Wine tour to Hungary and the Tokaj
district
23-27 April
A unique opportunity to get to know
one of the most mythological wine regions in the world and
a wine country that is currently going through a quality revolution
Don’t
miss this opportunity to get to know a very special wine country! The sweet and
luscious wines from the Tokaj district are well known among wine lovers and have
been so for a very long time. But few have had the opportunity to get to know
these exceptional wines in detail and even fewer have had the possibility to
visit this unique region. The whole of Tokaj is also, since a few years, listed
in the UNESCO World Heritage list due to its special history and the unique wine
production methods.
Now, twelve
years after privatisation of the vineyards, the quality has returned to an
exceptional level. But it is not only old tradition that you find: tremendous
investments have been made in new technology and new wine styles have been
launched (for example, from the traditional, slightly oxidised style to a style
more based on fruit and freshness, but still retaining the fantastic depth of
the traditional methods).
Not less
interesting, albeit less well known, are the dry, white wines produced primarily
from the Furmint grape. Several producers consider this to be a core product and
an important development for the region. And the “Dry Furmint”, as they are
often labelled, that we have had the occasion to taste confirm that there is a
definite potential to establish the Tokaj region also as a producer of unique
and high quality dry white wines.
We will spend
two days in the Tokaj region and one day in the Eger district. In Eger we will
visit two of the best producers: Tibor Gal (GIA kft) and Vilmos Thummerer. Eger
is traditionally best known for its “Bull’s Blood”, Egri Bikaver, that maybe has
more of a reputation of being full bodied rather than sophisticated… But here
too there is tremendous progress in terms of quality production and
revitalisation of traditional wine styles. If you remember the Bull’s Blood from
the 70s and 80s – forget that! It has little to do with today’s production. The
most important grape for Tibor Gal is today Pinot Noir that thrives on the
volcanic soils around Eger. Tibor Gal has introduced other quality grapes like
Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon as well as shown the high quality potential of
traditional varieties like Kekfrankos and Kadarka.
The
Program (preliminary):
Wednesday April
23 Arrival Budapest
Arrival in
Budapest according to your own schedule and planning. We will have an
off-the-program introductory tasting of Hungarian wines in the evening to get an
understanding of the whole breadth of Hungarian wine production.
Thursday April
24 Eger
Morning visit
at Tibor Gal GIA kft. Tibor Gal was previously the wine maker at
Ornellaia, one of the most exceptional wines in Tuscany. Now back in Hungary he
has risen to become one of the leading and most innovative wine producers in the
country. After lunch we travel to Noszvaj, a village, not far from Eger, where
we will visit Vilmos Thummerer, another of the leaders of the “new gang”
of Eger wine makers.
We arrive in
Tokaj in early evening. We stay in a hotel in the small village of Tokay itself
(5000 inhabitants) just at the southern edge of the district.
Friday April
25 Tokaj
The morning
will be spent with Disznoko (Disznókö)
owned by the French insurance company AXA. They own several other properties:
Chateaux Pichon-Longueville, Cantenac-Brown and Suduiraut in Bordeaux and Quinta
do Noval in the Port district. The Disznoko property was established in 1993 and
covers today 100 hectares. Arriving on the main road from Budapest Disznoko is
one of the very first vineyards that you see. Arriving on the main road you see
a strange circular building in the middle of the vineyards. That is Disnoko’s
tractor garage, built in true Hungarian “organic” style. A little further along
is the new winery also built in that style, all of it designed by a Hungarian
architect for AXA. As in Bordeaux, AXA invests serious money in the properties
they acquire…
The Disznoko
portfolio of wine is wide: dry Furmint, dry and sweet Szamorodni, Aszu (Aszú) 3
to 6 Puttonyos. And even an Eszencia that can barely be qualified as a wine at
less than one percent alcohol.
We will have
lunch at the restaurant “The Yellow House” on the Disznoko property.
After lunch we continue to the next village: Mad, and the Royal Tokaj Wine
Company.
The Royal
Tokaj Wine Company was
one of the first foreign companies, if not the first, to invest in Tokaj after
the end of the communist era in 1989. RTWC was originally led by the famous
English wine writer Hugh Johnson and Peter Vinding-Diers, a Danish wine maker
then active in Bordeaux. RTWC now owns 112 ha, most of which is located around
Mad (90%) and the rest is in the neighbouring village of Tarcal. All vineyards
are on high quality locations and they have five ‘vineyard cuvées’. RTWC is
focused on only the top quality Aszu wines and does not produce any dry wines.
At dinner time
we will gather in what is becoming one of the most highly acclaimed restaurants
in the region, owned by Grof Degenfeld. Grof Degenfeld was founded by a
Hungaro-German couple some years ago and is a top quality producer of Tokaj
wines. Before dinner we will have a tasting of their wines led by a
representative from Grof Degenfeld.
Saturday April
26 Tokaj
The morning is
dedicated to what promises to be a very interesting visit to Istvan Szepsy,
honoured with the title “Best Wine Maker in Hungary”. His knowledge of Tokaj is
profound. During the communist era he was responsible for the co-operative in
Mad. At that time quantity was more important than quality. Having been relieved
from production quotas Szepsy has almost gone to the other extreme: he is
extremely quality focused and uses very low yields. He makes a range of
exceptional dry to sweet wines under three different company names,
Kiralyudvar being the best known of the three.
For lunch we
will travel north to Os Kajan (Ös Kaján) in the village of Tolcsva. This
is the other leading restaurant in the region owned by a French couple that
settled here about ten years ago and that has merged French and Hungarian
traditions with great success.
The last of
our visits in the region is at Oremus, a spectacular winery owned by the
Spanish family Alvarez who controls Vega Sicilia in Riberal del Duero. The
winery and the fermentation halls are as brand new and as impressive as the
aging cellars are old and mouldy and seeped in tradition - astoundingly
beautiful with row after row of gleaming, golden bottles with Tokaj wine.
At dinner we
will be joined by a representative from the Tokaj Renaissance
organisation, the “Union des Grand Crus” of Tokaj, bringing together all the
best producers of Tokaj to control and improve the quality level and to promote
the region.
Sunday April
27 Return to Budapest
We leave for
Budapest in the morning and will arrive in Budapest at noon at the latest.
Return back home or continued travel according to your own plans.
Practical details
You arrange
your own travel to Budapest/Hotel Erszebet (we can help with travel info) where
we will meet in the evening of April 23. In Budapest we will stay centrally in
the Hotel Erszebet ***. On Thursday morning a comfortable bus will pick us up at
the hotel for the trip east, to Eger, to our first visit. We arrive in Tokaj,
230km from Budapest, on Thursday evening. Friday and Saturday are dedicated to
the Tokaj wines and on Sunday (at 12.00 noon at the latest) we will be back in
Budapest.
We will be a
small group of people, not more than 15, to guarantee a very personal welcome at
the visits.
Included:
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