Hungarian Wines

Perhaps the most famous Hungarian wine aside from the Bulls Blood is Tokaji Aszu, a
deliciously sweet dessert wine christened by King Louis XIV as the ”wine of kings and the
king of wines”. Only grapes grown on the slopes of the Tokaji hills are allowed to carry the
name Tokaji Aszu and these grapes have to under go an unusual process to make Aszu wine.

First and most importantly the grapes are harvested much later than usual, often as late as
October or November as the frost is needed to infect the grape with ”noble rot” a type of
mould. The mould dries up the grape until it resembles a raisin and only then can it be
harvested.

The Aszu grapes are picked and put into ”puttony”, which is a wooden basket carried on the
backs of the harvesters.

The wines are rated from 3 to 6, 6 being the sweetest. The number given to the wine dictates
how many puttony were added to the original base wine, which affects the sweetness.

Over recent years Tokaji has also started to produce some excellent white wines both dry and
sweet. Also small local cellars often have their own wines, which can not be found in other
parts of Hungary.

Tokaji itself is a small town situated in the North east of Hungary, home to many wine cellars,
vineyards and shops selling wine. It is an extremely pretty town located in an even more
beautiful landscape of gently rolling hills with the River Tisza cutting through the very centre of
the town.

Of all the wines cellars in Tokaji then the 600 year old Rákóczi cellar has to be the most
famous. Here it is possible to take a tour of the cellars and sample several wines (there is a
standard package or you can choose an individual selection) whilst the guide talks you
through the process of making Tokaji Aszu and also gives some historical information. It is
not unusual for tour to be given in English or German during the summer months if booked in
advance.

However there are hundreds of wine cellars dotted around of various sizes and these are also
well worth a visit. Sampling wine in the private cellars is usually free but beware the wine is
that good that you will want to bring all of it home!

As mentioned before Eger is home to the famous Bulls Blood. Once a wine well known for
being awful, it has over the past 10 years undergone and amazing transformation.

The story of the Bulls Blood dates back to the siege of Eger in 1552. 100,000 Turks were
attacking Eger castle, only 2000 Hungarian soldiers were inside the castle but they managed
to hold back the Turks for 1 month. Deep within the castle walls were numerous barrels of
blood red wine. The Hungarian soldiers drank this and drunken and rowdy they fought with
dutch courage and renewed vigour. The clothes were stained with the red wine and rumours
began to circulate among the Turk troops that the defenders were drinking the blood of bulls to
give them strength. Unfortunately it wasn’t even to keep the Turks back but the name was born
and has remained unchanged for nearly 500 years.

Although Bulls Blood is the most well known wine of Eger there are many other fine wines
produced here. Vilmos Thummeres 1999 vintage is said to be on a par with the premiers
crus from Burgandy.

Of course a trip to Eger would not be complete without a trip to the Vally of the Beautiful lady,
Szépasszony Völgy. Clustered together around a square not far from the centre of Eger are
apx 40 wine cellars. A glass of wine can be brought for as little as 100ft, apx 30 pence but to
be truthful it won’t be the best glass of wine you will have tasted. However the wines sold by
the bottle are of a better quality but a touch over priced. Many people who visit this area are
simply happy to buy a drinkable wine at a fair price, they buy it by the litre take it home and
mix either the red wine with cola ”vörös bór” or the white with tonic or lemonade.

Moving onto the south, perhaps the best area to produce reds in the whole of Hungary. The
red wine produced here is usually full bodied thanks to the perfect warm summer and the high
level of sunshine hours. Many of the wines produced here are ”Barrique” they are aged only in
new oak barrels, which are discarded afterwards, and this gives the wines a distinct individual
taste. One of the best names to look out for is Joszef Bock.

A relative new comer but one to look out for is a wine producer in Tukk. Over the past few
years the Nyakas cellar has excelled in producing white wines,

However there are still many cheap and poor quality wines available in Hungary so when
searching for a good wine look for ”minöségibor” or ”különleges minöségibor” which
means quality or premium quality wine. This can be compared to the French quality control of ”
appellation controlée”.

Should you wish to visit a wine cellar and sample the delightful wine we suggest you take
advantage of our wine tours, which allow you to enjoy the wine and us to do the driving.