Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Wines of Hungary
Wine has been made in Hungary since at least the time of the Romans. It is very much a part
of Hungarian culture, but only in recent years has it moved on from the local tipple you drank
at Sunday lunch with the family or the overwrought and overpriced thimble of rarefied red
sipped in a Budapest wine bar to the all-singin', all-dancin', all embracin' obsession that it is
today.
Choosing Wine
Wine is sold by the glass or bottle everywhere - usually at reasonable prices. Old-fashioned
wine bars ladle out plonk by the
deci
(decilitre, or 0.1L), but if you're into more serious wine,
you should visit one of Budapest's excellent wine bars such as
DiVino Borbár
,
Doblo
or
In-
nio
, a wine restaurant like
Klassz
, or speciality wine shops like the
Malatinszky Wine Store
or
Bortársaság
chain.
When choosing a Hungarian wine, look for the words
minőségi bor
(quality wine) or
különleges minőségű bor
(premium quality wine). On a wine label the first word indicates the
region, the second the grape variety (eg Villányi Kékfrankos) or the type or brand of wine (eg
Tokaji Aszú, Szekszárdi Bikavér). Other important words that you'll see include:
édes
(sweet),
fehér
(white),
félédes
(semisweet),
félszáraz
(semidry or medium),
habzóbor
(spark-
ing),
pezsgő
(champagne),
száraz
(dry) and
vörös
(red).
The best website for Hungarian wines is
www.bortarsasag.hu
. It appraises vintners and
their vintages and lists prices from the Bortársaság (Budapest Wine Society), Hungary's
foremost wine society and wine retail chain.
Wine Regions
Hungary is divided into a half-dozen wine-producing regions, but we're most interested in
five of their subdivisions.
Villány
Villány, in Hungary's warm south, is especially noted for its reds: Blauer Portugieser
(formerly called Kékoportó), Cabernet Sauvignon and, in particular, Cabernet Franc and Mer-
lot. The region has also been experimenting in Pinot Noir. Red wines here are almost always
big bodied, Bordeaux style and high in tannins.
