Hungary Annual Report: Growing Locally, Dreaming Globally

You are going to need to learn the word “kekfrankos” if you want to understand what is exciting about Hungarian wine. It’s a local grape variety that makes complex and fresh reds as well as delicious and structured blends.

By the way, kekfrankos is blaufrankisch, so you probably already know it. Countries like Austria have made a name for themselves with the grape, and bottles from winemakers such as Moric and Dorli Muhr are highly sought after around the world, particularly in trendy wine bars and wine-focused restaurants because the fresh reds go so well with a variety of cuisines.

After a number of trips to Hungary over the last five years, it really struck me this year how Hungary is making some extremely exciting and diverse reds with its local varieties as well as international ones such as cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and even pinot noir. But why hasn’t kekfrankos made a name for itself in Hungary?

“We believe in kekfrankos,” said Gyorgy Lorincz Sr., one of the best winemakers in Hungary and the owner of St. Andrea Winery, which is located outside the town of Eger. “It has to have low yields and be planted in the right place. Limestone soils are amazing for kekfrankos. But there is not very much of those soils here.”

His St. Andrea Egri Bikavér Grand Superior Nagy-Eged-Hegy Agapé 2018 was the Hungarian wine of our tastings this summer in Europe. Mostly kekfrankos but with the addition of merlot, pinot noir, syrah and kadarka, the red showed intense aromas of red fruits, flowers and minerals that follow through to a medium to full body with focused and refined tannins and a long finish. It compares to some of the best reds of the world.

Sebastian Giraldo Makojev, the brand manager of Sauska wineries in Villany, Tokaj, and Budapest: said kekfrankos “is everywhere in Hungary, and if you are from Hungary you probably have a relative who makes some.” However, he added: “It’s probably poor quality, so you don’t drink it in Hungary, but the export market wants it! I think it can be the flag for Hungarian wines.”

Tibor Gal, who makes handmade and modern wines with his siblings in subterranean cellars in the heart of the town of Eger, also believes in kekfrankos.

But he thinks it’s best in his blends under the appellation Bikaver, which allows fellow wine producers to use other grapes such as kadarka or even syrah or cabernet sauvignon. However, kekfrankos must be the majority of the blend.

“Eger has 50 grape varieties that were developed after World War II," Gal said during a tasting of his range at his winery in July. "But many were high production and bad quality. We focus on kekfrankos with a few other of the top-quality varieties in our Bikaver.”

The grape variety of furmint could also impress wine lovers outside of Hungary. You’re probably familiar with the grape, which makes different levels of outstanding quality sweet wines from the limestone soils of Tokaj. But the top single-vineyard dry whites of furmint have really come into their own in the region in recent years, and they have much of the same personality of top cru Chablis, with density, freshness and minerality.

“Tokaj is the shining diamond on the crown for Hungarian wines,” added Makojev, Sauska's brand manager. “But the crown is dry wine!”

Sauska''s Furmint Tokaji Medve 2022 was one of the top dry whites of our Hungarian wine tasting. It showed precise and focused character of flint, stone and citrus in both the nose and palate. The underlining steely nature of the wine gives it tension and freshness.

Nonetheless, wine-loving Hungarians themselves drink more cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc than bottles of kekfrankos or furmint, despite such outstanding quality bottles, according to key wine producers. “Nobody seems to want to drink furmit here, or kékfrankos,” added vintner Krisztian Sauska. “They would prefer chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon by comparison.”

Indeed, Hungarian wine producers say that they still need to rely so much on their local market for selling high-quality wines that it’s necessary to make more wines from international varieties instead of local ones. Even though almost 40 percent of Hungarian wine made each year is exported, most is cheap and of average quality and either sold in bulk or in low-cost bottles to Eastern Europe. Top wines are mostly sold in the capital, Budapest.

“We sell hardly anything to key markets such as the United States, but we hope that may change one day,” said Sauska, whose newly constructed winery and visitors’ center are among the most modern and well-designed  in the country and sit on a hillside overlooking some of the best vineyards of Tokaj.

With what we rated this year and what I tasted from barrel, good to outstanding quality bottles of Hungarian wines are on the horizon in key international wine markets. It’s only a matter of time when more people try them, and many bottles will most likely be dry and local, such as kekfrankos and furmint.

– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman

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