in Villány.

The final two wines were good examples of wines from Tokaj in the northeast of Hungary. The Late Harvest was lighter in style with flavours of poached peach and candied lemon rind while the Aszú displayed the luscious honey and apricot flavours of botrytised grapes for which Tokaj is famous.

The range of wine presented during the evening clearly demonstrates Hungary is embracing the freedom afforded its wine makers as a result of the political change in the early 1990’s. It is exciting to see how wines from this region continue to develop and I’m hopeful that at the next event we will have the opportunity to taste some of the local red varieties such as Kékfrankos and Kadarka.

Happy Drinking!