09 March 2022 / Sue Tolson
Wine lovers outside Hungary have no doubt heard of Tokaj’s lusciously sweet wines, sought far and wide by royalty and aristocracy as well as most likely sampled some Egri Bikavér, better known in Anglo-Saxon circles as Bull’s Blood. However, did you know that Hungary is a patchwork of 22 different wine districts (borvidék) gathered under 6 wine regions (borregió). Wine district is their official status, but you’ll often also hear these districts spoken of as regions.
As 22 districts, each with their own terroir, history, and wine styles, is a lot to digest in one go, let’s take a whirlwind tour around the country’s key historic wine regions, so you can get an idea of the diversity of Hungarian wine.
It would probably be wrong not to start with Tokaj, as it is considered Hungarian wine’s crown jewel, so that’s where we will start. Tokaj is the only region in Hungary that is both a wine district and a wine region, that’s how important it is. It’s located in the far northeast of Hungary on the border of Slovakia and the Ukraine. It’s made up of 27 towns and villages, while its main centres are Tokaj, Mád and Tarcal. Its patchwork of mainly diverse volcanic and loess soils produces some of the world’s most delicious botrytised dessert wines from Furmint, Hárslevelű and Sárgamuskotály. The most famed is Aszú, although you will find Szamorodni, in both sweet and rare, dry styles, and late harvest wines too. Tokaj is now becoming increasingly recognised for its terroir-driven dry white wines and traditional method sparkling wines, and of course, we have to mention Eszencia, so sweet and syrupy that it is best consumed from a spoon! There is, of course, plenty more to say about Tokaj, but as this is a whirlwind tour, we’ll have to move on for now, I’m afraid.
Let’s head west to Eger and sample some Egri Bikavér, arguably Hungary’s most famous red. It’s a full-bodied, spicy blend based on Kékfrankos that has an interesting legend about the siege of Eger Castle attached to it, related to drinking, you guessed it, bull’s blood. A few years ago, the local winemakers also decided that Bikavér should have a white pair, and Egri Csillag, or Star of Eger, was born – a lively white blend based on white Carpathian varieties. Although Eger is famed for its blends, it is also known for its crisp, white Leányka and aromatic Debrői Hárslevelű.
Zipping across to the far west of the country, to the Austrian border, we arrive in Sopron, the capital of Hungary’s favourite black variety, Kékfrankos – well, it is just across the border from the Burgenland, which also focuses on the variety, except there it’s called Blaufränkisch. Sopron is also known as the faithful city, as when it was handed over to Austria when borders were redrawn in the 20th century, it voted to remain Hungarian and was passed back again. Like Eger, it’s one of Hungary’s cooler climates, with summer heat moderated by nearby Lake Fertő, so the Soproni Kékfrankos is light and elegant.
It's difficult to know where to go next, as there are many possible routes through Hungarian wine, but let’s stick with Kékfrankos and head towards the Danube to Szekszárd, another Kékfrankos stronghold. Here the wines are still elegant, yet more full-bodied than in Sopron, as it is further south and warmer. Kékfrankos makes up one of a trinity of flagship wines, also vying with Eger for who used the name Bikavér first, but here the name’s origin is rather connected to a poem. Szekszárd’s third pillar is Kadarka, a light spicy red, sometimes dubbed Hungary’s Pinot Noir. Rosé lovers will also feel at home, as they produce delightful rosé too - indeed Hungary’s ‘King of Rosé’ is based here – and a more full-bodied ‘pink’ wine with a touch of tannic grip called Siller, somewhere between a rosé and light red.
I’d love to linger among Szekszárd’s loess gullies and picturesque vineyards, but I’d like to introduce you to Hungary’s big gun when it comes to full-bodied reds, so let’s move off to the far south, to Villány, one of Hungary’s bastions of Bordeaux blends. Its neat, whitewashed cellar rows hide some of Hungary’s most ambitious takes on the Bordeaux varieties. But in Villány, Cabernet Franc rules. Often in Cabernet Sauvignon’s shadow, Cabernet Franc is rarely seen in its own right on wine labels, but Villány does just that. The winemakers here are so proud of the quality of their ‘Franc’ that it has its own name, Villányi Franc. If you fancy something lighter, you could try some Portugieser, often made as a new wine, or maybe some RedY, the community wine based on it. But perhaps after all this red wine, you’re ready for some white. You could refreshen up with some crisp Olaszrizling from the cooler part of the region, Siklós, where you can also visit the beautifully restored castle, or you could head back north and take a dip in the Balaton before enjoying some whites from a couple of historic regions on its northern shore.
After a refreshing swim in the warm, shallow waters of Central Europe’s largest lake, which also helps moderate Hungary’s hot climate, making its shores well-suited for white wine production, you can sip some Olaszrizling from Balatonfüred-Csopak in the elegant lakeside town of Balatonfüred or on one of the wine terraces in Csopak, which boasts its own quality classification for Olaszrizling, the Csopak Codex.
Then take the train west or maybe even cycle along the shore of the Balaton until you come to another volcanic hotspot, Badacsony, made up of a collection of characteristic, somewhat surreal, volcanic cones and buttes, many of which are covered with verdant vineyards. Each basalt hill has its own character, and you can increasingly find their names on wine bottles as well as Badacsony. Look out for Szent György-hegy, Csobánc or Szigliget. Badacsony is mostly about white wine with a distinctly mineral character. Badacsonyi Szürkebarát, aka Pinot Gris, is rich and oily, more like an Alsatian Pinot Gris than a Pinot Grigio, there’s lots of Olaszrizling and a Badacsony unicum, the noble Kéknyelű, which is fast on its way to becoming the region’s flagship wine.
True volcanic wine lovers cannot miss Somló, which rivalled the fame of Tokaj in the past. Almost a twin of Badacsony, Somló Hill sits in the middle of a plain to the north of the Balaton, like the ‘hat that God left behind’. An otherworldly place, with its black basalt soils and verdant vineyards giving rise to its key variety, the distinctive Juhfark, known as ‘wedding night wine ’, thanks to its mythical abilities to aid the siring of male offspring. Although one of Hungary’s smallest regions, Somlói Juhfark, Olaszrizling, Hárslevelű and Furmint are some of the country’s most characterful whites – full-bodied, rich and with an unmistakeable smoky minerality that has Somló written all over it.
We are nearly at our journey’s end. But we should visit one more place on our way back to Budapest – Etyek-Buda. Its limestone soils, similar to those of Champagne, yield many of the country’s best traditional method sparkling wines. Indeed Budafok, now a district of Budapest, boasted numerous sparkling wine manufactories in the past, and the country’s largest producer of fizz still operates there. Excellent Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are also born here. So, let’s celebrate our whirlwind, and perhaps not very direct, tour of Hungarian wine with a glass of bubbly. But, be warned, there is still plenty more to discover!
