Egeszegrede: Hungary From the Barrel

This is an oldie but definitely a goodie. It always surprises me when people are surprised to hear that I did a wine trip to Hungary. The Magyar state has quite an old wine tradition, but a rocky history considering the negative effect of the Soviet Union on all things that were not designed for mass production. I spoke with several wine makers there who described their families as six generations of wine makers with a three generation gap in the middle. Land redistribution caused many families to lose large portions, if not all of their vineyards and ethnic/racial deportation in the 1930s and 40s also significantly impacted the ability of small agricultural communities to produce.

Anyhow, I thought I would do a little piece on my trip to Hungary to highlight the GLORIOUS nature of Hungarian wine and gourmet culture that has blossomed since the fall of the iron curtain and why everyone should go there and relish it!

I organized my trip through company called Taste Hungary. Gabor and Carolyn (who met in Washington D.C., of all places!) are absolutely the most charming pair, and run culinary and wine tours of the entire region. Gabor acted as our personal foodie/wine-o extraordinaire, who hit the nail on the head with EVERY recommendation. I heard a little rumour that Anthony Bourdain spent a little time with them....**squeal**

The two Hungarian wineries Gabor took us to were called Jandl (Sopron) and Hernyak (Etyek). We had told him that we really wanted to enjoy smaller, family owned wineries so that we could get a sense of the wine but also the family tradition and people themselves. He did EXACTLY that. At both Jandl and Hernyak we were invited into the homes of the winemakers and taken through their cellars. We had respective lunch and dinners around their family dining tables while we tasted wines and chatted about a multitude of subjects. The warmth and generosity of the families and the history we learned around their tables were just the most enriching and memorable experiences.

At Jandl, the head of the house informed us that he came from six generations of wine makers, but with a gap in the middle during the Soviet occupation. The history of Hungarian wine is greatly tied to the Soviet history of the relatively young state. He told me that when he regained control of his vineyards, he not only had to relearn his family tradition, but re-create the quality of the vineyards that had been reduced by years of Soviet mass production.

At Hernyak, our hosts took us to their cellars to taste every stage of their process, tasting the newly barreled wines, the unfiltered aged wines, and the final filtered (pre-bottle) wines. They also shared with us the interesting new developments in Etyek in sparkling wine, as it had been determined the soil bares similarities with that of Champagne. Many of the wineries there now work with Champagne wine makers in the development of their own Peszgo.

Unfiltered chardonnay, straight out of the tank!

The winemaker and my Papa

Barrel Tasting in the cellar

The Hernyak House aka The Family Living Room

Gabor and the gang

While we were there, we did some eating as well. Gabor and his wife have written two books on food and wine touring Budapest, which was extremely useful! It was full of helpful words and phrases in Hungarian as well for people who like to eat and drink. I was lucky to be given both as a gift from them as a birthday present while I was there (along with a bottle of dry Tokaj white wine). One of the restaurants we visited was BOCK bistro (along with a bottle of dry Tokaj white wine). One of the restaurants we visited was BOCK bistro (Erzsébet körút 43-49) in Pest, which was probably the highlight meal of the trip. The food was so impeccably (and beautifully) presented and the service was excellent. We washed everything down with a generous amount of what is certainly my favorite Hungarian red blend, bikaver. Bikaver, meaning bull's blood, comes largely from Eger and is a blend that used to be associated with pond-water table wine during the Soviet era, but has been turned into something so much more. Jammy, gamey, thick, and full bodied. 

I mentioned Tokaj before, on the white wine front a dry Tokaj is certainly my favorite when it comes to Hungary, but is harder to find. Tokaj is extremely famous for its sweeter dessert wines, which are UNREAL. 

Roman Ruins in Vienna

We also did a short jog up to Vienna on this trip, but I guess that's a story for another blog. This is an extremely abbreviated summary of my trip, I might come back and revisit parts of it in more detail later! 

Just a quick shout out to my grandfather, who made this lifestyle so real to me. I definitely would not be in culinary school right now, nor would I be as in love with this amazing place if not for him. Thanks Gramps!

Until then, Egeszegedre!

(Cheers in Hungarian)

When Color's Worth A Thousand Words

Color is a huge factor when blind tasting a wine. Color is hue, intensity, clarity...the whole gamut. This is a short post, but an interesting one for those who want to do more than just taste...

Color hints at may aspects of the wine, including age, winemaking, and grape variety. Clarity can range from opaque, to cloudy, to clear. Hues include purple, magenta, pink, garnet, ruby, orange, and more.

Without too much technical detail, it is extremely important to pay attention to these details when assessing wines. More delicate varietals such as pinot noir can be so clear that you can read through them, whereas some wines, such as Napa cabernet sauvignon or Northern Rhone syrah, can be so opaque that you can hardly see your finger through the glass.

When it comes to age, reds get lighter and whites get darker with age. Clear, straw colored young chardonnay will transform to a rich golden, almost brown color with age (if it's really brown its usually too old...). Reds in youth will be more purple, with age transforming violet hues to more ruby, and eventually garnet (red/orange brick) colors. Older wines can also tend to absorb more light, and sometimes even become dull...

The wines shown in the photo show the difference between a Beaujolais Nouveau and an aged Burgundy Pinot Noir. Beaujolais Nouveau, on the left, is extremely young wine, undergoing carbonic maceration, to produce youthful purple and magenta tones (the pinkish magenta is very common for wines going under carbonic maceration). The Pinot Noir, on the right, not only shows its typical varietal clarity, but shows age with subtle rim variation, as an orange-ish rim can be seen around the edge of the wine in the glass. This is a tell-tale sign of age, and is considered a solid garnet hue.

Color can sometimes be a product of oxidation, not age. Extensive oak barrel ageing or intentional oxidative viniculture styles can result in advanced color development without advanced age. Nebbiolo is the primary example of this, as young examples often display solid garnet, bordering orange hues.

Until next time, sip responsibly :) 

(It is Friday after all!)

If Your Cat Pissed In The Glass...

The title of this post is probably not the most appealing to the reader. For those of you who have never owned cats...it's a pretty horrible thing, cat piss. It might be the most pungent and unappealing smell in the domestic world of animals....but I digress.

This evening it was raining cats and dogs (reference was certainly intended) and so what is one car-less wine student to do?! Drink a lot of wine (duh). And so my California V. France comparative was born.

France and California pretty much represent the essence of Old World and New World rifts. Strict regulation versus encouraged vinicultural experimentation, earth versus fruit, medium versus high alcohol, the emphasis of terroir versus winemaker's personal style....I could go on, but why bore?

California is the PREMIER New World producer, as a state (alone) producing the fourth most amount of wine after France, Italy and Spain. The 1976 Paris Tasting put Napa on the map, and the rest is history. The California Northcoast AVA is center and leading force in New World wine, with nearby UC Davis acting as the leading researcher in vini/viticulture outside of Europe.

As much as I could go on about how far California has come, France remains the example for quality wine, regardless of style. With thousands of years of wine production behind them, tradition suits them well. The terroir is arguably the best on the planet, with many (if not the majority) of New World varieties originating from France. If California is the prodigal child, France is still Big Papa.

So back to the liquid stuff, I compared two sauvignon blancs. From France, I opened the Domaine de la Pauline Sancerre 2013, from the Central Vineyards in the Loire Valley. From California, I opened the Round Pond Estate Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc 2013. From both wines I got the varietally common factors of white grapefruit, cat piss (absolutely UNMISTAKABLE), grassy notes, and minerality. My tasting notes were as follows...

Domaine de la Pauline Sancerre 2013 
Aromas of white grapefruit with subtle kiwi, papaya and passionfruit. Reminiscent of catpiss, fresh green grass, white blossoms, chive and blanched asparagus. On the palate, candied grapefruit with hints of pineapple, apple pith, kiwi skin, freshly cleaned cantelope and dehydrated mango. Earthy, bitter grass with floral daisy, jalapeno, chive and floral stems, followed by a chalky minerality on the finish. The wine is bone dry and unoaked with solid acidity. I would love to pair with proscuitto wrapped cantelope, tropical fish dishes, or creamy cheese. Higher in acid and more delicate in flavor than its Californian cousin, I would try and match the more delicate flavors in the wine to aspects of a dish.

Round Pond Estate Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc 2013
Cat piss is evident on the nose, as well as waxy aromas of starfruit, oxidized apple, dried pineapple and overripe pear. Aromas are also reminiscent of a dusty chalkboard (when you get in trouble in school and are supposed to clean it...), leading me to call a dusty, chalky minerality. On the palate, a bitter honeydew melon, especially the rind, is on the front, followed by waxy, yellow grapefruit rind, grapefruit pith, underripe guava, and "pear sauce" (is that what you call apple sauce but with pears?). Dry grass, if not hay, is certainly present with (again) a floral stem flavor, with sandy, fertile earth and preserved, salty Morroccan lemon on the finish. This is a dry wine with solid acidity, but certainly more bitter in flavor than its French counterpart. I would pair this with a dish including honeydew melon, or a morroccan dish with preserved lemons as an ingredient. Alcohol was significantly higher than the French example, so I would consider full bodied and pair it with slightly heavier dishes.

Passed my French test this last Wednesday, thank goodness! One of the hardest blinds I have ever done, but the learning experience was well worth it. Halfway through the New World unit, and cannot wait to get to Australia and New Zealand at the end of next week.

Stay tuned for a lot more wine stuff...I can't afford to cook fancy food with these wine bills!!!! Please don't mistake that as complaining....life is good!

Made friends with the pastry chefs this weekend and got invited into the chocolate lab to taste all of their new confections. Definitely one of the most delectable cocoa experiences I have ever had...my favorite being the corn flake truffles!

Three cheers to all the amazing chefs and pastry chefs who keep my belly happy :)

Until next time, here's to natural irrigation (we sure needed it out here)!

For the Netflix Binger...

Just a few recommendations to put on the queues of those foodies who also indulge in unhealthy amounts of streaming cinema....

I have been trying to watch more documentaries on wine and food as I get closer to starting school as another way to prepare for my academic course load. I have found a few that I really like, that provide a lot of basic information but also some great details in an entertaining and thoughtful way. Titles are as follows:

SOMM

(a documentary about dudes studying for their Master Sommelier Exam)

RED OBSESSION

(Narrated by swoonworthy Russel Crowe on the Asian influence on Bordeaux futures markets)

A YEAR IN BURGUNDY

(a quaint look at Burgundian wine making over the course of the growing seasons)

All of these titles are on Netflix...aka Crackflix...and are really great for someone who knows about wine or who is just interested in getting into it. Somm and Red Obsession are a little more approachable, minimal subtitles, where A Year in Burgundy you better put your glasses on for. The title on my "to watch" list is Mondovino (The World of Wine), but alas, it isn't streaming. I might actually have to rent a DVD...how prehistoric....

Until then, curl up with a good flick and some sour patch kids!

Old Wines, New Ventures

So I've been dormant for a while, enveloped by a last minute move that I paid all too little attention to as I tried to squeeze out every party in my last days. Was great fun (a lot of pictures of me posing on top of my friends' bars), but I'm getting some lovely down time in my temporary lodgings in New York City.

I moved up here very short notice-my lease was up...why not right?! I was planning on going to the International Culinary Center in Soho, starting in January, and figured I would just start working and piddle away at looking for apartments until then ................................................................................... .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................and then there was Napa.

My school worked out a full ride...if I shipped out to the California campus in the San Francisco Bay area. Good thing I was still in boxes!

While I play the waiting game for my 3000 mile move west for the winter, I've pretty much kept my head buried in my somm textbooks and hands busy over the stove. The one thing that I love about shacking up with my parents is that they lend me full control of the evening mealtime menu. I have a lot to update on this little journal of mine....

Regardless, I wanted to talk about my most memorable wine tasting experience in this post, since I have spent so much time studying it over the last couple of weeks. I'd like to bring wine a little bit more to the forefront in this blog, as I continue to learn more and more about it as a technical trade.

My absolute favorite thing about wine, and the reason why I am so passionate about it, is the people behind the wine. Whether it be the winemaker, the person who gifts it to you, that somm that serves it to you, or the person you're sharing it with. These particular bottles, which to this day are in the top...let's say seven (if I REALLY had to order them) that I've had in my lifetime. My friend Rocky (short for Rakesh), came up to my bar with a somm friend of mine Will for Will's 28th birthday. As a gift, he brought a bottle of 1986 Lynch Bages Pauillac Bordeaux. The cork crumbled when we pulled it out (thankfully not back into the bottle), and we chose not to decant it. Now this particular bottle was, hands down, the best I have ever tasted. As Rocky described it, the wine was reminiscent of an extremely delicious pencil shaving (hilarious, but so true).

There is a certain harmony and finesse that you get from drinking a bottle this old. The flavors have had enough time to truly blend, creating a wine that reveals new layers of flavor with every sip. As is typical with my friends, this was so delicious we decided we needed  more.

We walked across the street to my sister restaurant to raid our reserve cellar, and picked out a 1996 Pauillac Bordeaux and a 2006 Cote Rotie Delas (Rhone). It was fascinating to do a mini vertical tasting with the Pauillacs, and the Cote Rotie Delas was truly divine as well.

It is always an exceptional experience to drink wine this fine with people who are truly interested and passionate about what they are tasting. This not only was an evening of some of the finest wines I've tasted, but also a giddy, almost child like evening of eagerness, curiosity, and respect. 

I'll leave it at that, and be back soon with more food!!!

Eat well, drink well, and live vibrantly ;)