Wines of Hungary: The Report

Many, many people of the huge crowd at the Pen and Pencil Club said this may have been the best tasting ever. I hear that occasionally and say perhaps so, knowing the customers are being effusive, but this time I feel they may be right. This one rocked. Even the two real live Hungarians we had at this one were delighted, and while I knew they’d be there I was still concerned: I am going to talk to them about their wines? Even leaving aside my occasionally dreadful pronunciation of overseas place names and the like, yikes. And I know well of the intense national pride of Hungarians. But they had a terrific time. So all was well on that front.

Why was this one so good? Three reasons (besides the wine, all from native Hungarian grapes, not international varieties, being good):

1) We took extra time and care over the food. Some of it came from the Yorkville Meat Emporium/Hungarian Meat Market in Manhattan’s old Eastern European neighborhood on the far Upper East Side (1560 Second Ave. at 81st St.; http://www.hungarianmeatmarket.com) which I cannot recommend highly enough to those interested in pursuing Hungarian meat and food (try the paprika head cheese). The lovely ladies there will assist you with delight and total efficiency. Between myself, P&P chef Dennis Hagen and P&P manager Dan Kenney, we came up with a menu that, I think, complimented the wine as well as anything we have ever done.

2) The wine service was perfect – we had the temperatures right and the order was perfect.

3) And everybody was in such a good mood; it seemed more than unusually festive.

The wines:

2003 Envinor Pinceset Tokaji Furmint Felszaraz
The first thing to know about the great wine region in the northeast of Hungary – Tokaj – is that the name of the town and area is Tokaj, the wine is Tokaji. The second is that not all wines made there are the rich, honeyed sweet wines that are justly world-renowned – dry white wines are made as well. Now, when one says “dry” in Hungary, one does not mean bone-dry in the way a Macon-Villages or Muscadet is; Hungarian wines, even what they think of the driest, are sweeter than what most Americans would think a dry wine should be. As was this charmer. Made from Furmint, a spicy, flavor-packed grape, florid as a bouquet of garden-fresh flowers on the nose, pale greenish, product of a hot summer, green apples and peaches on first taste, satisfying and mouthfilling (a old friend once said Peach Snapple was the most ‘mouthfilling’ drink he’d ever had, thus that phrase). Loads of fruit mid-palate, maybe heading towards flabbiness if served too warm (we nailed it at 50 degrees or so) but with enough acid to avoid cloyingness. Ethereal, short Vigonier-style finish. Went well with a mildish Cantelet cheese from the Auvergne, France, and then, much later, with my dinner of crab-topped salmon. Not much life left here though, drink up. $11 in NYC; 12 percent alcohol. Now-Christmas 2008. *** (just) (with Cantalet cheese and later with salmon filet topped with crabmeat, rice on the side, at the Pen & Pencil Club, Philadelphia, 4/2008)

2003 Egervin Leanyka
A very light pale wine from Leanyka, a native white grape that translates to “young girl” or “little girl”, from the huge Hungarian producer Egervin, grown in Eger in the northeast of Hungary. Aromatic but not hugely florid – its scents were more of a freshly cut meadow, say, or delicate wildflowers – as dry as Hungarian white gets, zippy, light, pleasant, nicely held together by its acidity, a touch sharp on the finish, Light at 11.5 percent alcohol, almost like a Hungarian Muscadet but spicier and a tad sweeter. Value at $7. At least one bottle was lightly maderised, which turned the wine into a nutty fino sherry clone, and it was not at all bad that way (I’d maderise some intentionally and see if I could market it as a sherry-esque wine; it was tasty). Coped well with a plate of “Hungarian antipasto” – piquillo peppers stuffed with hummus, Hungarian dry paprika sausage, a goulash/sour cream dip, two types of
pickles (one crisp chips and the other gherkins cooked, the latter from Hungary), and bread. Worth looking for. But drink up. Now-2008. **1/2 (at the Pen & Pencil Club, Philadelphia, 4/2008)

2005 Marka Szekszard Nemes Kadarka
Supposedly the “Nemes” (‘noble’) means that this wine was sweet, even botrytized, but I tasted none of that. The label said semi-sweet, but for once with Hungarians, it was drier than that, if, again, not starkly dry. Kadarka is the grape type, native. Szekszard the region, in the south of Hungary. Served lightly chilled. Gorgeous pale reddish color, looking a little like Lindemans’ raspberry lambic beer; spicy, intriguing aroma; luscious fruit at first on the palate, then cherries and raspberries take over, cherries dominate the aroma after a while, tangy and tart, looong finish of black cherry and earth. Similar in some ways to a good Alsatian Pinot Noir but more luscious, or to a Beaujolais Cru (Chiroubles?) but with more structure. In some ways like a light Portuguese red. Might not stand up to lamb or a strip steak or really good roast beef, but superb with chicken, sausages, pork, duck, grilled veggies, Cornish hen, salmon, even flank steak and Latin-style meat stews. 12.5 alcohol, steal at $8. A terrific summerish red!! Now-2011. ***1/2 (with breaded pork cutlet and sauerkraut garnie at the Pen & Pencil Club, Philadelphia, 4/2008)

2001 Kereskedohaz Tokaji Aszu 4 Puttanyos
For 500 years the Aszu has been the most famous wine of Hungary – indeed of Eastern Europe – treasured worldwide for its richness and intensity, and this shows precisely why. Stimulated conversation!! Served well-chilled. Pure honey and richness on the nose, like a full-flavored honey such as chestnut, nutty, alluring. That unmistakable lushness of botrytized grapes everywhere. On the palate, ‘wows’ around the room, fully ripe, honey, vanilla, butterscotch, massive flavor up and down the tongue, and then, instead of the kiss of sweetness a Sauternes gives at the finish, comes that searing, racy finish of great Aszu. 4 Putts is sweet but not overwhelmingly so (think Climens vs. Rieussec). “Luscious and heavenly”, I said. Served all by itself after a sorbet palate cleanser and deserved to stand alone. 12.5 alcohol, $24 (500 ml), not cheap but a solid value in the world of sweet wines. A fabulous, luxurious wine, years of life left. Foie gras would be a truly opulent pairing. Now-2020. **** (at the Pen & Pencil Club, Philadelphia, 4/2008).