Is Syrah variety, the main grape of Rhône wine region in southern France feels at home in Hungary? Panel tastings in the past decade showed some uncertainty. The lush, spicy character was not always present unlike in their French counterparts. However, a serious development has been seen recently, as was proved at a panel tasting organized by Borsmenta online wine magazine. At the blind tasting 10 wines were poured from 5 wine regions including a French one (Château d’Ampuis; E. Guigal: Crozes-Hermitage 2016, it came in 3rd together with Ikon Fekete Tulipán 2016).

The winner is a Syrah made from grapes in Eger by Attila Domokos (head winemaker of Dobogó Winery in Tokaj). This is a sort of experimental wine, not available on the market unlike the second best wine, Soul by Kovács Nimród Winery. The wine region is Eger again, this versatile land with so much potential. “Soul. This is name of our 100% syrah wine which is an exclusively sourced from the ripe fruit of the grapes from KNW’s Nagyfai and Nyilasmar Monopole Terroirs. The Nyilasmár vineyard has thin, stony, and tuff based soil, facing south, which gives the wine spice and body, while the Nagyfai vineyard contains rocky brown forest soil, which adds rich and complex flavors. Music, travel and arrival of the soul. This is our Monopole Soul Syrah.” The name Soul refers to jazz music, which the owner Nimród Kovács appreciates a lot.

See the whole range of the tasted wines (in Hungarian)

More about Kovács Nimród Winery

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