HUNGARYS FAMOUS WINE
Updated: Mar 18, 2021
"BOR" (WINE)
• Greek, Basque and Hungarian are the only three languages in Europe that the word Wine doesn't derive from Latin; they are of middle Persian origin.
• There are 22 wine regions in Hungary today. The four most popular are the Tokaj (22), Egar (20), Nagy Somló, (2) and Villány (15)
• TOKAJ ( TOE-KYE) REGION
• Top Wines: Tokaji aszú (sweet white wines), Furmint (dry white wines)
• Named after the village of Tokaj, the region is made up of 28 towns scattered along rolling hills and nestled between two rivers, the Tisza and the Bodrog.
• To receive the Tokaji denotation, dry or sweet, a wine can only contain the 6 native varieties of Furmint (“foor-meent”), Hárslevelü (“harsh-level-ooo”), Kabar (“kah-bar”), Kövérszölö (“kuh-vaer-sue-lou”), Zéta (“zay-tuh”), and Sárgamuskotály (“shar-guh-moose-koh-tie”).
• Tokaj ( toe-kye ) is the most famous and popular wine region of Hungary and the oldest classified area globally, and a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• The region is spread over a romantic cellar of Labyrinths, vines and slopes in the foothills of the Zemplén mountains that wouldn't be out of place from Lord of the Rings.
• Hungary's Furmint is having a significant period at the moment, the furmint grape is not as well known as other varieties, but you quite possibly could have tried before.
• Hungarian Tokaj has been made for a thousand years and has had a high-class reputation and became a favourite with Louise XV, King of France. but more importantly, it is one of our favourite wines 😉
• Tokaj Aszú wine is best known for being sweet, but now half the wine produced is Tokaj Fermint dry, which is why we like it as we are not very keen on sweet wine.
• One of our favourites is the Chateau Dereszla Furmint Dry; it is available on Virgin wines. But we have tried a bottle from Aldi for only £5.99, which was also very good.
• EGER REGION
Top Wines: Egri Bikavér red blend, Egri Csillag white blend
• Eger is in the north, about 86 miles northeast of Budapest.
• We are not red wine drinkers, but Hungarian red wines are world-famous, with the Egri Bikavér ( bulls blood ) known by most wines experts.
• Egri Bikavér (“egg-ree BEE-kah-vaer”)
• Egri Bikavér means “bull’s blood”, and, as the name implies, it can be a pretty badass red blend, rich in tannin and spice.
• Legend claims that the wine gets its name from a famous incident during the Ottoman siege of Eger in 1552 when the Hungarian troops were caught drinking copious amounts of spicy red wine by Turkish onlookers.
Seeing the bloodshot eyes, red-stained beards, and fiery temperaments of the wine-drinking Hungarians, the Turkish soldiers rushed back to their captain, insisting that the Hungarians were not to be messed with for they had been drinking the blood of a bull!
• Villány
Top Wines: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Kékfrankos
• The most popular types of red wines in Hungary are being planted in a 6000-hectare-area in Hungary.
• This is one-third of the area that is planted with different types of blue grapes in Hungary.
• Villány is a warm region in Hungary's southernmost tip, famous for its opulent red wines. It is 140 miles south of Budapest, near Hungary's border with Croatia, and only about 340 miles from the Adriatic Sea.
• There are white wines on offer but is mainly famous for the red. Its popularity is because of its french grapes, as the wines mentioned above.
• Nagy Somló
Top Wines: Juhfark
• Nagy Somló is Hungary’s tiniest wine region, but its wines are possibly the most fascinating in Hungary.
• Somló is only 300 hectares (741 acres), located on an extinct volcanic butte about 90 miles west of Budapest.
• This wine region is mainly white with red being a minority.
• PALINKA- HUNGARIAN FRUIT BRANDY
• Pálinka, Hungarian fruit brandy, is a strong alcoholic beverage appreciated for its potency, flavour, and fragrance. Pálinka can be purchased throughout Hungary.
• Although Pálinka can get you very drunk very easily that is not the Hungarians goal.
• It is drank respectively at the beginning or end of a meal and is drank in a civilised manner.
• True Pálinka only comes from Hungary and is made with fruits native to and harvested from the fertile Carpathian Basin region of Europe.
We are great lovers of the Hungarian white wines, definitely up there as our favourites, if you like white wine then go and buy a bottle from your local wine merchants or your supermarket , we are sure you wont be disappointed.
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