As we promised, we provide our readers with Christmas gift ideas day by day. Now we will recommend two magnum bottles. Apart from giving unforgettable tasting experience, these bottles – Kovács Nimród Winery NJK and Grand Bleu are the ultimate collectors’ items, since these are the very first magnum bottles from Nagy-Egyed, the highest vine growing area of Hungary. The magnums are available in VERY limited quantity – customers are allowed to order only 1 bottle from each wine.

KNW wines (not these magnums) are available in the USA, in the United Kingdom, in China, in Poland, in Belgium, in the Netherlands, in Germany, in Denmark and in the Czech Republic.

For the magnums, contact the winery – quickly…

NJK Magnum 2013

Every vintage of NJK boasts several international and national awards (here is one evaluation by Andreas Larsson for vintage 2011 in normal bottle), the magnum format is expected to win some soon as well. The wine is named after the owner, it is a blend of 60% Kékfrankos and 40% Syrah. 80% of the wine aged in new oak barrel (Hungarian and French) for 30 months and then in bottle for 3 years more. A ripened wine with integrated, refined tannins and uplifting acidity. Stunning, fruity wine from a great vintage from an amazing terroir. Only 53 bottles are available, thus you had better hurry!

Grand Bleu Magnum 2013

This gorgeous wine is made of 100% Kékfrankos, which is the most planted black grape of Hungary. 80% of the wine aged in new oak barrel (Hungarian and French), the rest matured in second use oak for 30 months. Kékfrankos is also known as Blaufrankisch (in Austria), a wonderful, versatile grape. As Dr. Gabriella Mészáros, one of the most renowned wine experts of Hungary says, “Grand Bleu is the most expensive Hungarian Kékfrankos, but it is worth its price. The vibrant character of the terroir is in perfect balance with the tobacco notes and the concentration, the complexity of this wine.” She also appreciates the elegant notes of oak in the aftertaste and believes that the wine has an ageing potential of at least 15 years. Only 95 bottles are available!

The unique Nagy-Eger terroir and its soil

Nagy-Eged is part of Bükk mountain, it is 536 meters high. It’s within easy reach from the town of Eger, thus a popular hiking route with the national „Red Route” crossing it. Its diverse flora and fauna makes it even more attractive, and also ideal for kite riders. But for us its most remarkable because of its unique climate and soil, which makes Nagy-Eged the „grand cru” of Eger and has the capacity to give wines classified Grand Superior.

The soil is grey limestone despite of riolit tufa of the rest of Eger wine region. Rendzina soil and brown forest soil is also typical. As for the climate: the heat of the Great Plain meets the coolness of Bükk mountains here, and it results a mesoclimate with early spring and a large number of sunny, hot days (more than 100 days with a temperature of 25 Celsius). Annual rainfall is 540–550 mm. Southern slopes of 20–35% steepness. (Rendsina soils are humus-rich shallow soils that are usually formed from carbonate– or occasionally sulfate-rich parent material. Rendzina soils are often found in karst and mountainous regions. The term rendzina originated from an old Polish word “rzędzić”, which means “to chatter”. Soils of this type contain a significant amount of gravel and stones, which, during ploughing, produce various sound effects (clicking, screeching, etc.), i.e., “talk” to the ploughman.)