Old King has solidified its throne

The Best in Show acknowledgement went to Juliet Victor, a young winery, congratulations, what a success story!
Barta Cellar is another real success story – we have reported about the praising reviews and the acknowledgements several times. This relatively young estate has its vineyard in one of the oldest, steepest and most valuable vineyards of Mád, Tokaj. Barta 6 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú Öreg Király 2016 (‘Öreg Király’ means ‘Old King’) is one of the 5 Platinum winners, and proved once again the merit of the terroir and the skill of the winemaker. As Vivien Ujvári, winemaker of Barta Cellar commented, ‘This wine is timeless. It will be as amazing in decades as it is now, while this aszú is also about reaching the extremes, crossing boundaries. Elegant wine with endless length.’

The other Platinum winners are: Sauska 5 puttonyos aszú 2017,  Dobogó 6 puttonyos aszú 2013, Harsányi 6 puttonyos aszú 2016, Kern 5 puttonyos aszú 2014.

More about Tokaji Aszú

More about Barta Cellar

Red success – over the barrique age

Most of the gold winner Hungarian wines arrived from Tokaj as well, for example Dereszla 5 and 6 puttonyos aszú wines from 2016 and 2010 or Grand Tokaj dessert wine from 2013. However, what we can also see this year, is the wide recognition of Hungarian red wines, mainly among the silver winners. As Regional Chair for North, Central & Eastern Europe, Beth Willard commented, ‘I think that there’s an overall improvement in the qualityof the flights overall, mainly because the wines are really balanced and fresh, but showing incredible varietal character so that’s really exciting. It’s really great to see some of the reds from Eastern Europe, so countries like Moldova, Romania and Hungary, showing a lot more freshness and really great quality oak. The wines are a lot more balanced, so we’ve had some standout wines from those regions.’

Indeed, the winemakers understood the call for freshness and left the overoaked wines behind.

– Sauska has long been famous for its elegant red wines, and again it collected a silver medal besides its Platinum. The silver went to Sauska Kékfrankos 2017, which is a great pleasure for us since Kékfrankos is our most important native red variety.

– Kadarka is another indigenous grape of ours, and it is not often honoured with medals, mainly because this sensitive grape is very hard to handle. Tóth Ferenc Winery from Eger managed to win a silver medal for its Superior Kadarka 2018!

– ‘Cabernet Franc has found its new home in Villány’ – as we keep saying after Michael Broadbent, and thanks God the success of Franc in Villány, the so called Villányi Franc has proved its potential again, among others with Csányi Winery Kővilla Válogatás Villányi Franc 2015.

To see all Hungarian medal winners click here

The largest contest in the world

‘Over 28 consecutive days in August, 116 of the world’s top wine experts, including 37 Masters of Wine and nine Master Sommeliers, blind tasted 16,518 wines under strict Covid safety guidelines, resulting in 50 Best in Show, 178 Platinum, 537 Gold, 5,234 Silver and 7,508 Bronze medals.‘ – with these statistics Decanter World Wine Award is undoubtedly the largest international wine contest.

Summary of this year’s DWWA

Over the course of two weeks, 280 of the world’s top wine experts blind tasted close to 17,000 wines. This culminated in 50 Best in Show medals, 148 Platinum, 480 Gold, 4,164 Silver and 7,376 Bronze medals being given out. France, Spain and Australia were the most successful countries, and Mexico was the biggest surprise with a 46% medal increase since 2018.

Hungarian Platinum winners

Out of the only 148 Platinum awards Hungary received 3. We are proud to announce that Béres 6 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú 2013, Holdvölgy Culture 6 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú 2012 and Juliet Victor Édes Szamorodni 2016 are our Platinum winners, all from the „wine region of the kings”, from Tokaj. The latest one, Juliet Victor is the youngest winery in Tokaj, what’s more they won with a Szamorodni, not an Aszú. Szamorodni is an ancientstyle of Tokaj with less sugar than that of an Aszú, and also with less botrytised berries.

Decanter evaluation: 97 scores
„Luxurious, viscous and silky, but with fabulous integration of acidity. The nose leads on acacia blossom, quince, saffron and honey, while the mouth-coating palate delights with elegant sweetness of mango, ginger and stone fruits.”

Hungarian Gold winners

This year Hungary brought home 7 gold medals, 6 wines from Tokaj and one sparkling wine from Somló. The Tokaj wines are: Füleky 6 puttonyos, Grand Tokaj Eszencia, Gróf Degenfeld Andante Furmint, Gróf Degenfeld Szamorodni, Holdvölgy Vision, Kvaszinger 6 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú. The bottle fermented sparkling wine was made by Kreinbacher Estate, a state-of-art winery of volcanis Somló with several international ackowledgements. This year their non vintage Classic Brut (72% Chardonnay, 28% Furmint) deserved the gold medal.

Decanter evaluation: 96 scores:
„Great elegance and complexity, with refined autolysis notes of biscuit and bread, plus deeper toasty flavours underneath the mouth-filling, intense, generous and lingering citrus fruits.”

Sing and „drink” the national anthem

Esszencia or Eszencia (both single and double s spelling is correct) is a uniqe style in Tokaj, it is considered the „nectare of Gods”, and it is even mentioned in the national anthem of Hungary. The aszú grapes are hand picked, stored, and the resulting free run juice is fermented over several years. It has very low alcohol (never above 6%) and extremely high sugar (above 450 g/l). This year Grand Tokaj’s Eszencia (34% Furmint, 33% Hárslevelű, 33% Muscat Blanc)won gold medal at Decanter World Wine Award.

Decanter’s evaluation: 96 scores
„Incredibly complex, rich, almost ethereal, with beautiful, syrupy fruit of peach, orange, caramelised almonds and honeycomb, completed by an incredible, never-ending finish.”

– How did you encounter Hungarian wines at all?

–I have had a love affair with Budapest for over thirty years going back to Communist days.  Then there was very little good wine to be found in the shops (at least at a price I could afford).  But there were always gifts of Muskotály, Tokaji and Pálinka either to take home or from visiting friends.

– Do you remember the first Hungarian wines you have tasted in the UK?

–Meanwhile, in the UK there was only Egri Bikavér and very cheap Olaszrizling. At the time both were in competition with cheap Australian and the latter would generally win as it was more widely known. Gradually good wine became available in Budapest and my palate matured. Again, I’d try to find Hungarian wine back in the UK but the situation hadn’t change much and going to a specialist importer was not really in my thinking. Aldi and Lidl didn’t exist: one was left with the big supermarket chains.

When passion initiated

– Now you are really passionate about Hungarian wines. How did you fall in love with them?

– There were two turning points for me. First, going to the Budapest Wine Festival in 2017. It was amazing to see how many different regions and grapes were available. Quality Hárslevelű and Kékfrankos were a new experience as was really good quality Furmint. Robert Smyth’s book ‘Hungarian Wine’ was purchased and I actively started seeking out Hungarian wine in the UK. Second and simultaneously, I was studying for WSET Level 2 then 3. Prior to going to the festival, I scanned Decanter World Wine Awards for 2016 and tried to find some of the suppliers at the festival. It was an interesting experience. Some were quite off-hand wanting only to talk to those in the trade. Others often the smaller more selective vineyards were so keen to show off their wine and discuss the terroir. Nonetheless by the end of the festival I’d made a few new friends and realised that Hungarian wine can be every bit as good as any other wine in the world. Indeed, in many ways it is one of the most terroir expressive wines.  The dilemma facing most vineyards is how to market their wines outside their biggest market, Hungary.

Béres Vineyard and Winery received gold medal for Tokaji Aszú 5 puttonyos 2008 in 2016 at Decanter World Wine Awards, it was one of the wines Monica had on her scanned guide to taste at Budapest Wine Festival. Now vintage 2011 is available.

Considering a new carrier

• Have you visited any wine regions in Hungary?
• Yes, all of this this made me decide to go and explore different regions in 2018 and specifically Mád and Balatonfüred. Visits to various vineyards and restaurants left me wanting to know and taste more and to become an ambassador for Hungarian wines in the UK. Maybe even a second career in the Hungarian wine trade.

Grand Tokaj Kővágó Furmint 2014 received silver medal in 2016 at Decanter World Wine Awards, it was one of the wines Monica had on her scanned guide to taste at Budapest Wine Festival. Now vintage 2015 is available.

• What would you suggest to people who haven’t tasted Hungarian wines yet?
• For anyone new to Hungarian wine (leaving aside the King of Wines which most people know) an excellent starting point is good Furmint (not the cheap stuff from the major retailers), Hárslevelű and Kékfrankos. Seek a specialist supplier, tell them what wine you like and they will advise and you will be delighted.

Vesztergombi Cellar’s Kékfrankos Selection 2012 received silver medal in 2016 at Decanter World Wine Awards, it was one of the wines Monica had on her scanned guide to taste at Budapest Wine Festival. Now vintage 2016 is available.

Kristinus Sommelier Line proves its value

The relatively new wine label of Kristinus Wine Estate, the so called Sommelier Line is meant for gastronomy, and made with special care. One of the silver winners belong to Sommelier Line, while the other one, Utopia is a new label. The bronze winners are Kristinus Sauvignon Blanc Selection 2016, Cabernet Sauvignon Selection 2015 and Sommelier Pinot Noir 2015.

• Silver winner Kristinus Sommelier Merlot 2015

Dark ruby colour. Ripened cherry, sour cherry, dark chocolate and earthy notes on the nose with a hint of coconut and sweetish barrel spices. Medium acidity, medium body, medium alcohol and smooth tannins. Blackberry and lovely, clear cocoa in the aftertaste. Fruity and complex, ready to drink now but it will surely benefit from further bottle ageing. Sommelier Merlot won gold medal at the other prestigious Asian competition, at China Wine&Spirit Awards.

• Silver winner Kristinus Utopia 2017

Utopia is made of 49% Chardonnay, 35% Sauvignon Blanc and 16% Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris) and aged in half new, half used oak for 6 months. The medium bodied wine has a balanced acidity with apple, lychee and citrus fruits. Lovely, juicy wine ready to drink but can also be kept for some more years. The wine won a silver medal at  China Wine&Spirit Awards and at VinAgora 2018 international competition as well. According to DAWA judges: “Concentrated layers of ripe pear, herbal tea and apple with a vibrant acid core and a mellow, rounded lemony texture.”

Pyramid of medals

DWWA has more categories than most of the contests. Here is how they categorize wines:

1. Top: Platinum Best in Show (only 25 wines, no Hungarian wines here)
2. Platinum Best in Category (175 wines, among them 4 Hungarian wines!)
3. Gold medal winners (455 wines, 10 Hungarian wines)
4. Silver medal winners (3340 wines, 34 Hungarian wines)
5. Bronze medal winners (7038 wines, again 34 Hungarian wines)
6. Commended wines (3651 wines, 21 Hungarian wines)

This pyramid and the number of entries prove that it is a prestige indeed to be awarded at this wine competition. To gain a Platinum, when only 175 wines got this trophy out of the 17 200 wines – well, it is something!

In „Platinum” Limelight

We keep saying that méthod traditionelle sparkling wine from Hungary is something to watch. Here is a new evidence: Kreinbacher Classic Brut from Somló has won Platinum, the first sparkling platinum for Hungary! Kreinbacher Classic Brut was made of Furmint grape (with a touch of Chardonnay), and was aged 22 months on the lees. The vineyard plantation and the creation of Classic Brut was supervised by Christian Forget chef du cave from Paul Bara Champagne. Hungary is a kind of „used to receiving rewards” for the stunning sweet wines of Tokaj, but a sparkling praised so high is new for us and makes us very glad.

Pajzos Tokaj: double trophy!

The winery from Tokaj has an amazing achievment this year: they have won two Platinum Best in Category awards:
– Pajzos 5 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú, 2011 (96 points, the highest score for Hungary)
– Pajzos Late Harvest Hárslevelű, 2013 (95 points)
This latest wine again proves the potentian of Hárslevelű grape. Apart from Pajzos, another winery from Tokaj, Szent Tamás has won a Platinum as well with their Szent Tamás Furmint 2013.

10 gold medals: 8 Tokaj, 2 Balaton

Out of the ten Hungarian gold medals 8 wines comes from Tokaj, all of them are sweet wines.
Chateau Dereszla has double gold:
– Chateau Dereszla 6 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú, 2008
– Chateau Dereszla 5 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú, 2010
The other winery from Tokaj with double gold is Royal Tokaji:
– Royal Tokaji Blue Label 5 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú, 2013
– Royal Tokaji Gold Label 6 puttonyos Tokaji Aszú, 2013
The other gold winning wineries: Grand Tokaj, Holdvölgy, Hétszőlő, Szent Tamás.
The two gold medals for Balaton region were awarded to Villa Sandahl, Badacsony:

– Citrus x Limon Genesis Vineyard, 2015
– Dry Honey Bishop Backyard Vineyard, 2015.

More medals

Apart from the stunning results detailed above, Hungary has won 34 silver medals, most of them for Tokaj, again some for Balaton, and Villány, the southern red wine region of Hungary also got silver (Bock Cellar, Csányi Winery, Heumann and Sauska), and Etyek–Buda wine region has four silver, too (Nyakas and Törley), Tolna region has one (Tűzkő). Hungary has won 34 bronze medals, too, and 21 wines have been have been awarded Commended.

Fort he full list of results click here