Treasures from the chief winemaker’s wine vault

Who says that reductive wines should be drunk young? Ákos Kamocsay, the award winning chief winemaker of Hilltop Neszmély has proved the opposite several times. On the 20th of January 8 super exciting wines will be poured to give another evidence about the ageing potential of reductive white wines. The wines are available to purchase, the minimum quantity is 20, the maximum is 200 bottles.

Ákos Kamocsay and his team have collecting samples from each vintage since 1993. I am one of the few lucky people who could taste a wine from Hilltop wine vault. It was about 12 years ago, I am ashamed of it but I can’t find my notes, I don’t remember the variety, all I remember – but I remember very vividly – is the fascination I felt when I tasted the wine. It was a team harvest with my colleagues, and after tha hard day’s work Ákos Kamocsay took us to the cellar. Noble rot on the walls, dust on the pale, faded labels. Then we tasted a reductive white wine (maybe it was a Chardonnay?), and we were all amazed. It was lively, full of aromas and flavours, the body was round and full and the aftertaste lingered with us for long minutes. At the time of the birth of that wine Hilltop experimented with “cryo maceration”, but as later Ákos Kamocsay explained, the secret is the careful choice of the harvest, the method of vinification and the way of storing. “20–25 years after bottling white wines show a completely different face of them. More complex, more developed. The bottles may be covered by dust and noble rot, the labels might be faded, but the inside of the bottle is very much alive.”
I recommend wine enthusiasts to participate in this time travel, it will be really unforgettable.
Ágnes Németh

Date and time: 20 January, 18.00–22.00
Venue: Zengő wine bar, 1088 Budapest, Krúdy Gyula utca 6, Hungary
Wine list:

• Kamocsay Olaszrizling 2021
• Kamocsay Olaszrizling 2017
• Kamocsay Ihlet Cuvée 2021
• Hilltop Cuvée 1995
• Kamocsay Chardonnay 2021
• Hilltop Chardonnay 1999 Virgin Vintage
• Hilltop Chardonnay 1997
• Hilltop Ezerjó 1995 sweet

Price online: 17 900 HUF (about 45 euro)
Price at the venue: 19 900 HUF (about 50 euro)
Tickets are available here.

More about Neszmély Hilltop

Kamocsay Premium Chardonnay– winner of Hungarian Wine Grand Prix 2021

Kamocsay Premium Chardonnay – The Best Hungarian White Wine