Summary of the Revino tasting 9th June

Hungary - small, versatile, powerful

As it appears, there is a trend now that consumers are looking for smoother style red wines. Pannonhalmi Apátsági Pincészet (Pannonhalma's Abbey Winery) brings precisely this rounded, rich, warm style with its featured "Hemina" 2019 blend without becoming ligh in body. Elegant and spicy with sweet fruit and succulent, long finish. Among the reds of this tasting, Hetényi's Tábornok Bluefrank from the perfect 2017 vintage was appreciated for its easily approachable style, yet showing a good potential for further ageing. It was an interesting comparison to Vojtek's 2017 Bluefrank, which reflected the typical Villány soils and thus, was slightly less open at this time with cooler fruit character centered around Northern berry fruit.

Out of the white wines Gilvesy's St. George 2019 has proven to be a stylish terroir wine with Furmint, Welsch Riesling and Riesling blended to reflect the great minerality of the volcanic Badacsony hill. Great balance is achieved between the varietal fruit and the terroir's smoky notes. Ripe acids as a backbone make it a perfect summer wine, but equally good for a fine dining entrée's accompanyment. Wine buyers much appreciated this wine's organic certificate as a true added value in contemporary consumers' eyes.

The tasting was closed with Pannon Tokaj's great 2016 sweet Szamorodni. This truly complex and serein wine is a perfect match to blue cheese or foie gras. Not overly sweet, showing some tannic notes as well - deriving from the skins of the botrytised berries - it is a masculin sweet wine with great complexity and structure. Tangerine, marmelade and orange blossom accompanied with silky sugars and spicy vanilla and acacia honey notes.