Wine of the Week: A bone dry Hungarian

​This week we travel to a country we haven’t visited often in our wine of the week blog, Hungary. Most of us know their very good sweet wines which are perfect for cheeses and desserts. But they also make fabulous dry wines and you can get very good quality for a reasonable price.

​Hungary is in the midst of a wine renaissance and Bodrog Borműhely, or “Bodrog wine(bor) workshop” started by János Hajduz and Krisztián Farkas who has produced this weeks wine are emblematic of this new era. By maintaining tiny parcels of vineyards in historically great sites they are making pure, modern, yet classically inspired dry wines. Knowing when to pick and where, avoiding Botrytis, and then fermenting with native yeasts in local oak barrel are the means to this end. 

​Their vineyards are near the town of Bodrogkeresztúr and looks down onto the Bodrog River and its floodplains. The vineyard is covered with a think layer of Nyirok — a rich reddish clay unique to Tokaji over a base of hardened rhyolite (volcanic) rock. The microclimate is relatively warm compared to other parts of the appellation, but the vines are 40-50 years old and well adjusted. This weeks wine is dry and delicate, with enough power to handle a lot of food, but also good to drink by it self.

Tasting notes:

Bodrog Dry Tokaj 2018 - 150,- kr
Nice and smotth dry tokaj-wine. 80 % Furmint and 20 Hárslevelu. Ripe yellow apples,small hints of honey and hazelnuts. Good acidity gives good structure. Fine alone, but I can see this being a good food wine.

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