Northern Hungary Wine

• October 2009

  I wasn't going to post anything but since this thread is still going . . . You can find a million wines under $15 but the question is whether you yourself would like to drink them. The more people who answer, the more random the list becomes until eventually you end up listing... Read moreI wasn't going to post anything but since this thread is still going . . . You can find a million wines under $15 but the question is whether you yourself would like to drink them. The more people who answer, the more random the list becomes until eventually you end up listing every wine in the whole world that is under $15. That might not be a bad thing. Anyhow, here are some things I wouldn't mind drinking and I tried to explain why. I posted this somewhere else a few years ago so it may be dated - I would love to find a wine under $10 or so that is good enough to justify buying, but rarely is it possible, at least in reds. I tried 2 Buck Chuck and Yellowtail. Both went down the drain. The latter especially was way too sweet - they either left a lot of residual sugar in it or added some. Nothing else going on with the wine other than some horrific sweetness. It used to be possible to get decent values for that price, but over the past 10 years or so that has changed. So we define $10 - $15 as cheap enough for every day. At that range, there is a lot. Spain is a great source. Try looking for some garnacha - it's by far the most widely planted red grape in the country and consequently in the world, and as a result, there are some real bargains to be found - Artazuri Garnacha - several versions but the cheap one is fine, lots of dark cherry fruit and a touch of spice and earth. Borsao or Las Rocas or Leilia or Tres Picos - all produce inexpensive versions of garnacha with more complexity than you'd ever guess from the price - usually have a touch of earth, ash and spice over the fruit. The Las Rocas can be very uneven depending on which lot your bottle comes from. It's made in millions of bottle runs. Also try some monastrell - it was grown for centuries but usually made a rustic, unpleasant, stinky wine until a few producers attempted to reach a little higher. Because it comes from a region relatively unknown in the US - Murcia, there is not demand from collectors and prices can be great. Altos de Luzon - a blend of moslty monastrell and syrah and I think cab, very earthy and leathery on the nose, great balance, very good job and one of the best values on the market from anywhere IMHO. They do a cheaper version but it's nasty IMO. The bodega led by Juan Gil has been a pioneer in raising the quality of the wine from the grape, and the Juan Gil wine itself is under $20 and great. In addition Casa Castillo does an inexpensive version and Rafael Cambra does a great one but it's over $20. Most of all, don't overlook the great grape of Spain - tempranillo. Too many to list but the traditional crianzas or better, joven wines, from Rioja especially can be great values. E.g. Marques de Riscal, Marques de Murrietta, etc, from Rioja. Regarding the Riscal Reserva - I cannot think of another wine in the world that you can pay less than $12 for and keep for the rest of your life. And it improves w age. Look for Joven or Crianza from Ribera del Duero too - Bodegas Arrocal, Gormaz, and Casajus (which I sell), or the wines of Alejandro Fernandez, like Condado de Haza, or from Toro, his el Vinculo. Greg already mentioned Flavium, which is a really good job of mencia from the north of Spain. There aren't a lot of good value mencia wines out, but that's one and so is the Abad Dom Bueno, which was listed by the NYT as the best value and again, disclaimer - it's something I sell. And don't overlook the whites. Lots of great verdejo available - usually has a touch of grapefruit and a crisp quality - it's what a sauvignon blanc would love to be but never can. There are many Spanish whites around for under $15 and rather than list them I'd suggest that you simply go to the store and pick one up. If you like it, try another. They're often sold by grape variety, so you can learn fast. And don't overlook the rosados either - as a rule, try to get them as fresh as you can, but there are a few that can age, believe it or not. Australia is always a good source of value - Rosemount has really decreased in quality, but is still OK w the whites, Oxford Landing, Two Hands (the Lucky Country is their only low-end red and the new imnporter is raising prices), Mollydooker (the new label from Sparky Marquis who used to make Marquis Phillips), Grant Burge, Jacobs Creek, Lindemanns, Penfolds and Peter Lehman all make a range of wines and their low ends are good. They tend to be fruity and also very "clean", in that you don't get funky, leathery notes on the nose for the most part. Also in Australia, don't ignore the whites. They make some of the best value riesling and semillon on the planet - usually very dry. I'd say just pick up what you find and if you don't like it, try something else. Not much from Napa or Sonoma but if you go to somewhere else in California, you can do well - Fess Parker from Santa Barbara makes a number of wines, Michael Phillips from Lodi makes big, fruity, brawny zins and syrah and cab and petite sirah. And Cline, as mentioned makes pretty good stuff, especially their zin and syrah that come in at your price point. Ravenswoods lower end isn't great - some people like it but go for their better stuff - they've really come back after a few off years. BV is sometimes OK w the Coastal label, but spend a little more - I think their Rutherford cab may be one of the best values in Napa - you can find it for as low as $17 sometimes and worth it. Washington has good values - the Chat St Michelle companies which also include Villa Mt Eden from CA, and Columbia Crest, among others. All of their whites are solid values. The Eroica from Chat St Michelle wins awards every year - it's a riesling that's got a touch of residual sugar, like many kabinett wines from the Mosel these days, but it's always a nice wine and around $18. But if you spend less on the basic riesling, you won't be disappointed and you'll have a few bucks extra for a red. The Reserve cab and syrah from Columbia Crest lists over $25 but can often be found for much less and like I said, if you average out the price of the white and the red, you hit your price point. Italy is easy if you stay south - Sicily has decent wines made from Nero d'Avola like Morgante, with dark fruit flavors and great balance, as well as from other local grapes but their prices are inching up. A-Mano is a primitivo (zinfandel) that is made in Puglia by Chris Shannon from California - it goes for around $8 and is a great value every year. May be the best primitivo from Italy, although Appolonio is good too. Usually they have a little more acidity than some of the CA versions and for the price, a lot more complexity. Monte Antico is from Tuscany and is a pretty good value, as is Gabbiano - a Chianti. If you're looking at a cheap Chianti, you could do a lot worse. Hungary has a few interesting wines - Craftsman is a label that was created to develop good, inexpensive wines as an intro to their grapes and wine. All of them are decent values if you can find them. You can learn about grapes that most people have never heard of and enjoy yourself at the same time. I've had all of these many times and in general, the whites tend to be fruity and have a touch of residual sugar, but they're not sweet. And don't forget Argentina, maybe the best place for the US right now, given the currency rates and how we are suffering against the Euro. You can get any number of malbecs and cabs - Sur, Ox, Gascon, Altos las Hormigas, Altos de las Terrazas, Norton, Dona Paula, etc. All are actually nice. And if you spend a few bucks more for the reservas, you will have excellent wine. The Terrazas for example, makes a reserva that I get for $14.99 and it can hold its own with wines costing much more. These all tend to be fairly big wines with a good shot of oak and spice. Chile makes low-cost wines, but I find them frequently rather green and rarely buy them. They are quite different as a rule than the wines of Argentina, which are more lush and softer. Those from Chile, when ripe, still end to have a bit more in the way of herbal notes, but they also have less opulent fruit and a leaner profile. Can be quite nice in some cases if that's your thing. France remains a strange place. Of its most famous wine, some is the most overpriced on the planet and some represents outstanding value for the money. Beaujolais has a bad rap because people tired of the fashion for the cheap, young wine. As a result, there is little demand for the cru beaujolais and they represent outstanding values. Moreover, some of them are quite ageworthy and for the price of a bottle of Burgundy, you can get a case to lay down. In ten years you'll have a wine that will make your Burgundy drinking friends envious. Brun and Vissoux are 2 that I am happy to own. Syrah from the Northern Rhone is as expensive as Burgundy or Bordeaux, but syrah grows elsewhere and can be delicious. Garnacha, or as they call it, grenache, can be an even better value. There is a lot of swill produced but also a lot of great wine. Chapelle St Arnoux produces my favorite bottle of wine from the South Rhone in the Ventoux region. It's under $10 and drinks wonderfully and is a blend of garnacha and other "Rhone" grapes. It's worth remembering that except for syrah, the most important grapes in the Rhone cam from Spain, so look for the same grapes I mentioned for Spain - grenache, monastrell (which they call mourvedre) and carinena (which they call carignan). These are frequently blended together and in fact, most wines from the south of France are probably blends, so you won’t generally see a bottle that states the grape variety. Doesn’t matter - try them anyway. In the same way that the co-op wines produced in the millions can still represent value in Spain, those of France can also represent value. Many Cote du Rhones are surprisingly good and they have similar profiles to the Spanish wines I described earlier - earthy, strawberry/cherry fruit, spice. Most of the wines I've mentioned from France, Spain and Italy are made with little or no new oak. The cost of a French barrel is around $800 these days, so it can be a great savings to the winery if they use old, used barrels or cement tanks. France also has regions that are frequently ignored. The Loire for example produces great cabernet franc. It tends to have a green and herbal note to it, VERY unlike the wines from the south which are generally much fruitier and more pleasant up front, but if you like that quality, it's hard to find better values anywhere. The whites from the Loire, especially the far west, are outstanding values if you like super lean, crisp, minimalist whites. It's also the home of sauvignon blanc, and while I'm not a huge fan of the grape, the wines from that region can be exceptional. Lesser known areas like Jura, Savoie, Madiran, and others can be sources of value but as it's unlikely you'll find much, I'll not say anything about them. At any rate, if you buy a handful of wines from each of the areas I mentioned, you'll get a good overview and have enough to keep you busy for a long time.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic What is your favorite wine... by GregT

  
  

• August 2009

  I can't believe I missed this: "Yearly my wife's Hungarian family gathers to a meal of old time recipe favorites. Egri Bikavar often finds it's place next to the sour cream and paprika laced dishes." Stop with that Hungary makes some great wines including some outstanding bikaver... Read moreI can't believe I missed this: "Yearly my wife's Hungarian family gathers to a meal of old time recipe favorites. Egri Bikavar often finds it's place next to the sour cream and paprika laced dishes." Stop with that Hungary makes some great wines including some outstanding bikaver but I think I know what you're getting and that's the crap that was put out by the state-owned monopoly and it's really swill. Hungarian whites are just great these days but you'll have to order from out of state because I don't know anyone who's selling anything good in MI. And speaking of Blaufränkisch, the Hungarians call it Kekfrankos and they do a wonderful job with it. It's actually an "Austrian" grape that was brought to Germany in the late 1800s. But remember that what we see as the political borders of Austria and Hungary today are not what the Austro-Hungarian empire constituted, so both modern-day Austria and Hungary make really good blaufrankisch, or blue franc. The red grapes that were more respected were called franconian, or French, and the grapes that were less respected were called "Hunnic" and this grape, which apparently is not French, was given that name for prestige purposes. But in Eger it can make a really good wine IMO and I'd love to try it from Michigan. Those that I've had from Washington have been really disappointing. Incidentally, of course I disagree with this statement regarding "European" wine: "Less oak, generally, but potentially higher acidity, more subtlety, but at the expense of fruit. . ." If you can ship in, I'll tell you some Hungarian wine you might try. If you can't but you can name a store or two nearby, we can tell you something about the wines they offer. Meantime try Winebuys in MI and tell them to link to Snooth if they haven't    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic Another wine fan from Michigan by GregT

  
  

• July 2009

  Oh you poor people - if you have to buy what the PA liquor folks select, you really are at a serious disadvantage! OK so if you want to shop in NJ, here are a few wines you might try - at the lower end, there is a series of wines called Craftsman. They're made by Hilltop Neszmely... Read moreOh you poor people - if you have to buy what the PA liquor folks select, you really are at a serious disadvantage! OK so if you want to shop in NJ, here are a few wines you might try - at the lower end, there is a series of wines called Craftsman. They're made by Hilltop Neszmely and they're pretty much all under $10. The importer is a pretty good friend and I also know the owners - their intention is to introduce people to some Hungarian grapes and not to cause too much financial pain while doing so. All of their wines are fair values for the money and some are really good values. They make a wine they call the "Falconer's Cuvee" which is a blend of cab franc and some others and it's usually quite good. You can find them in a number of places. Moving up, you get into some of the better reds. I'll recommend a few that you can find at Wine Library, since they're available on line. Takler is a guy who makes wine Szekszard, which is one of several historically noted wine regions in Hungary. His wines tend to be a little pricey for what you get, although some people disagree. Be that as it may, you might want to try the Noir Gold Reserve. It's from a grape called kekfrankos, or what the Austrians call blaufrankisch or blue franc. In Washington they call it lemberger but the only ones I've had were not something I'd want to drink and definitely wouldn't recommend. Again, some people like those but perhaps they never had any good ones. However, I think kekfrankos should be the signature grape of Hungary, i.e. something to differentiate it, because they do such an outstanding job with it. As I mentioned, most aren't imported, which is too bad. But this one is a decent effort. If you want to compare to some Blaufrankisch from Austria, you might want to try Weninger. They have vineyards on both sides of the border and make single vineyard wines from both. It's interesting to compare them, however to my knowledge the Hungarian version isn't imported, only the Austrian one. As a general observation, the grape typically has great acidity, often with a spicy and peppery quality, not unlike a really cool-climate syrah might have. The area around Eger in particular seems to bring out those qualities, which is why I like those wines. You might also try the Kadarka by Takler. Again, it's not that Takler is one of my favorite producers, but he is available because he's one of the first wines imported by Monarchia before they were merged with Matt Bros. Kadarka was brought to Hungary by the Serbs around the time of the Turk invasions, and it can be a really interesting and good wine, often with floral notes. It may be the most "indigenous" of Hungarian reds - don't forget that the political borders have been very fluid over the centuries. Bikaver, or "Bull's Blood", is usually a blend of these, along with some other grapes. Then they have some wines from Villany, which some people think is Hungary's best red grape area. There's Vylyan Zweigelt, which is another grape that is generally light in body, high in acid, showing a red-fruit profile without a big base of tannins. Part of that has to do with the continental climate of Hungary - it's nowhere as hot as Napa or Barossa or the Rhone, so they end up with grapes that are ripe, but rarely overripe. If people knew about those wines, they'd be calling them "food wines". They do an excellent job with cabernet franc too, as they're usually not as green as those from the Loire but they're still recognizably cab franc, with the herbal edge and body weight that you want in cab franc. Unfortunately, as I said, there's a limited selection available in the US. Gary V at Wine Library doesn't know all that much about Hungary, but he's super-enthusiastic and he's at least been there and he's eager to learn. As a result, he usually has a few in the store. He also has a dry furmint by Demeter Zoltan. The whites from Hungary are world-class at this point. The reds aren't there yet, although they're improving yearly. You should try that white. It's lean to the point of being austere - very acidic, reminiscent of a muscadet from the Loire, but also really well-made and an excellent example of an indigenous grape done well. FWIW - Egervin, which produced your wine, was created in the 1940s after WWII. It was the state-owned cooperative that everyone was forced to belong to and which bears a lot of responsibility for destroying Hungarian viticulture. Today it's "privatized" but it's still the first or second largest producer of wine in Hungary. If you can imagine the PA Liquor Control taking over Gallo and appointing all their hack friends to run it for about 50 years, you'd probably still be better off! Anyhow, best of luck with your endeavor!    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic New East Coast Wine Geeks... by GregT

  
  

• July 2009

  German flavor? Not sure what you mean. The grape is related to or may even be malvasia. Very floral and peachy and sometimes very good, sometimes not so. Incidentally, I did listen to the tasting you did re the Bikaver 2005 and I really have to comment on the speculation in... Read moreGerman flavor? Not sure what you mean. The grape is related to or may even be malvasia. Very floral and peachy and sometimes very good, sometimes not so. Incidentally, I did listen to the tasting you did re the Bikaver 2005 and I really have to comment on the speculation in that podcast. 1. FWIW, you selected probably the worst example of "wine" from Hungary that is shipped to the US. It's hard for me to think of something worse, but maybe if I did some research I'd find some. 2. Someone suggested "root vegetable" and that was a very good call. Some of the horrid wines from Hungary seem to have a note of carrots or turnips. But your wine is communist-era co-op wine that hasn't really changed much since the regime change. FYI - According to legend, Bull's Blood dates back to the Turk invasions. They had surrounded the city of Eger, which is a beautiful city incidentally. The Hungarians thought their days were over so they got drunk and eventually decided what the hell and they picked up their swords and clubs and ran down the mountains to attack the Turks. The Turks saw the red wine dripping from their beards and as they themselves were non drinkers, they assumed it was blood and the Hungarians were crazy and they ran away. 3. Today Bikaver is a blend of grapes. It's also not only made in Eger. It was so debased under communism that most people still think it's crap, several steps lower than Two Buck Chuck, but there are a few producers who have decided that they want to reclaim their heritage and they're making really good Bikaver, sometimes even stunningly good. Unfortunately, I don't know of any imported or I'd suggest one or two that you might try. 5. Hungary is not really "eastern" Europe, rather it's usually considered central Europe. 6. "Riedel glasses having different shapes because the wine hits a different part of your palate" Not really. That's a marketing gimmick. It's not possible to design such a glass. Is your head tilted? Did you toss the wine back? Is your mouth exactly the precise dimensions of the person next to you? How does one have any idea where any wine will hit any person's mouth and design a glass to target that area? Moreover, stand over a sink with a half-full glass. Pour it. What direction does the water go? Straight down at the speed of gravity. It doesn't flow forward. Riedel has stopped trying to make that claim these days. Anyhow, at least you know someone listened! Cheers.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic New East Coast Wine Geeks... by GregT

  
  

• January 2009

  As I mentioned in my previous post, the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) is a British non-profit offering wine education courses available throughout the US and around the world. Their courses emphasize both the theoretical (viticulture, vinification, wine types, wine regions,... Read moreAs I mentioned in my previous post, the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) is a British non-profit offering wine education courses available throughout the US and around the world. Their courses emphasize both the theoretical (viticulture, vinification, wine types, wine regions, and spirits) as well as the practical (tasting) aspects of wine. Currently, the WSET offers the Intermediate Certificate course (eight two-hour sessions) for wine novices, the more challenging and comprehensive Advanced Certificate course (fifteen two-and-a-half hour sessions) and the multi-year Diploma. I took the advanced certificate course a few years ago and enjoyed it thoroughly; in all my years of university, I would say that this was by far the most educational and enjoyable semester-length course… and that’s not just because you get to taste 100 wines during the semester! N.B. - The Advanced is a prerequisite for the Diploma, but the Intermediate is not a prerequisite for the Advanced. I’d recommend that anyone with some wine knowledge who is up for a challenge, dive right in and start at the Advanced Certificate. I then moved on to the Diploma, which is divided into 6 units and usually studied over 2 or more years. In New York City, units 1 and 2 are offered together. Unit 1 is an introduction to the wine and spirits business, and is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the program. This is exacerbated by the fact that the wine business is so different from country to country and even state to state. Unit 2 covers viticulture, vinification, maturation and the major grape varieties of the world. Once you have completed these units you can proceed through the remaining units however you like… but unit 3 is 5 to 10 times as much material as the other units. I took Units 4, 5 and 6 all in one semester a couple of years ago. Being a big fan of cocktails and having drunk my share of ardent spirits, unit 4 was pretty straightforward. However, wine geeks who don’t drink hard alcohol that much can have trouble here as Whisky and Brandy are covered in detail. I found unit 6 on fortified wines (Port, Sherry, Madeira, etc.) to be particularly difficult as these wines are rarely consumed in the US. However, this unit turned out to be the most personally rewarding as I have developed into a huge fan of these wines thanks to the course. ________________________________________________________________________________________ This week I will start unit 3, the centerpiece of the Diploma. Removing sparkling and fortified wines still leaves an awful lot of ground to cover under the aegis of “Light Wines of the World.” The sense of foreboding is amplified by the fact that the textbook is Jancis Robinson’s 840-page Oxford Companion to Wine. Anyone who knows this book can tell that although it’s a truly awesome reference work, it doesn’t come close to falling under the category of “light” reading in any sense of the word - the book is six-and-a-half pounds after all. Here’s the (daunting) course syllabus of what we’ll be studying over the next 20 weeks. Rhône Valley Alsace and Beaujolais Burgundy Loire Valley Bordeaux 1 Bordeaux 2 Germany South of France Northern Italy Central Italy Southern Italy Australia 1 Australia 2 and New Zealand Spain 1 Spain 2 and Portugal Central & Eastern Europe North America South America South Africa, Asia, Israel Just one single day on the wines of North America? That means that everything you know about the wines of Napa, Sonoma, the rest of California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Virginia, Canada and Mexico won’t even get you 10% of the way there! A full day on the wines of Central & Eastern Europe? Too bad I have no professional experience (apart from selling a couple Grüner’s and a Tokaji) with the wines of Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria(!!!), Greece and Cyprus. This tasting will be a real eye-opener. Everything about Italy crammed into just 3 classes? But each of Italy’s 20 region is like a separate country - there’s little regional overlap of wines, grapes, and wine culture. Anyway, I am off to read up on the wines of the Rhône. I’ll offer my next update after the first class. “The Rhône Valley can be divided into two parts, the southern Rhône and the northern Rhône. The northern Rhône is the home to 8 appellations, the most famous of which are Côte…” Rodolphe Boulanger is President of The Wine Messenger, an online wine retailer focussed on small grower wines. Rodolphe is also currently a diploma student at the WSET in London.    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic The WSET Diploma –... by RBoulanger

  
  

• December 2008

  Now that it’s officially the holidays, the party invitations are starting to roll in.  As a retailer, I’m seeing lots more people come into the store and request a wine that’s great for a dinner party and its very often that dessert wines are completely ignored.  Generally,... Read moreNow that it’s officially the holidays, the party invitations are starting to roll in.  As a retailer, I’m seeing lots more people come into the store and request a wine that’s great for a dinner party and its very often that dessert wines are completely ignored.  Generally, people turn their noses up to sweet or fortified wines however, I find that funny because we (most of us) love drinking milk, and soda, and coffee with baileys, which are incredibly sweet beverages. Dessert wine, by definition is a wine with more than 14% alcohol.  Now this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because many wines have more than 14% alcohol and are not sweet.  The term ‘dessert wine” is the legal US term for wines these wines because generally these wines are sweet and enjoyed after dinner. (Go figure).  So there you have it.  In Europe these wines are called liqueur wines because it gives the same sense of sweetness but you can also use fortified, which suggests that the wine has been dabbled with to make it stronger. As previously mentioned there are a couple of different types of dessert wines out there. There are the fortified wines such as Port and Madeira, both coming from Southern Europe.  These wines start out in the same way other wines do but once the wine is made it’s then “fortified” with brandy typically.  This addition stops the fermentation process and leaves residual sugar that in turn boosts the alcohol content, making a strong, rich, sweeter wine with licorice and tobacco notes. Another way to make sweet wine is to just leave the grapes on the vine until they essentially rot.  The rot produces lots of sugar by sucking out the water from the grape and thus you have sweet wines.  This method is called Noble Rot because of the famous wines it produces including Chateau d’Yquem from Sauternes.  This method is more famous in northern European countries such as Austria, Hungary, and Germany and makes wines with lots of honey and exotic flavors. Raisinated wines, such as Recioto and Passito can also make for a great dessert wine.  The grapes are picked and left to dry on mats making the grapes raisins making the wines much more concentrated and sweet.  These wines tend to be rich, and sweet and tastes a lot like a raisin. Lastly, I’d like to touch on Moscato d’Asti and Brachetto d’Acqui.  Both wines are from the Piedmont region and have effervescence or small bubbles to them.  I love these wines.  They’re light, crisp and refreshing.  They tend to taste more of fruit than of syrupy sugar, which can be nice after a big dinner. There are many other dessert wines that I didn’t get to touch upon, but I wanted to give you an idea of what else is out there.  The rule of thumb here is to have these wines with food less sweet than the wine, such as biscotti, or plain fruit, so that their not overpowered.  You could even try something slightly salty with these wines, like certain cheeses.  All in all, they are certainly not to be overlooked as they are some of the best and most valued wines to be had. Callie Exas has just launched her wine career at New York Wine Co. in Manhattan. So far so good!    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic What's for dessert? by CallieNYC

  
  

• September 2008

  Furmint - supposedly it's going to be a big deal soon Furmint is a variety of wine grape from the Pontian Balcanica branch of Vitis vinifera, used for white wines. The name Furmint is taken from the word "froment" for the wheat-gold color of the wine it produces. The origins of the... Read moreFurmint - supposedly it's going to be a big deal soon Furmint is a variety of wine grape from the Pontian Balcanica branch of Vitis vinifera, used for white wines. The name Furmint is taken from the word "froment" for the wheat-gold color of the wine it produces. The origins of the variety are unclear; some believe it came from southern Italy, while others point to Srem. However, it is possible that it is native to Hungary. The most widely-planted type is White Furmint. It is a late variety, usually ripening in the second half of October, and a very good host of Botrytis. Furmint is most widely grown in Hungary, particularly in the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region where it is used to produce single-varietal dry wines as well as being the principal grape in the better known Tokaji dessert wines. It is also grown in the tiny Hungarian wine region of Somló. Furmint plays a similar role in the Slovakian wine region of Tokaj. It is also grown in Austria where it is known as Mosler. Smaller plantings are found in Slovenia where it is known as Sipon. The grape is also planted in Croatia, Romania and the former republics of the Soviet Union. (from Wikipedia)    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic A Varietal (or at least an... by adamlevin

  
  

• July 2008

  We took the CSW in NYC. Oddly enough, the CWE is not offered in NYC. There must be some nefarious reason that the nation's premier wine market (and largest city) doesn't have a full slate of SWE exams. From what I have heard, the CWE is a good exam and a worthy goal, but the... Read moreWe took the CSW in NYC. Oddly enough, the CWE is not offered in NYC. There must be some nefarious reason that the nation's premier wine market (and largest city) doesn't have a full slate of SWE exams. From what I have heard, the CWE is a good exam and a worthy goal, but the Society does not make it very clear what you are tested on. They list a 25% pass rate for people taking it the first-time. It's almost as if they are a guild who doesn't want any new members! I am not going to throw my money down the drain like that. I do have a friend who is trying to put together a guide for the CWE so we'll see how that goes. As for the WSET's bias against North American wines, it was very strong when I took the Advanced Certificate in 2004 (about 5% of the material), but I understand it gets more coverage in the new textbook. I am halfway through WSET's Diploma and I think, at this level, they are pretty fair. The wines of the world unit is divided into four sub-units 1. Northern & Western Europe (Germany, Britain & "Wet" France i.e. regions where it rains) 2. Southern, Central & Eastern Europe (Iberia, Italy, Med. France, Austria, etc) 3. Africa, Asia, & Australia (including the Middle East) 4. The Americas (with USA getting ~60% of the focus and Chile & Argentina splitting the rest) The IWC (who administer the WSET courses in NYC) choose to spend only 2 of 20 diploma class sessions on North America and a whopping 7 on France, 3 on Italy, 2 on Iberia, and 2 on Australia. Before you cry foul about the US getting a raw deal, remember that this means that Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, South Africa, North Africa, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and anywhere else get stuffed in to 4 sessions. Yum! Is this still biased towards the UK market? Yes - but its getting better. Besides, 25 years ago, it must have been 75% focused on France and Germany with short chapters on Italy, Spain, and the USA and a paragraph on Australia! Christophe - do you know anything about the CWP and ACWP programs at the CIA/Greystone in St. Helena?    (hide)

  Forum post in the topic My New Favorite AVA - Fair Play by RBoulanger

  
  

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