The journalist of the British Independent, John Clarke recommends five surprisingly cheap Hungarian wines in his latest piece published on 20 August. Check out which Hungarian wines are the Brit author’s favourites.
John Clarke recently wrote an article titled the 14 best Eastern European wines, in which he recommends 4 Romanian, two Croatian, one Slovenian, one Georgian and five Hungarian wines, plus one Brit wine for which the grapes are harvested in Hungary.
Clarke declares a Hungarian wine to be the very best from the whole list.
You can read the original article on the Independent here. Here are the 5 Hungarian wines and the four wineries from his list.
He recommends two red wines from the same Hungarian winery: Kovács Nimród Winery from the Eger wine region.
Kovács Nimród Monopole Blues Kékfrankos 2015 (10.3 Euros)
This wine is characterised by the mixed aroma of plum, cherry and dark chocolate, balanced acids and silky tannins. This wine is made from grapes exclusively selected from KNW’s Nagyfai and Nyilasmár Monopole terroirs. Each bottle spends 20 months in oak barrels, and as a result, this wine has a round and complex variety of flavours and aromas.
www.kovacsnimrodwinery.hu
According to Clarke, the wine “has oodles of red berry and red fruit flavours combined with an earthy minerality. Goes well with cheese, pork or lamb.”
2 Kovács Nimród Monopole 777 Pinot Noir 2015 (15 Euros)
About this pinot noir, Clarke writes that it has a “raspberry, blackcurrant and cherry flavours all jostling for your attention while lengthy ageing in oak barrels gives it a velvet smoothness.” He also thinks that it is a ravishing and complex red wine.
The third wine Clarke recommends comes from Barta Pince, which is located in the Tokaj wine region.
3 Barta Pince – Egy Kis Furmint 2017 (15.6 Euros)
Egy kis Furmint 2017 is an easy-to-drink dry wine. It was fermented with wild yeast, one-third in barrel and two-thirds in stainless steel, before ageing on fine lees in 500-litre 3rd-fill and 4th-fill Hungarian barrels.
With the label “Egy kis”, they would like to address beginner wine consumers, who are looking for high-quality wines at an affordable price.
According to Clarke, the wine has “lots of summer and orchard fruit flavours with notes of apricot and lime with a dash of salty minerality”.
Korona Wine House produces the fourth wine of Clarke’s list from the Eger wine region.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOfu9jGsSXA
4 Korona Egri Bikavér Bull’s Blood 2015 (4.6 Euros)
Egri Bikavér (Bull’s Blood from Eger) is one of the most famous Hungarian wine types. Clarke writes that this particular Egri Bikavér is the “the ideal accompaniment to rich and meatly dishes such as goulash.”
The last wine on the list is produced by the Pajzos-Megyer Winery from the Tokaj wine region.
5 Megyer Tokaj Furmint 2015 (16 Euros)
Furmint is one of the most famous Hungarian white wine types, and according to Clarke: it “brings a lively and refreshing edge to this dry white, with its citrus notes, hedgerow vitality and pleasing acidity.”
Featured image: www.bikaverunnep.hu