My mother’s pogácsa recipe

Vesztergombi Kadarka, Szekszárd, 2016

Szekszárd is famous for Kadarka variety, and Ferenc Vesztergombi, who was awarded the prestigious Winemaker of the Year in 1993, is an enthusiastic producer of the variety along with his son, Csaba Vesztergombi. They were the first to organize a vertical tasting of their Kadarka wines to prove that yes, Kadarka has an ageing potential, and with time the notes become more complex, deeper. Their Kadarka wine comes from a 100 year old plantation, fermented in stainless steel and aged in large casks. „When we blend it with other varieties, we always keep the dominant characteristics of Kadarka in mind. We believe that good Kadarka wines need about 10% botrytised berries to achieve the unmistakable aromas of Szekszárd Kadarka.”

Gróf Buttler Kadarka, Eger, 2014

Eger is the other important region for Kadarka, especially Nagy-Eged mountain with unique mesoclimate. The type of the soil (rendzina soil) has a strong influence on the character of the wines. Gróf Buttler winery shares the opinion that Kadarka is great with some botrytised grapes, and as a consequence their Kadarka is „extremely intense and rich on the nose, in which we meet the character of botrytis. Rich in sweet spices, sweet, fully ripe red and forest fruits. Concentrated, deep, complex, full bodied wine, where the crisp acids give liveliness. Has a long ageing potential.” The wine is fermented in stainless steel and aged partially in large barrel.

 

Koch Kadarka, Hajós–Baja, 2015

Hajós–Baja is a wine region much less known than the above mentioned two ones, but some pioneers, like Csaba Koch have recently placed the wine region on the wine map of good wines in Hungary. Koch Kadarka is fermented in wooden vat and aged in big barrel. „This beautiful Kadarka wine reflects the warmth of vintage 2015 and its aromas and flavours express the richness of the black soil of ‘Bácska’ territory. The wooden vat fermentation and barrel ageing makes it spicy, velvety, vivid – full of fire!”

 

• Antonio Banderas and ’Butterfly’

The actor himself is involved in wine business since he founded Anta Banderas winery in Ribera del Duero, Spain. Attila Sutus is one of the most experienced sommeliers in the country after several years spent in the United Kingdom. Last year Mr Banderas had dinner in Baraka restaurant in Budapest, a French–Asian fine dining restaurant, where Attila was the head sommelier at that time.  As Attila reported, Mr Banderas asked for the sommelier’s recommendation, and he accepted it with pleasure. One memorable wine for him consumed at Baraka is Pillangó (’Butterfly’), a single vineyard Merlot from Vylyan, Villány. Actor Ashton Kutcher and his wife, Mila Kunis also relied on the sommelier’s expertise: Ashton chose the degustation menu with wine pairing.

• Bill Clinton and NJK

Nimród Kovács, owner of Kovács Nimród Winery made a carrier in the United States, and as a successful businessman, he had the chance to meet former US president, Bill Clinton several times. Nimród believes – and it is much more than a dream – that his wines made in great terroirs in Eger wine region have the potential to be paired with top wines of the world, and of course he did not miss the opportunity to make Mr Clinton taste the flagship wine of the winery called NJK. „Clinton found NJK a lovely, elegant wine!” – recalls Nimród Kovács.

• Schwarzenegger loved Sir Irsai
  

The former actor – now Californian governor Arnold Swarzenegger tasted Sir Irsai from Haraszthy Winery in a Los Angeles restaurant – he liked it so much that he returned and ordered more. Irsai Olivér is an aromatic indigenous grape variety in Hungary, and when made with care and attention, it can give a rich, luscious yet elegant white wine. Haraszthy Winery is situated in Etyek, however the owner is from Argentina, who has vineyards back in Argentina (Palo Alto, Mendoza) and also in California (Tartara, Santa Barbara).

• Christopher Lambert and Gróf Buttler Merlot

Tom George is a fancy Italian restaurant in Budapest, popular among celebrities. The above mentioned ex-president tasted several wines at Tom George when once dining there – as we learnt from József Kovács head sommelier, who has worked there for more than 15 years. When actor Christopher Lambert worked on the American–Hungarian movie called Day of Wrath, after work he often visited the restaurant. He tasted Gróf Buttler Merlot 2003 from Eger, and he liked it so much – his signature was printed on the label later on.

• Plácido Domingo and his own Bock blend

The world famous tenor opera singer loves the wines of Villány, and last June the city of Pécs, south of Hungary saw an exceptional first night: Traviata on the stage, and Plácido Domingo Classics Selection 2012 red blend in the glasses! The relationship between the singer and Bock winery goes back to 2008, when the mayor of Pécs took him to see the neighbouring Villány and taste the wines of the region, including the wines of József Bock. The maestro has visited Bock Cellar since 2008 several times, and this special blend of the 2012 vintage has been chosen by him. Plácido Domingo is keen on the full bodied red wines, and the Plácido Domingo Classics Selection 2012 is absolutely a wine to meet his requirements.

• Jodie Kidd supermodel and Sauska Tokaj

The British model owns a village pub in England called The Half Moon. The blonde model takes the job seriously, thus she offers gourmet food made of quality ingredients, and an amazing wine list inspired by her travels. Besides the interesting – and in some cases terrific – English wines you can find the international stars, and you can spot some amazing pieces from less known wine countries, like Turkey or Hungary. From Hungary a dry Furmint and a Tokaji Aszú dessert wine are offered, both from Sauska winery, Tokaj.

• Jolie & Pitt and Michelin star Costes wine selection

The dream couple stayed in Budapest for a long time while Angelina Jolie was shooting her film about the Yugoslavian war (Budapest is an often used scenery no matter if the movie is set in Moscow or any other Eastern European countries). In Hungary they visited the producer Andy Vajna’s restaurant, Nobu, which had its opening ceremony at that time. They also visited the first Michelin star restaurant in Budapest, Costes. Costes is famous for its wine collection, and the couple – whe were also involved in wine busines through Chateau Miraval, Provence – relied on Costes expertise and chose Costes degustation menu. No records of what they drank back then in 2010, buti f you follow their path, you can taste wines like the méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine by Béres Winery from Tokaj.

Do you have any stories about world famous personalities drinking Hungarian wines? Let us know so that we can publish them!  info@hungarianwines.eu

Django, Keoma and leader of Hungarian conquestors

The blue eyed, still very handsome Italian actor is 75 years old now, and maybe few people now that before Quentin Tarantino there was an older version of Django, which happens to be the first success of Franco Nero. He has since appeared in more than 200 movies around the world, working with Europe’s top directors, such as Luis Buñuel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Claude Chabrol, Sergey Bondarchuk, Mihalis Kakogiannis, Elio Petri, Marco Bellocchio, Enzo G. Castellari, among many others. He has a rich career full of historic and comic films, many western movies like ’Keoma’, and a lesser known (though very long) epic movie about the foundation of Hungary, called ’Honfoglalás’ (Conquest of homeland).

Eger – the European Capital of Culture?

Franco Nero was invited to officially open the festival of the regions most famous red blend, the Bikavér of Eger. The actor was invited by the town of Eger, which is an aspirant city for the title of the European Capital of Culture. His host was the famous Hungarian artist, Lajos Koltai. He is a cinematographer and director, known for movies like Malena and Sunshine. During his visit Franco Nero acted in an image film about Eger for the competition of becoming the European Capital of Culture in 2023. This year the two cities holding this precious title are Aarhus (Denmark) and Pafos (Cyprus).

4 days of ’jammy blood’                                                 

Bikavér Feast last weekend was again a big hit full of happy visitors, sampling several Bikavér wines all along with a matching dish.
Some memorable Bikavér–food pairings from the feats, which you can try upon your next visit to Eger in the below mentioned restaurants:

• Gróf Buttler Winery Egri Bikavér 2013

with smoked red wine and herb porchetta with rucola, dried tomatoes, served in bagels by ZuzmÓ! BBQ Garden, Eger

• Egri Borvár / Tóth Ferenc Winery Egri Bikavér Superior 2013

with beef cheeks in Sichuan pepper and Bikavér gravy with ceps and cherry couscous by Zsálya Bistro, Eger.

• Kovács Nimród Egri Bikavér Monopole Rhapsody 2013

with oven-baked pork belly with roasted early potatoes and icy home-made leavened cucumbers by Forst Restaurant, Eger

• Thummerer Egri Bikavér Superior 2011

with grilled pork belly with cornpone and home-made vegetable jam by Balneo Hotel Zsóri, Mezőkövesd

Etyeki Kúria is situated in Etyek, near the capital, only a short drive from Budapest. Their next big thing is ChardonnÉJ on 24 June (the name of the event is a pun with the pronounciation of the famous grape and the Hungarian world ’éj’, which means ’night’), a great tasting event organized by Etyeki Kúria. You can taste still and sparkling Chardonnay wines from the host and from invited Hungarian wineries (like Babarczi from Pannonhalma, Gróf Buttler from Eger, Pajzos-Megyer and Sauska from Tokaj and many others). Of course there will be music accompanying this event, too: Random Trip, a formation with talented musicians and Juli Fábián, a wonderful singer with stunning voice.

Tickets: 9800 HUF (around 32 euros) and include the bus transfer from and to Budapest (however for the transfer you need to register in advance).

More about the event

Wine and much more

The event stage will be busy with cooking shows delivered by star chefs, and the visitors can learn how to open a champagne bottle by a sabre. Divino, the wine bar chain offering Junibor (the association of young winemakers) wines with the zest of these young winemakers, while Bortársaság, one of Hungary’s most important wine merchant will provide outstanding quality wines among others from Sauska (Tokaj and Villány). There will be craft beer and ’pálinka’ of course, the local spirit.

And a last word on food: don’t miss the legendary sausage, ’debrecziner’ originating from Debrecen!

Tickets: only 1000 HUF (3.2 euros) in advance and 2000 HUF ont he spot.

More information

 

 

1. Open cellar weekend, ’Hoppáré’, Babarczi Winery

This weekend is – thanks God, literally – a long weekend, because Monday is a day off as well commemorating the Holy Spirit. In Hungary this weekend is traditionally a wine tasting weekend, cellars „open their doors” all over the country. Babarczi is a family winery in the spectacular Pannonhalma wine region, they produce one of the best Irsai Olivér in the whole country, and their Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc is also stunning. This weekend, on 4 June they are welcoming guests with a whole day program: tasting from 11 am, food by ’Gombakuckó’ (something like Mushroom Shed) and Hoppáré concert at 7 pm, a band that makes your mood lighthearted for sure! Pre-registration is needed: info@babarczipince.hu

2. Chamber music and much more in the vineyard

Etyeki Kúria is situated in Etyek, near the capital, only a short drive from Budapest. They are full of ideas, last Saturday for example they invited Republic Quartet, a band which played different kind of music. Chamber music, cool wine, sunset in the vineyard – amazing. Their next big thing is Chardonnéj on 24 June (the name of the event is a pun with the pronounciation of the famous grape and the Hungarian world ’éj’, which means ’night’), a great tasting event organized by Etyeki Kúria. You can taste still and sparkling Chardonnay wines from the host and from invited Hungarian wineries (like the above mentioned Babarczi, plus Gróf Buttler from Eger, Pajzos-Megyer and Sauska from Tokaj and many others). Of course there will be music accompanying this event, too: Random Trip, a formation with talented musicians and Juli Fábián, a wonderful singer with stunning voice. Tickets cost 9800 HUF (around 32 euros).

3. Csetvei Cellar – the love of wine and music

As we wrote earlier, the Csetvei-Machán love story is touchy in itself, makes you smile and urge you to taste their wines and listen to their music. Since the couple from the tiny wine region of Mór cannot do anything else, but their beloved profession, Krisztina goes on making her beautiful wines, and her husband, Frigyes Machán, alias DJ Nesta finds the perfect match for each wine. Napholdcsillag (SunMoonStar) is the most wellknown blend of the winery, and Nesta recommends a special piano music for this wine: „When you don’t feel like thinking of the meaning of life, there’s notheing better you can do than drinking wine and listening to good music.” As he says, the classical, the jazz and the popular elements of Keith Jarret musician’s work make a harmonious outcome, just like Chardonnay, Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris) and Ezerjó, the three grape varieties of Napholdcsillad integrate in the resulting wine. And the professional adds something important: if you like the music, pay for that (for example buy a vinyl), and if you like the wine, buy a crate.

If you are interested in the other wine and music pairings of the couple, let us know!

And „listen to” ’Napholdcsillag’

4. Jazz, French bands and French varieties at Attila Gere

Gere Jazz Festival a serious event in terms of location, artists and wines. Not serious of course if you are there, the event will be great fun. The 2 day jazz program on 9–10 June boasts with 6 great muscians / bands, 3 each day. Veronika Harcsa with her airial, still strong and unique voice is famous all over the world, and the other day’s superstar, Nouvelle Vague is a French band with easy to understand jazz. The winery offers some French (Bordeaux grapes) to go well with the music, but if you are there, do not miss their areated sparkling wines, both white and rosé, called „Frici”. Ticket for 2 days: 24 900 HUF (80 euros), but one day tickets are also available.

5. Music on the label

And if live music in the vineyard or wine&music pairing is not enough, here you have some wines with music on the label, and music in the soul of the winemaker when it was made.

• Phantom – not of the Opera, but from the best vineyards of Gróf Buttler Winery. This wine is made of Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir, the best selected fruit, and the resulting full bodied, concentrated wine has a great aging potential.
• Bock&Roll is a blend of Kékfrankos, Syrah and Pinot Noir in equal proportion, aged in second use oak barrel for 18 months in Bock Cellar, Villány. Taste it and let’s rock!
• Soul, Blues and Rhapsody: the different genres stand for different wines: Soul Syrah, Rhapsody Bikavér and Blues Kékfrankos, all made with the great care and musical attitude at Kovács Nimród Winery.

Music and wine together is great fun! If you have discovered a good ’Wine&Music’ pairing, let us know!