KNW red blend with a cauldron dish

While in many parts of the world cauldron is a pot for witches’ potions, in Hungary and the neighbouring countries cauldron is the obligatory equipment for the summer. We can practically cook anything in a cauldron, though goulash and stew are the most traditional meals to be cooked on open fire. Let us introduce a less usual recipe: duck breast & leg with root vegetables and red wine paired with Cool by Kovács Nimród Winery from Eger.

By Ágnes Németh

Varieties in smooth harmony

Kovács Nimród Winery has a whole line of wines “composed” to pair with music. “Jazz is a music of intimacy and spontaneity that is often inspired by a passing idea or feeling, which many times transforms into a blooming masterpiece of complexity, where the journey takes precedence. Just like jazz music: our Dixie, Cool, Blues, Rhapsody and Soul wines inspire you to take a journey through the different varietals that call Eger their stage.” We did so, we bought a bottle of Cool and let it inspire us. In a summer evening we created a dish that probably had not existed before, and certainly music accompanied us from the first step of cooking.

About Cool Nimród Kovács says the following: “This elegant cuvée presents a harmonic balance of the individual grape varieties, very much like the smooth harmony of musical instruments in the Miles Davis’ Cool jazz music.” The blend consists of 45% Syrah, 28% Kékfrankos, 20% Pinot Noir and 7% Cabernet Franc. The Pinot accounts for only 20%, for me it was still quite present in the wine, making it silky, somewhat ethereal. The wine aged in barrique (French, American and Hungarian) for 15 months. Used oak, so the barrel did not overtake the bright fruitiness of the wine. It was obvious that this wine should be paired with something delicate, this is why we decided on duck. We used breast and legs, however, the breast was much better, so good that we ate it all without taking a photo. The cover picture was made the other day with the leftover duck legs – well, cauldron dishes are even better the next day, so finally we were equally happy with the legs – especially because we had another bottle of Cool…

More about KNW Cool

For the recipe scroll down

KNW wines are available in several countries, you can see the partners here. In you are interested in importing KNW wines, contact Nimród Kovács.

 

 

 

… yet it does not try to imitate Rieslings. Finesse and elegance from start to finish” – this description comes from a wine blogger, Zoltán Németi, who considers the protagonist of his post, Barta Öreg Király single vineyard Furmint 2018 “simply one of the greatest dry Tokaji Furmints” he has ever tasted. I can only agree: I (Ágnes Németh – editor of Hungarianwines.eu) had the chance to present this wine at Wine Paris last February, and it was a huge success. The experts who tasted it, did not want to taste anything else afterwards. So Zoltán Németi is absolutely right. The last time I was lucky enough to receive a bottle of this heavenly wine, I hid in the kitchen with my sister, even tough there were guests outside, we did not share a single drop with others. So the only negative about this wine is that it makes you a nasty, envy person…
Because of the residual sugar of the wine, honey and orange glazed duck is recommended by the estate. “Marinate the duck with rosemary, garlic and olive oil, then roast for around 20 minutes at 200 °C and then another some 3 hours at 160 °C. Meanwhile prepare a syrup with balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, honey and orange. Glaze the duck with the syrup and put it back into the oven for another 20 minutes to get a nice, crisp skin.”

More food pairings with recipes

Read the whole description by Zoltán Németi

More about Barta Estate