Babarczi Estate Red with easy-to-make wine bites

‘Birtok’ means ‘estate’, and the estate wine is supposed to represent the style of the winery and the price is usually affordable. A wine to welcome guests at any time. Recently Vince wine magazine had a panel tasting of “estate red wines” – great idea –, and this new release from Pannonhalma received good review. We also tasted it – and we loved it! What is more, we got inspired and we made some typical Hungarian, easy-to-make wine bites.

Photo: Emma Katalin Dobos

Babarczi Birtokvörös 2022, Pannonhalma

Grapes: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon
Vince magazine panel: “Ruby colour. The nose reveals ripened sour cherry, subtle spices and barrel notes with a hint of vanilla. Refreshing, juicy palate with a pinch of tartness. Sour cherry, redcurrant, pomegranate. Easy-drinking with silky texture and medium length.”
Retail price is only 3300 HUF (approximately 8 EUR).
More about Babarczi Vineyard and Winery

Scroll down for the recipes!

3 easy-to-make wine bites

The refreshing acidity of the wine pairs well with the greasiness of the recommended three wine bites. They are easy to make, but also heavy enough to make us pick a red wine instead of a white.

– Cottage cheese spread
The Hungarian name is ‘körözött’ meaning ‘circled’, referring to the movement of our hand when mixing cottage cheese with spices. Hungarian cottage cheese is greasy, yet quite dry, therefore we mix it with a bit of sour cream to make it easier to spread. In other countries cottage cheese has more liquid, in that case no sour cream is needed.
You can create your own ‘körözött’ to your liking, the most typical spices include paprika and ground garlic. I used only salt, ground caraway (because I love it) and freshly cut chives.

– Crackling spread
We call crackling ‘tepertő’ or ‘töpörtyű’, and it can made of pork, goose or duck. The cracklings are usually salty, so be carefully when making the spread. You simply have to grind or make it smooth with a hand mixer, if it is too dry, add some olive oil or butter. Then spice it as you wish, you can add mustard, pepper, onion, garlic, some people add boiled eggs, sour cream. I only added some drops of olive oil, some purple onion and garlic.

– Creamy cheese and onion jam with red wine
For the onion jam simply cut some onion into small cubes, fry them, then add some red wine and cook it slowly for as long as you can. I like cooking for at least two hours, always adding some more red wine when needed. Add a pinch of salt and some honey at the end. Put some creamy cheese on a toast and spread some of the jam on top. So delicious!

Are you interested in Babarczi wines? Contact the team!