Hungarian wines at Georgie’s Ruin Bar
Ruin Bars are a special feature of Budapest nightlife. They started up in the early 2000s as impromptu bars in abandoned buildings (hence the term ‘ruin’) and now there are lots of them, primarily in the Jewish Quarter of the Hungarian capital. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruin_bar]
Yesterday Wines of Hungary teamed up with Georgie Fenn for a pop-up ruin bar featuring Hungarian wines and a goulash lunch at her family farm, in Kings Cliffe near Peterborough. So a bunch of us schlepped up from London and joined some more local guests to take a crash course in the diversity of Hungarian wine in a lovely country setting.
Here are my brief notes on the wines.
We began with the excellent Sauska sparkling wine (a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Furmint) and then moved on to the following.
Sauska Furmint 2024 Tokaj, Hungary
Lovely freshness here. Bright, textured and quite mineral in style, showing a nice wet stone edge.
Tokaj Harmónia Szőlőbirtok Szimfonia Furmint 2023 Tokaji, Hungary
This is Furmint fermented in new Hungarian oak, and this makes it quite distinctive, with a savoury spicy oak twist to the pure, lemony fruit. Really bright.
Sipos Olaszrizling 2023 Badacsony, Hungary
Fresh and vital with some savoury spicy notes and a linear personality, as well bright fruit. It isn’t typical for Olaszrizling and tastes like there might be some oak. Gastronomic in style.
St Andrea Örökké Egri Csillag Superior 2024 Eger, Hungary
Fruity and bright with nice balance to the mineral-laced citrus fruit, showing good focus and purity.
Tornai Harsleveluü 2022 Somló, Hungary
This volcanic white is complex and quite linear with some apricot and peach richness but also fresh citrus. There’s a hint of appealing green, and it finishes juicy and mineral. Really nice.
Tűzkő Birtok Grüner Veltliner 2024 Pannon, Hungary
A winery owned by Antinori and Mazzei of Italy. Juicy, linear, bright and fresh with attractive pure, lemony fruit.
Pannonhalmi Főapátság Pinot Noir 2023 Hungary
This was a crowd favourite: juicy, sweet strawberry fruit with some cherry and nice brightness, finishing with a hint of spice.
Villa Völgy Oczella Egri Bikavér Superior 2021 Hungary
Great with the goulash, this is a bright red wine with a nice savoury twist and some woody hints as well as lush cherry fruit.
Tűzkő Birtok Kékfrankos 2021 Szekszard, Hungary
Savoury, chalky and linear with bright red cherry and berry fruit. Lovely focus here with bright cherry and plum notes delivering pleasure but also good food compatibility.
Esterházy Kúria Kékfrankos 2020 Sopron, Hungary
Juicy and lively with nice precision to the focused berry fruits. Fresh and linear with great balance. This is very good.
Tokaj Excellence Late Harvest 2018 Tokaj, Hungary
From grapes harvested late but which haven’t been affected by botrytis. Bright and juicy with nice grapey richness and good acidity. This is off-dry, pure and fresh.
Tokaj Excellence Szamarodni 2018 Tokaj, Hungary
This is made by picking bunches that will have some botrytis, some more raisined berries and then some fresh berries, so it’s not quite as sweet and complex as the aszu wines. Nice depth here with a hint of apricot, some ripe table grapes and some spice. Good complexity and balance.
Oremus Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos 2017 Tokaji, Hungary
Complex with apricot, marmalade and spice with nice brightness and notes of lemon. Good acidity balancing out the sweetness. A beautiful wine.
Mad Moser x Grand Tokaj Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos 2013 Tokaji, Hungary
This is the real deal. Apricot, spice and honey with a pleasant savoury twist offsetting the sweetness, as well as good acidity. Nice density and concentration here with good complexity.
