Unique reds including Terra Tartaro with 96 points!

In the upcoming days we will share a couple of notes written by Stuart Pigott, a seasoned wine writer with his distinct, peculiar style. He has recently tasted wines from several Hungarian wineries, let us start by his wine reviews of Heumann wines.

100% human, 0% bullshit

Stuart Pigott lives in German, but he is a true British scholar with a unique voice, sophisticated, yet down-to-earth style. For many wine professionals he was known as a wine critic on JamesSuckling.com, but recently he has started a new online wine medium with several exciting articles!
“There will NEVER be any advertising here, and NOBODY in the wine industry will ever buy space here. There is NO TRACKING of users beyond anonymous stats such as how many of you looked at which story (to help us serve you better). We will NEVER sell any data and our sole source of income is paid subscriptions.
All the material published on this website is 100% the product of natural intelligence, meaning that we NEVER USE AI.  Every text is in ENGLISH and however small, is marked with the initials of the author.” – says Stuart Pigott on his new website.
Isn’t it promising? For us it is! We will definitely visit stuartpigott.com again and again!
StuartPigott.com

New age in Villány

“Already 20 years ago I became aware that there were alternative winemakers in Villány (…). Then, there’s the Heumann winery of the Swiss-German couple Evelyne and Erhard Heumann. Their wines are clearly French and Italian-inspired, but have a completely different style to those of the local winemakers. So, contemporary Villány is a region with multiple wine personalities. Welcome to the New Wine Hungary!” – comments Stuart Pigott in his recent article on Villány.
Heumann wine reviews below the photo.

Waiting for the sun, waiting for the spring, let us enjoy some great white wine made of black grape, as a sort of transition from January, the coldest month, to February, the month of carnivals in disguise. Due to TasteHungary.eu you can order it from any European country.

Heumann Winery has always been famous for making brilliant Riesling wines, due the location of their vineyards in the Siklós sub-region of Villány wine region. Here the soil mainly consists of loess with high proportion of limestone. This fairly new white Merlot is made of the same Merlot they use for the red wine, from Városhegy vineyard in Siklós, with 20-year-old vines, with a yield of only 40 hl / hectare. Harvest took place on 22 August.

The grape was destemmed, immediately pressed, and the alcoholic fermentation took place in temperature controlled stainless-steel tanks at 16° C. In spite of the practice in the Swiss white Merlot region, Ticino, there was no malolactic fermentation. The wine was kept on fine yeast for 4 months. It was bottled on 5 February, 2025.
Alcohol: 13.5%, acidity: 5.7 g/l, residual sugar: 2.7 g/l.
Tasting note: Pale colour. Intense flavours of red fruit and cassis. Fruity lemon acidity, well integrated in the creamy body. Very spicy, long lasting.

Order it from any European country
More about Heumann Winery

An earlier article about the “normal” red Merlot by Heumann Winery

Heumann Merlot – a wine to keep or enjoy now

Heumann wines are available in several countries, for example in the United Kingdom at Novel Wine. In Belgium at QWine, in Switzerland at Heumann Weine, Cave Gevin, Hunderweinhaus, Le Bouchon Vinothek and at Vinebration.

‘Debreceni Borozó’ wine magazine

Debrecen is the second largest city of Hungary, and since it does not have a wine region, all regions compete for the significant number of wine lovers of the city. ‘Debreceni Borozó’ wine magazine has 2-4 print issues per year, and since it is distributed all over the country free of charge, it has a large readership and thus influential among the customers. The end-of-the-year issue is the most important with 6 panel tastings. Here come the winners and their wine reviews written by Pál Kovács, editor-in-chief of Debreceni Borozó.
Photos: Attila Viktor Németi

Villányi Franc wines are made of 100% Cabernet Franc, grown and made in Villány and are rigorously controlled. Each year a blind tasting is held to select the top 12 wines of the year, and the best of the best is announced at the annual Franc & Franc event in November. This year Jackfall is a newcomer on the list, and there are many familiar names as well, like Teleki, Heumann, Bock, Gere and Sauska.
Photos: Gadget Fotó – Zoltán Kiss Gadget

Top 12 Villányi Franc 2024

The regulation of classicus, premium and super premium Cabernet Franc wines of Villány is explained below
Szemes Cabernet Franc 2022 classicus
Jackfall Cabernet Franc 2020 classicus
Maul Zsolt Premium Winery Villányi Franc Lator 2020 premium
Teleki Inspiráció Villányi Franc 2019 premium
Ruppert Villányi Franc 2019 premium
Heumann Villányi Franc La Trinità 2019 premium
Streit-Zagonyi Villányi Franc 2018 premium
Sauska Villányi Franc Makár 2018 premium
Lelovits Tamás Villányi Franc 2021 super premium
Günzer Tamás Bocor Villányi Franc 2021 super premium
Gere Attila Villányi Franc Ördögárok 2020 super premium
Bock Villányi Franc Makár 2019 super premium

If you are interested in the 10th edition of Franc & Franc Forum and Tasting Day in November 2025, follow us! Tickets are usually sold out within weeks.

Meet the newcomer Jackfall Cabernet Franc Classicus 2020

Jackfall wines are elegant, sleek, fruit driven and layered – no wonder we were happy to present Jackfall Villányi Franc 2019 3H this February at Wine Paris. The wine in the Top 12 list is a classicus wine, aged only for 6 months (a premium should be aged for 12, while a super premium for 12 in oak and another year in bottle). Jackfall Cabernet Franc Classicus 2020 is surprisingly concentrated, dark ruby, and the nose impresses us with some subtle coffee notes at the beginning followed by strawberry, plum and dried blueberries. Moderate oaky notes, intense tannins and acidity, and on the palate the fruity aromas take the lead. Full bodied wine with long finish. The retail price on the webshop of the winery is only 4690 HUF / around 11.5 EUR – it is a steal!

More about Jackfall Winery

Jackfall wines are available in some countries. If you are interested to import, contact the sales manager here.

Dinner with József Bock

DNB is the restaurant of Marriott, and the three letters stand for the river Danube, since the eatery is right by the bank of the blue river, offering stunning view. At St. Martin’s weekend several wine dinners await guests all over Hungary, this one is undoubtedly one of the most exciting ones. Not only because of the mouth-watering plates (e.g.: roasted goose with braised red cabbage and apple jus), the appealing wine list (including the new vintage, legendary “PortaGéza” and the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles gold winner Essencia), but mostly because József Bock, the always jolly story teller will be your host personally.

“Celebrate St. Martin’s Day with a goose feast and the finest new wines of the year presented by the Bock Winery. Indulge in a sumptuous buffet dinner offering traditional Hungarian meals from locally grown ingredients.”

Date and time: 8 November 2024, 19.00–22.00
Venue: DNB Budapest, Hotel Marriott, 4 Apáczai Csere János street, Budapest, Hungary
Host of the event: József Bock, multi-award-winning Hungarian vintner
Price: 27 900 HUF (approximately 70 EUR)
The price includes unlimited soft drinks, local waters, coffee and tea. The price is in Hungarian Forint, include taxes and per person. A discretionary 14% service charge will be added to the bill.
Get your tickets here
Wines to be served

• Bock Marcell Brut Nature 2021
• Bock Blanc 2023
• Bock Primőr Rosé Cuvée 2024
• Bock Szent Márton PortaGéza 2024
• Bock Cuvée 2017
• Bock Essencia 2018
  

  Scroll down for the menu

More about Bock Essencia

Hungary wins 19 medals Concours Mondial de Brusselas

For the sober days…

Vylyan Vineyard and Winery has been producing verjus for some years, we have already had the chance to taste it several times. Verjus can be an alternative of “spritz”, when we want to avoid alcohol – the juice of the green grape mixed with soda water is the ultimate refreshment of winelovers. Certainly, it has found its role in the contemporary cuisine. Did you know that the recent trend of verjus began with some unsold South Australian Rhine Riesling?

Verjus: the silver lining of a bad vintage

Verjus (or verjuice), the word comes from the French expression ‘vert jus’ meaning ‘green juice’, since the unripen, green grapes are pressed to obtain the substance. According to some resources verjus goes back to as early as the Middle Ages.The recent trend of verjus has spread thanks to a South Australian winemaker and foodie, Maggie Beer. She was the first to produce verjus commercially due to a bad vintage: “I can hardly believe it was over 30 years ago that serendipity provided us with a glut of Riesling grapes we couldn’t sell, at the very same time my knowledge of this thing called Verjuice had been piqued. From such humble beginnings, I never dreamt of the huge journey it would take me on. I’m told that I’m the first in the world to make Verjuice on a commercial scale.” – says Maggie Beer. She also has some pieces advice on how to use verjus in the kitchen:
“For mushroom lovers, Verjuice will be your new best friend as it is the perfect partner for mushrooms! Use in place of white wine if you prefer not to cook with alcohol. Verjuice is perfect in a pumpkin risotto. Otherwise, simply enjoy it as a quenching refreshment, super chilled with plenty of ice.”

Vylyan Verjus from the south of Hungary

Verjus is sour, there is nothing to hide about it. But who despises lemon, one of the sourest things in the world? On the contrary, lemon is an obligatory ingredient of most meals, including desserts. In Villány, the southernmost wine region of Hungary verjus is made by Vylyan, a leading wine estate. As they say, the key of the sourness is the time of the harvest – they choose the “golden mean”, thus their verjus is neither too sour and neither too mild.
The label was designed by Botond Csiby-Gindele, an earlier winner of Vylyan Bogyólé label contest, and he brilliantly expresses what Vylyan Verjus represents: freedom, health and freshness.
Vylyan Verjus costs 3490 HUF / 8–9 EUR on Vylyan webshop
Vylyan verjus is available at Eleven wine bar in the city of Pécs (South of Hungary), where visitors can taste verjus spritz and verjus limoncello cocktail.
More about Vylyan Vineyard and Winery

Vylyan wines are available in several countries. If you are interested in importing Vylyan wines or / and adding Vylyan Verjus to your range, contact Vylyan team here.

Visit Vylyan on 23 November 2024 (Saturday) on the 9th edition of Franc & Franc tasting day, where Vylyan is one of the five host estates, guests visit all the five places and taste Cabernet Franc wines from more than 40 wineries. Only a few tickets are left!
Get your ticket here (in Hungarian, but google can help)

Beauty in bottle

The butterfly is a marvellous creature of God, no wonder the word for this insect is also beautiful in every language. Butterfly, mariposa, farfalla – and also ‘pillangó’, this word is one of the most beautiful words of our language. So is Vylyan Pillangó one of our most beautiful wines. Pillangó is one of the 4 Vylyan wines with Gilbert and Gaillard gold medal. The vineyard is going to be replanted, thus for a while there won’t be more Vylyan Pillangó, so you’d better stock some!

 

The wine is made of 100% Merlot, the grape comes from Pillangó vineyard, a west facing plateau in the shape of a butterfly spreading its wings. Fermentation took place at law temperature on the skin for 23 days. It matured for 16 months in 225 oak barrels made of Hungarian oak (Zemplén and Mecsek), 60% new, 20% two-year-old, 20% older. Only the best barrels were bottled as Pillangó.

Gilbert & Gaillard tasting panel gave 90 points to the wine and commented:
“Beautiful, deep colour with tile-red reflections. On the nose, jammy fruit mingle with hints of liquorice. The powerfulattack leads to a tannic but relatively light-bodied wine. Good balance, but needs to be enjoyed immediately.“

We agree with the review, except for the last sentence. This wine still has a few years to enjoy! But, of course it is great even now.

Vylyan wines are available in several countries, for example in Belgium by Global Wineries and in Poland by 2Bratanki. In case you are interested in importing, contact Janka Debreczeni of Vylyan.

More about Pillangó

More about Vylyan Vineyard and Winery

See all the 4 Vylyan wines on Gilbert & Gaillard

All available on 2Bratanki webshop

2Bratanki – meaning 2Friends referring to Hungarian and Polish friendship – is a Polish retail, tasting venue and online store with the largest selection of Hungarian wines. Tomasz Witkowski, the executive manager of 2Bratanki sent to Trybuszon tasting panel some red wines from Villány, the southernmost wine region of Hungary. Let us introduce the 3 best wines according to Trybuszon tasting panel with their tasting notes (translated from Polish by DeepL).

A Gere Cabernet Sauvignon Barrique, 2018

Grape variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Importer: 2Bratanki (DV Poland)
Price: 100 PLN
A lighter, brighter shade of red. As for the nose, it is sublime and less overwhelming. The palate is on the fruity side, although there is also oak – and rather used, not new –, but discreetly and skilfully used. There are also herbs and notes of camphor. Beautiful,silky and refined tannin, emphasising the already excellent acidity and juiciness. The wine enters its best phase, and it has a long ageing potential.

More about A Gere Winery

Heumann Terra Tartaro 2015

Grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon 45%, Merlot 30%, Cabernet Franc 25%
Importer: 2Bratanki (DV Poland)
Price: 150 PLN
A classic example of a great wine. It is complete, balanced, structured, firm, acidic, juicy, and fruity on the nose and on the palate with an additional sense of body and weight, yet manages to retain freshness thanks to notes of blackberry and plum. Fruitiness, pronounced tannins, spiciness, mint, leather – all underlined by a long finish.

More about Heumann Winery

Vylyan ‘Mandulás’ Villányi Franc Super Premium Válogatás 2017

Grape variety: Cabernet Franc
Importer: 2Bratanki (DV Poland)
Price: 160 PLN
Dense, dark cherry colour. On the nose chocolate, sour cherry, leather, mint – all in great balance. Juicy mouthfeel corresponds well to the nose. The barrel ageing of the wine is underlined by vanilla notes; fine-grained tannin, for the time being slightly distant from the whole. A round, rich wine, everything is in its place.

More about Vylyan Vineyard and Winery

Experts of the panel tasting: Maciej Sokołowski, Maciej Katarzyński, Maciej Moszyński, Aleksander Kubiak, Jacek Kulzaand Tomasz Szmajter.

Find all the wines on 2Bratanki.pl webshop or in the shop in Krakow!

In the name of the Villány producers we would like to thank Tomasz Witkowski for all his passionate work and we are happy to raise our glass together in Villány at the upcoming Franc & Franc conference on 24-25 November.

 

Read our earlier interview with Tomasz Witkowski

“Poland is a blank page to write on”

Gere Diófa guest house and Villány Red Wine Festival on 6–8 October

Gere Tamás & Zsolt winery has just released the first bottle of vintage 2023 – don’t be afraid, it is not an accelerated wine, it is pure grape juice. The restaurant of the estate also offers hot dishes, different plates every weekend. The guest house is ideally located for participants of Villány Red Wine Festival, a popular event on 6–8 October. Participants can buy entrance tickets on the spot to enjoy the tastings and concerts, however, for some side events registration is needed – for example for the barrel rolling contest on the 7th of October.

Villány Red Wine Festival

– The festival is an open air tasting with pop music shows in the event square of Villány with side events in the whole town.
– Tickets can be purchased in advance or on the spot.
– Barrel rolling: 16.00 on 7 October, meeting point: the raw of cellars in the centre of Villány
– Registration and more information here
– More about the event here (in Hungarian, but google can help)

The pure taste of Muscat

The newly released Gere Tamás & Zsolt bottle is not wine, but 100% Muscat Ottonel juice with all its juicy, rich flavours recalling summer. The juice is ideal for those who love the aromatic Muscat grape but from some reason cannot consume alcohol.
Diófa guest house also offers hot deals, the menu changes every week, just a few plates from this week: goulash soup made of venison, giant ‘wiener schnitzel‘ in panko breadcrumbs, apple strudel with custard.

Oasis under the walnut tree

Diófa guest house by Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery is an ideal place to stay if you want to “stay like a local”. “Diófa Pension lies in a quiet courtyard in the heart of Villány. Great atmosphere of the wine region and quality suitable for today’s demand.
We provide the comfort of our guests with 9 double rooms (3 are able to be furnished with extra bed) and a spacious family apartment suitable for 4-6 people. All rooms are equipped with LCD television, adjustable cooling – heating apparatus and own bathroom. Free wifi in all over the building. Cars of our guests are able to park free in the courtyard.” Diófa means ‘walnut tree’ and obviously there is a giant walnut tree in the courtyard.

More about Diófa Pension

Read our earlier article about Gere Zsolt Kadarka Rosé

Taste “Young Lady” in pink at Lake Balaton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ours was the 2nd most represented country

We are aware of the fact that this is not something like the legendary Paris Judgment, and certainly Hungary represented less than 10% of the wines. Yet it is great feedback that our Cabernet Franc wines – namely Villányi Franc wines – can meet international standards as well.

From 4 countries 78 wines entered a recent Cabernet Franc competition organized by California Wines and Wineries. Obviously, US was the most represented country with wines from 7 states (California, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington). Which is not obvious at all is that Hungary was the second most represented country behind the US, thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Smith wine writer and jury member of the contest. She participated in the last edition of Franc & Franc conference in Villány, Hungary and she worked hard to recruit Hungarian entries. Hungary was the second most represented country behind the US with 7 entries. Wines were tasted in 6 categories. Though the winner of the international category was an Italian wine (2017 Corti Brothers), Hungary won the most medals in this category with 1 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze.

Hungarian (Villány) medal winners

– Rejiji Villányi Franc Kopár Vineyard Villány 2017 (Super Premium) – Gold
100% Cabernet Franc
– Gere Villányi Franc Ördögárok Dűlő(Vineyard) Villány 2018 (Super Premium) – Silver
100% Cabernet Franc
– Chateau Teleki Villányi Franc Villány 2019 (Premium) – Silver
100% Cabernet Franc
– Jammertal KOH-I-NOOR 105.6 Villány 2018 – Silver
Cabernet Franc 96%, Merlot 2%, Syrah 2%
– Jammertal KOH-I-NOOR 105.6 Villány 2019 – Silver
Cabernet Franc 98%, Merlot 2%
– Jammertal Cassiopeia CF*CIH Villány 2017 – Silver
92% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot
– Bakonyi Péter Villányi Cabernet Franc 2020 (Classic) – Bronze
100% Cabernet Franc
Just one comment to this last wine: I (Ágnes Németh, editor of Hungarianwines.eu) personally really like this wine, very elegant, ethereal, fruit driven. Due to its featherlight character, it might shine less among more aged, more full bodied wines. Yet I recommend to taste it!

Judges of the contest

• Tom Bender, head judge. Tom has led California Sierra Foothill Competition for over 35 years, served as a California State Fair judge, and also is a wine writer and instructor at a local college
• Tana Cole, winemaker at Jessie’s Grove in Lodi, California
• Fran Cunniffe, DipWSET and Certified Sommelier
• Jim Denham, proprietor of The Wine Steward, former winemaker and educator
• Mike Dunne, retired food editor, wine columnist for the Sacramento Bee, distinguished judge at San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
• Debbie Miller, WSET 2 with distinction, wine steward at the Tipsy Frog in Copperopolis, California.
• Dr. Elizabeth Smith, WSET 3, wine writer, copywriter for Naked Wines USA

Read more about the contest by the chief organizer, Michael Kelly here