A wonderful article has just been posted by one our WebWineWriting winners, Andrea Lemieux on The Quirky Cork. The article is the first piece of a series about the 4 day study tour. Here she introduces Holdvölgy Winery and its wines. Andrea lives in Turkey, she was delighted to discover some “home scents” in Intuition Kabar: “All the exoticism of a Turkish spice bazar lives in this wine! Quincy-pear fruit sprinkled with honey pixie dust and bee pollen with candied citrus detail and notes of aromatic herbs and flowers. I could live in this wine. Full-bodied and silky on the palate and less obviously acidic than the previous two wines but oh so elegant.“

Only 1 percentage of Tokaj plantations

Kabar is an indigenous grape variety of Hungary, one of the few grapes allowed to use in Tokaj wine region, exclusively grown there. In fact it is an experimental strain previously known as Tarcal 10 that is a cross between Hárslevelű and Bouvier. It ripens at a similar time to Zéta, but produces lower yields. Kabar has a good tendency to accumulate sugar, botrytises well to become an aszú grape, but because of its thicker skin the aszú berries are less vulnerable to rainy periods. Kabar gives wines with some linden blossom on the nose and high acidity on the palate. The crossing was made in 1967 in Tarcal research centre and has been allowed in Tokaj wine region since 2006. Kabar represents only 1 percentage of Tokaj plantations.

Holdvölgy wine tasting and lunch took place in the stunning Paris Passage, a newly restored venue with a restaurant.

Cover photo features Andrea Lemieux at the 4th Hungarian Gettogether in the Castle of Siklós, photo by Rebeka Bánszegi.

Read the whole article by Andrea Lemieux

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