Two to three months ago, thanks to the conveyance of young vintner (or still aspiring? – I’ll have to ask him) Ambrus Bakó, I received a parcel containing sample bottles of 2007 from what I am told is the foremost winery in the Badacsony region in Hungary. After the bottles got over a month of rest to alleviate a possible travel shock, I spontaneously opened three bottles side by side at a dinner party sometime in May.
I was surprised, speedily tasting through the wines before serving them one night to my parents and another guest, Matthias, a friend of the family, by how much more easygoing and “harmonious” (unable to think of an adequate translation of what I’m thinking of – the German word “stimmig” translates into “inherently consistent”) these wines are compared to earlier wines from this region (the same and other wineries), but then, Ambrus informs me that his friend Bence still fermented these 2007s at 20° versus 15° Celsius (plus earlier racking) to avoid malolactic fermentation in the following vintage. They’re certainly more low-acid and perhaps flabbier than comparable wines I’ve tasted in the past. While I don’t mind higher-acid whites, it is certainly true that there should be nothing irritating about these 2007s to palates honed on Swiss Chasselas.
My mother put it simply and effectively noting “Now these wines aren’t a Hungarian curiosity anymore” – as if alluding to a change towards a more internationalized style (that may however be limited to wines of the 2007 vintage). She went on to point out that in gastronomy today, wines poured by the glass tend to come from all over the planet, whereas people were once used to local wines poured by the glass or served in jugs – her generation would order more expensive “foreign” bottles from the wine list almost exclusively when there was a reason to celebrate (on a side note: her dad still used to buy his wine in barrel and bottle himself). Obviously, this has changed (to the dismay of local vintners, who feel Switzerland’s “flooded” with inexpensive wine from “elsewhere” – no one appears to mind the more costly fine wine category, to try and be competitive in that field is a comparatively recent phenomenon).
Everyone at the table agreed a “curiosity factor” can be a definite plus when it comes to niche products like the indigenous Kéknyelü variety. It is for this reason that the wine Matthias and my parents found most problematic was the Rizling Válogatás (the Welschriesling Selection, the labelling is misleading, same as it once used to be in Switzerland, where people still refer to Müller-Thurgau as Riesling, the misnomer being a relic back from a time when it was still assumed to be Riesling-Sylvaner) – it isn’t of the fruity and obvious kind, and when I tried to discuss the soil notes and minerality, it turned out no one felt that specific ice spar/calcium dust “fits” the variety (Matthias said it smells like cement) the way they know and like Riesling (primarily from Alsace, Germany and the Wachau).
I then poured the wines to just about everyone (with a palate, that is) I met over the next few days, adding some of those people’s impressions to my notes.
I still haven’t managed to visit the region, so all I know about the vintage is what Ambrus wrote to me about it: „2007 was (altogether) a very hot and very wet vintage - the second half of July broke all records in heat (this short period was extremely dry as well) and rainfall throughout the year was way above average. The result (what we could see at the time of the harvest) was: harvest 10-15 days earlier than 'average' (average: in the past up to and incl. 1999), sugar levels average or a bit lower, acidity levels average or a bit lower.“ He added later: “All in all I would say fermentation – in the large oak barrels, cooled to 20 C, was usually too fast. Malo happened almost invariably and late racking (and sulphuring) stripped the wines of much of their character“, but also that „Vintage 2007 was the worst since 2001 at least.”
There’s going to be a follow-up on these as I received a bottle each, but to be honest, I’m not convinced the wines will improve (let alone much) with bottle age. To end this with, let me say I’m grateful for the opportunity to taste these wines. The terroir expression in wines from Badacsony is certainly unique, and I have no doubt there is great potential there.
Bazaltbor Laposa Pincészet Nagy-Somlói Olasz Rizling 2007
Welschriesling or so-called “Italian Riesling” from the Somló hill, fermented (dry) and aged in large barrels (≥1000 liters). “Top wine of the second line of the winery.” Palish sand-hued green. The most open and thus the favourite of the evening with Matthias and my parents (not mine), a wine they felt should be drunk young (I agree). Fairly glyceric, not too concentrated, lightly sweet due to the combination of ripeness and (otherwise well-integrated) 13.5% alcohol. Some nice herbs, basil and lemongrass maybe. Mild yet fresh acidity, with the tiniest of bitter notes. Medium-soft (typically basalt) minerality. Touch of viscosity on the finish. I like the early harmony here. Matthias described this as “watery on entry, growing on the mid-palate, then looser again on the back end.” Even so, it is the wine that they felt showed most body and complexity at present. When I served this to my wine buddies Marc, Oliver and Wolfgang the next day, they all thought this “non-descript and rather bland”. Retasting it leisurely by myself about 36 hours after I had opened the bottle, I thought it nicely round in terms of mouthfeel, perhaps also a bit like a Gantenbein Pinot Blanc (there have been soppier vintages of that, too), but it had lost freshness and virtually all of the (little) raciness it had displayed earlier; upfront “fruit” and what complexity had been there at all seemed gone. Dani thought this petrolly by now (agree) and too light, not flavourful and intense enough, as well as short on the finish. Remo noted that he could not stomach a full glass of any of these wines, as he found them both light and bland but “heavy to digest”. Rating: 85-/84(-?)
Bazaltbor Laposa Pincészet Badacsonyi Rizling2 2007
A cuvée of Olasz Rizling/Welschriesling from the Badacsony hill and Rajnai Rizling/Rhine Riesling from the Csobánc hill, fermented (dry) and aged in large barrels (≥1000 liters) and a several years old barrique. “Main wine in the first line of the winery. Full amount of the Riesling 'Selection' was blended into this wine.” Slightly greener and more luminescent colour perhaps? The most density, intensity, tightness or reserve fruit at the core, viscosity, and body of the three wines. Buffers its 14% alcohol with ease. Most complex “fruit” at this early stage, seemingly because it is a blend. Limier but no more acidic in balance, even if Matthias thought it fractionally spiky on the finish. Quite glyceric, lightly tannic. “Smokier minerality”, Matthias said, I agree. My mother felt that this may have the most upwards potential, but that it is nonetheless not her favourite. I kept wondering why this wine was not the longest of the three. When I served this to my wine buddies Marc, Oliver and Wolfgang the next day, they liked it best of the three, referring to this as more “Gantenbein-like” (alluding to the eastern Swiss Pinot Blanc he no longer produces). I could see what they meant when I retasted it leisurely by myself about 36 hours after I had opened the bottle. Dani found this “simple” and reminiscent of “a relatively bland and acidic Swiss Chasselas” (again, I feel the similarity must be due to the malo). Remo shrugged and said he could not stomach a full glass, handing it back to me. Rating: 86+/87-?
Bazaltbor Laposa Pincészet Badacsonyi Rizling Válogatás 2007
“Válogatás” means “selection”. Olasz Rizling/Welschriesling (not Rhine Riesling as one might think) from the Badacsony hill, fermented (dry) and aged in large barrels (≥1000 liters) and a several years old barrique. “This is the same wine the bulk of which was blended into the Rizling2.” Yet paler colour. Tarragon, rosemary and dill with a suggestion of rose petal mainly on the nose, overlaid with what Matthias described (not inappropriately) as “cement dust”. Faint dried coconut note to drier than Germanic (Riesling) Granny Smith apple. A touch tannic, but not dry (let alone oxidative). Lacks intensity at least at this stage, and although it seems to have some concentration, it is not too impressive in this regard either. “Flatter if more minerally”, Matthias said, my mom finds this “vapid”. There was much discussion if the ice spar/calcium scented minerality here fits the variety, but then, the fruit was too inexpressive to tell with certainty. The wine that appealed least to all present – ironically, it is the one about Ambrus tells me: “In 2007, this is the limited, prestige product of the winery.” When I served this to my wine buddies Marc, Oliver and Wolfgang the next day, they thought it “flat”, adding that all three wines “lack nerviness” and that what they felt must be “malo blurriness” should be avoided at all cost (obviously, in a circle of avowing Riesling lovers, no one would mind higher-acid wines). Following the explanation of what had gone into this, what they would really have wanted to taste is the Rhine Riesling component of the Rizling2 (and, as Wolfgang added, any high-end Kéknyelü, of which he said it would be the one niche product he might lay out money for). When I retasted this leisurely by myself about 36 hours after I had opened the bottle, I finally began to understand why this should be the pride of the winery in this vintage – there is an underlying nobility to the minerality here, a fractionally more aristocratic (albeit also in the sense of reserved) layeredness to the “fruit”, but then I wonder, does Welschriesling ever age so well that such subtleties come to the fore with bottle age? Dani was the only one I served this to who preferred it to the Rizling2, noting that “at least this tastes a bit grassy, if not hay-like, plus it has more of a nicely thick mouthfeel, and it appears to be the most minerally.” Remo thought this no less bland. Rating: 85+/86(+/-?)
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti