Photo of Hungarian Wines. / Naveen Gupta

As a continuing student of wines and spirits, the last few years have been a wonderful journey of discovery. Sometimes, I felt that the exalted status granted to some well-known wines was exaggerated. There were other instances when I enjoyed discovering countries whose wines seldom feature in oenophile conversations and wine critics’ columns.

In this column, I am sharing my experience with one such country--Hungary. 

My first experience with Hungarian wines happened serendipitously a couple of years back. Having been elected the Convenor of a special interest group of a few hundred wine lovers at a private club in Singapore, I was responsible for organizing wine Masterclasses for the members.  Knowledge dissemination was as important as the tasting for these sessions. At one of the events, I happened to meet a senior Hungarian diplomat, who invited me to his residence and made me try one of their reds, a sparkling and a dessert wine. Some months later, when we organized an event in partnership with the Embassy, they were extremely generous and contributed eight different varietals from the country for the members to taste. 

History:

Hungary, best known for its Tokaj region’s dessert wines, has a long history with wines. The Tokaj dessert wines, treasured for centuries by monarchs, have numerous legends associated with them. It is said that in 1703, Prince Rákóczi of Transylvania wooed Louis XIV against the Habsburgs using the Tokaj wines as a gift. 

It was also the first appellation codified in the world by a royal decree of King Charles as a closed wine region in 1737—much before the 1855 Bordeaux classification known to most of us. 

Fossil imprints of vitis tokaiensis, the ancestor of today’s known grape varieties, have been found in Tokaj.

With enough discussion of rich history and provenance, it is time to move to the wines.

Photo of a Tokaj bottle. / Naveen Gupta

Hungarian Wines

From a country that seemed to not take much pride in its local grapes, the pendulum has swung in full, with Hungarian winemakers using local varieties extensively while simultaneously using international varieties.

Hungary is largely a country of local grapes (223 varieties); 70% of the grapes grown are white. The most prominent is the structured, racy, age-worthy Furmint, which makes concentrated, high-acid, premium white wines. It gives a flavour profile of apples when young, which develops into nuts and honey with age. Exceedingly volatile in expression, it can be seen in still wines, sparkling wines and dessert wines. For aromatic character, which it lacks, Furmint is often supplemented with another native grape, the Harsalevelu, which is rich in sugar and aromas. 

In addition to whites, Hungarian wines also come as full-bodied reds, sparkling, and the glorious dessert wines from Tokaj. 

Some of the finer Hungarian sparkling wines are made nearer to the capital, Budapest. I included one in a ‘Sparkling Wines of the World’ event, where it stood its ground against its much better-known peers. Made using the Traditional method (the same as Champagne), the minerality and fruit are in good harmony, and the bubbles provide spunkiness and a good reason to pop it for celebrations.

Burst from the past

Dark-skinned grapes and red wines were introduced to Hungary only in the 15th century. Kadarka and Kekfrankos (also known as the Blaufrankisch in neighbouring Austria) are the best-known red varieties, although now many winemakers are also using some international grapes like Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Pinot Noir.

The full-bodied red wine that Hungary has been internationally best known for is the ‘Bulls Blood’ or Bikaver in Hungarian. Legend has it that during the 1552 Siege of Eger, Hungarian soldiers were outnumbered while defending the Eger Castle against the Ottoman Turks. The soldiers were fed copious amounts of red wine to regain courage and strength, which liberally stained their beards. Under the influence of the wine, they became even more fearless and fought valiantly. Sighting the red stains on their beards and this burst of valor, the enemy thought that the Hungarian soldiers had consumed bull’s blood and retreated. This myth thereafter became the reason for this bold, full-bodied red from Hungary to carry the ‘Bulls Blood’ monicker. 

Made primarily from Kadarka and Kekfrankos, with some international grapes added in small quantities, while its most famous expression is from Eger in the North, it is also made in Szekszard in the Southern region of Pannon. It symbolizes the strength, courage and connection to Hungarian culture.

‘Liquid Gold’ of Tokaj

I often use the term ‘liquid gold’ to describe some of the fine dessert wines from Tokaj because of their appearance, balance, texture, and—not the least—the price! These wines can range from traditional lusciously sweet styles to modern ones with lower sugar content. Hungary’s dessert wines are special because they are the outcome of a very specific weather phenomenon that occurs only in a few parts of the planet, but it is most prolific in the Tokaj region. 

It enables the grapes to be infested with a fungus (‘Botrytis’) whose filaments extract the moisture from the grape berries and concentrate the sugars in the fruit. Botrytized berries called ‘Aszu’ are then carefully hand-picked over several rounds to make the wines known as ‘Tokaj Aszu’. This traditional method, which has several other nuances, is the most expensive winemaking process in the world and creates some of the most precious wines. Even though lusciously sweet, the sweetness is beautifully balanced with the acidity, giving the wines a very good structure and rich honey, apricot, citrus and spice notes on the palate. The amount of sugar is measured on a ‘Puttonyos’ scale, which is native to Hungary. Most wines are classified as Puttonyos 5 or 6, equivalent to a minimum of 120g/L of sugar. 

Much rarer variety

Another varietal, the Tokaj Esszencia, is even rarer and made only once every few years. It is made only from the free-flowing juice of the Aszu berries. These wines are so rich in sugar that they can take several years to ferment and possess the potential to mature over several decades. 

There are other varieties of sweet wines, too. The Szamorodini (‘as it comes’) is where not all grapes may be Botrytis infected, resulting in a lower level of sweetness than Tokaj Aszu. Another modern style called ‘Late Harvest’ is made from a completely different process that does not involve Botrytized grapes and is further lower in sweetness. 

My conversations with several winemakers revealed that most of them are ambitious and enthused about placing Hungary on the dry wine world map. While rooting themselves in tradition where required, they are equally comfortable experimenting with and adopting modern winemaking practices. 

So, if you have not gone Hungarian yet, a perfect evening could open with mineral-rich sparkling wine with some cheese, the main course paired with a liberal serving of a vintage Bull’s Blood, and end with a dessert serving of the Tokaj Aszu 6 Puttonyos. I can testify; it does not get much better than that.

About the writer

The writer is based in Singapore and is a wine and spirits educator, judge and commentator. He holds the Wines & Spirits Education Trust, UK (WSET) Level 3 certification in Wines, a Level 3 in Spirits and a Level 1 in Sake. He is also a Management Consultant with a previous professional career with banks like Standard Chartered and American Express. His opinion editorials on topics like Innovation, Bitcoin, and Fintech have been published by Singapore-based publications like Straits Times and Business Times.

Hungarian Month. /