Dubicz Winery and Vineyard, Mátra

A family winery, mother and daughter with great ideas, stamina, talent and a superb terroir. Mátra is still a region to be discovered, though thanks to Dubicz estate and some  enthusiastic pioneers, a lot happens in the largest mountainous wine region of Hungary. There is.a new community wine called MyMátra made of aromatic grapes, and there are high end wines from single vineyards like Dubicz wines from Sárhegy, a historic vineyard. “As the southernmost member of former volcanos, still on the surface, the Sár Hill has become a hill of really special composition. It consists of fragmented igneous rocks in the top regions, with loess deposit at the bottom, which is one of the best possible combinations together with its southern location for quality wine grapes.”

The aromatic wines of the estate are perfect to start with (MyMátra, Irsai Olivér) and certainly it is a must to taste the wines from Sárhegy: Sárhegy Olaszrizling 2019 and a novelty, Sárhegy Kékfrankos 2019.

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Heumann Winery, Villány

While the above Mátra winery offers a whole range of white wines and a few exciting red wines, Heumann from the southernmost wine region of Hungary is just the opposite: a portfolio of award winning, outstanding red wines with a few white wines. Their Rhine Riesling fascinates experts and wine enthusiasts in every vintage, as the owner, Erhard Hemann says it is due to the Siklós terroir, since it is different from the soil of Villány. The soil of Siklós is mainky loess rich in limestone, which favours Rhine Riesling variety.
The red wines of Heaumann estate are legendary. La Trinitá, Terra Tartaro – whichever vintage you come accross, you will find gold medals and high scores from renowned critics. They are really unmissable to taste – we had the chance to taste them in several vintages, thus these words are based on facts and personal experiences. For example La Trinità  2017 is among the latest Top 12 Villányi Franc – but if there were a Top 3 selection, it would be there, too.

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Feind Winery, Balaton

We have recommended an estate with a great selection of white wines, another one with strong red focus, and now we will recommend Feind, another family winery from the corner of our beloved Lake Balaton with a really wide portfolio from sparkling wines through rose wines to great, velvety, luscious Syrah wines. State-of-the-art machinery, a French winemaker, enthusiastic team, ideally posed vineyards. The sparkling plant of the estate is brand new, now they are capable to make bottle fermented sparkling wines as well as charmat method wines. The still whites are also successful, jus one example: at the latest Asia Wine Trophy Feind Sauvignon Blanc 2021 and Feind Reason 2019 and Feind Choice 2018 received gold medal, the latter one great gold.
If you want to try something really rich and bombastic, taste the above mentioned Feind Choice, a late harves sweet wine made of Zeus grape, with some botrytis (and 175 g/l residual sugar). And what did Tamlyn Currin(JancisRobinson.com) say about the wine? “Golden. Smells like golden syrup on the nose. Koeksisters and konfyt and gingerroot cooked and drenched in syrup. Clove spice. Instant-coffee note. This is very, very sweet. An interesting planed sandalwood lift to the finish.” 16 points out of 20. (Koeksisters is an African type of sweets.)
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https://feind.hu/?lang=en

The best rosé of the smartest brains

The Academy wine selection has become a tradition, and this year, at the 13th edition 75 wineries entered 204 wines. The president of the jury was again Dr Tamás Freund, the world famous brain scientist. The winner rosé is Feind Cabernet Rosé 2021, a blend of 68% Cabernet Franc and 32% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fruity, crispy, lovely rosé, its recommended retail price is only around 4 euros. 100 000 bottles were made and closed with screwcap.

Taste them in the brand new wine bar of Feind Winery! The owner and and the architect dreamed of a tasting place of relaxed atmosphere and this short video shows that they have achieved this aim.

Sweet, sparkling and red

Tamlyn Currin, wine writer of JancisRobinson.com tasted Choice, a dessert wine made of Zeus grape. Tamlyn Currin gave 16 points to the wine: “Golden. Smells like golden syrup on the nose. Koeksisters and konfyt and ginger root cooked and drenched in syrup. Clove spice. Instant-coffee note. This is very, very sweet. An interesting planed sandalwood lift to the finish.” (Koeksisters is an African type of sweets.)

Borsmenta online wine magazine has recently published a review of Feind Coupé Brut, charmat method sparkling wine made of Sauvignon Blanc. The wine received 84 points out of 100 for its refrehing, lovely character and its ppleasant aromas typical of the variety.

Tamlyn Currin tasted Feind Cabernet Franc 2017 as well, and even though Balatonfüred is not a region known for Franc wines, she gave the wine 15.5 points, and she pointed out how “generous” the wine is: “Tinned strawberries and cherry jam and toasted-coconut oak spice. Big and sweet and generous…” – though she missed the subtle nuances.

When I visited the estate, one of my favourite was their Syrah, and we agreed with my colleague that their particular terroir is really suitable for Syrah. Their 2017 is fruity full of red fruits and plum, but there is a playful spicy tone throughout the nose and the palate. A beautiful wine to enjoy the sunset over Lake Balaton!

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