We just returned from a Danube Cruise with a pre cruise stay in Prague. My impression is that being part of the EU has upped the game of wineries in Eastern Europe. I wasn’t copiously taking notes but we got off to a good start in Prague where we did split wine pairings at Bellevue. I had only expected to enjoy beer in the Czech Republic. The 2013 Mokrusa Palava was much better the German pairing which was the 2011 Kuhling-Gillot Quinterra riesling. I have much better rieslings in my cellar that would have been better than this one but this was an eye opener for me. The Milan Sukal Chardonnay reserve was not as impressive but still pretty good. The 2010 Springer merlot took a bit to open up but in the end was very credible and the Stavek Lokus was comparable to the 2012 Domaine Pouderoux Maury Vendage which I plan to look for to add to my cellar. In Hungary, I was impressed by a number of dry whites from the furmint grape. In Eastern Hungary, they are making excellent reds from Bordeaux varietals. I was especially impressed with red wines from Attila Gere and Bock wineries. I brought back a bottle of 2007 Attila Cuvee and a 2007 Bock Capella for my cellar. We didn’t drink any wine in Hungary that wasn’t good.
Austria is familiar enough so I won’t go into much detail here except to mention that my most enjoyable bottle there was a 2011 Alzinger Steinertal Gruner Veltliner Smaragd.
I should add that I would love to put the Attila Gere Solus from a great vintage like 2007 as a ringer in a Pomerol tasting and that it easily merits a score of 93-95 if I need to throw numbers around. In Hungary, we had a number of reds that were at least 90 point wines. Just curious of other’s impressions and if these wines are on your radar screen?
Nice job Mont.
Those Attila Gere wines are nice. They are not too expensive for the quality either.
We don’t think of Hungary making great reds.
I love Eastern European wines, especially Hungarian. I worked in Kosovo for 4 years and a couple times a year I would make a trip up to Budapest to the Hungarian Wine Society and fill up my vehicle with wine. I am still a member of the Hungarian Wine Society and get the occasional e-mail. The whole Austro-Hungarian area is really to my liking, and Austrian whites are my go-to if I find one on a wine list.
Some others that I enjoyed were Pošip (Dalmatia), Bovin (Montenegro FYROM), and Movia (Slovenia). I even found some good Moldovan, Bulgarian, and Turkish wines (though the names I have forgotten).
I used to the visit the northern Greece wine area of Naoussa quite often too, which is just a bit south of the Macedonian wine area. Xinomavro still has a soft very tannic spot in my heart since those days.
There is definitely bad wine too. I wasn’t all that impressed with BiH, Serbian, Montenegrin, and Kosovan wines, but that is largely to be expected as they were focused more on ethnic conflict than wine making. It wouldn’t surprise me if those Balkan wines increase in quality over time too.
k.
Glad East European wines are gaining some traction. Had several good ones out of Hungary, Czech Republic, and Slovenia.
Just came back from Hungary a few days ago, having tasted dozens of wines again. The reds are increasingly better, but their whites are far better IMO. Over the past 10 years or so they’ve become much better with their use of oak and they’re getting riper fruit, which was a problem in the past. One of the things we did was do a tasting of many Hungarian Syrahs, which I think they do really well. That and Cab Franc, which might be better, and Blaufrankish in some areas.
Gere is an OK producer, not my favorite but generally pretty solid.
BTW, the Czechs and Hungarians and Austrians are not Eastern Europe, they’re Central Europe, or what used to be called Mitteleuropa. In Tokaj, in eastern Hungary, is a monument marking what they claim is the geographic center of Europe.
In any event, Gere and Bock are in Villány, which is kind of southwestern, where it is pretty warm. But you’re right in that they’re making good wine in the eastern section as well, particularly in Eger. I have some Solus from the early 2000s that I was going to age for a bit. I’m not sure it’s going to last, but we’ll see.
I had some friends who must have been on that very same cruise with you. I wasn’t in Budapest by the time they arrived however. I hope you had some good foie gras while you were there!
Yep. I chose to avoid that comment.