Budapest to the Black Sea
Our intrepid wine expert Isabelle Legeron returns to journey through Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria in a quest to discover what makes this re-emerging region one that wine lovers should keep a close eye on. In Hungary, the inventors of the wine spritzer, Isabelle finds winemakers returning to long forgotten grape varieties and investigates 'the king of wines and the wine of Kings', Tokaj.
In Romania Isabelle traces back the wine heritage to Roman times and looks at how the country is bringing its wine-making right up to date. Ending her journey in Bulgaria, Isabelle tastes her way round the same local varietals that graced the tables of Homer and Churchill alike. She also manages to unearth a fellow compatriot who was so impressed with the wine they set up shop there. If you're looking for a new wine experience just follow Isabelle's nose.
Episode 1 - Budapest and Balaton
Isabelle touches down in the land of Attila, where they started making wine centuries ago. Having been cut off from the Western world and its winemaking for the 50 years of the Iron Curtain, Isabelle sets off to find out where Hungary’s at today. Her Journey takes her from the squat bars and wine ‘spritzers’ of Budapest to the holiday hotspot of Balaton, Central Europe’s largest lake. She discovers a rich vinous heritage and a future full of promise, where winemakers do things differently and indigenous grape varieties, while unpronounceable, are fast becoming a national treasure. But this hot, new wine frontier is haunted by a hangover Cold War image that simply doesn’t fit the Hungary of the new millennium, so Isabelle sets the record straight.
For more information on the wines, wineries, and activities featured in this episode check out these sites…
TERROIR CLUB – www.terroirclub.hu
A great starting point to track down some of Isabelle’s favourite Hungarian wines.
NIMROD KOVACS – www.monarchiamatt.com
Monarchia have done masses to get Hungarian out there in the world, to get people tasting it and thinking about it differently. For more information check out their website.
JOSZEF SZENTESI – +36 20 466 6490 / info@goldcenter.hu
This is one of Isabelle’s real little finds. He started out making wine as a hobby, for himself and his friends, but he turned out to be such a dab hand at it that’s he’s decided to go commercial.
LAJOS TAKACS – www.hollovar.hu
Isabelle fell in love with Hollovar, with its location, philosophy and wine! Lajos’ website may or may not always be active but you can always contact him by phone or email: +36 30 942 9306; hollovar@hotmail.com
Nyári Pince – www.nyaripince.hu
Szeremley – www.szeremley.com
Villa Tolnay – villatolnay.blogspot.com *** Szeremley also has a wonderful vineyard restaurant with stunning views out over Lake Balaton, so you’ve no excuse not to line your stomach with a fabulous meal before your afternoon of wine tasting!
NEW YORK CAFÉ – www.boscolohotels.com
Budapest’s premier literary café dating back to the late 19th century.
SZIMPLA – www.szimpla.hu
One of Budapest’s über-trendy squat bars and a great place to sample the Hungarian favourite, fröccs.
BLIND TASTING www.hollovar.hu
Episode 2 - Eger and Tokaj
Isabelle ends her Hungarian journey in the uplands of the north west of the country. Here she visits the home of Bull’s Blood and makes tracks for Hungary’s most famous wine region, Tokaj. This luscious nectar of a wine was a favourite with the Great and the Good of ages past. Louis XIV claimed it was the king of wines and the wine of kings, while Catherine the Great is said to have particularly treasured it for its reputation as a latter day Viagra! Isabelle learns how years of communism were tough on Tokaj’s wines but today the tipple is back with a vengeance.
For more information on the wines, wineries, and activities featured in this episode check out these sites…
TERROIR CLUB – www.terroirclub.hu
A great starting point to track down some of Isabelle’s favourite Hungarian wines.
IMRE KALÓ – Isabelle is quite simply nuts about Imre’s wines, which she says forces the drinker to re-evaluate their understanding of what grapes really taste like. If you’re trying to get hold of Imre’s wines the best place to start is the Terroir Club; the website is listed above.
DR TAMÁS PÓK – www.poktamas.hu - www.egriborvidekert.hu u
…Or rather Pók Tamás, as the Hungarians would say, is one of Hungary’s most illustrious winemakers and a specialist in Bull’s Blood. He and his posse of winemaking chums have single-handedly managed to turn around the fate of this infamous Hungarian drink by starting up a rigorous judging panel to weed out the bad eggs. For more information on Tamás, his wines and his Bikaver Superior appellation visit the websites above.
SZEPSY – www.szepsy.hu
István is the King of the King of Wines and the Wine of Kings. Tongue twister though it might be, his wines are a testament to Tokaj’s greatness. Isabelle thinks István’s wines are good as it gets: sweet Tokaji at its best.
TOKAJ – www.tokaj.hu
This is the town after which the wine and wine region are named. To find out more, check out the link above.
TOKAJ KERESKEDőHÁZ ZRT – www.tkzrt.hu
For all those of you who do not speak Hungarian, this translates as The Tokaj Trading House or Tokaj Trading Company. Although the company itself has not existed for very long, their archive of Tokaj wines is immense and with bottles dating back to the 19th C, it’s a veritable treasure trove.
DISZNÓKő – www.disznoko.hu
This is the vineyard where Isabelle went treading grapes and harvesting the vines. For more information on the vineyard and its wines check out the link above.
KAYAKING – www.turak.hu This is a great way to get a hands on feel for the micro-climate (essential for Tokaj’s noble rot) that the river creates as it snakes its way through Tokaj’s countryside.
HARVEST IN TOKAJ – www.tokajiosz.hu
For information on Tokaj’s harvest activities in the autumn, including tastings with winemakers, parades and celebrations visit the website listed above.
SZIMPLA – www.szimpla.hu
One of Budapest’s über-trendy squat bars and a great place to sample the Hungarian favourite, fröccs.
EGER – www.eger.hu
The town portal for the home of Bull’s Blood.
Episode 3 - Bulgaria
Isabelle’s journey into Central and Eastern European wine takes her to the beautiful Bulgaria, the heart of the heart of the Balkans. Here yoghurt, salad and grape spirit feed the country’s maverick mettle that produces wines as wild as the people themselves. This is the country that gave the world the ancient God of Wine in whose honour Bacchanalian orgies were thrown. It is also the ancient land of Thrace whose wine exports were legendary and coveted by the ancient Greeks. Isabelle unearths this rich history and sees where wine is at today. She tastes her way round the same local varietals that graced the tables of Homer and Churchill alike, and pays a visit to one of the world’s most famous Bordeaux producers who’s decided to set up shop in Bulgaria as well!
For more information on the wines, wineries, and activities featured in this episode check out these sites…
BESSA VALLEY WINERY – www.bessavalley.com
This is the Bulgarian venture of the Bordelais legend, the Comtes von Neipperg. To carry his colours abroad he chose French flying winemaker Marc Dworkin and the result has been a resounding success. Isabelle thinks their Enira Reserva is truly delicious.
‘LITTLE STAR’ – www.malkatazvezda.com
Isabelle is quite simply nuts about Imre’s wines, This small winery is owned by a dentist who spends much of his time tending the teeth of the monks of Mount Athos. Isabelle tries their rosé made from a grape called Pamid, an indigenous Bulgarian grape variety.
LOGODAJ WINERY – www.logodajwinery.com
Makers of the bargain basement Broad-Leafed Melnik that Isabelle said was very good value for money.
TASHKOV & CO wine@tashkov.com
Atanas ditched accountancy for wine about a decade ago but in 2007 planted new vineyards in south-eastern Bulgaria. It’s a spot with sweeping views of Bulgaria, Greece and even Turkey! Isabelle loves Atanas’ Mavrud and if you want to try and get hold of some yourself contact the winery directly. Tel: + 359 32 636530 - Fax: + 359 32 636531
VALLEY VINTNERS – www.tokaj.hu
Ogy’s a Bulgarian legend. With decades in the wine trade he’s seen it all, but what’s more he makes a stunning drop. Isabelle raves about his Dux.
KORDOPULOV HOUSE – www.kordopulova-house.com
For all those of you who do not speak Hungarian, this translates as The Tokaj Trading House or Tokaj Trading Company. Although the company itself has not existed for very long, their archive of Tokaj wines is immense and with bottles dating back to the 19th C, it’s a veritable treasure trove.
MELNIK – www.bulgariatravel.org
Bulgaria’s smallest town and one of its most picturesque.
ROZHEN MONASTERY – www.rozhen.net This is not only the biggest monastery in the Pirin Mountains, in the southwest of Bulgaria, but it’s also home to an ancient vine. Its age is unconfirmed but according to local lore it could be well over 300 years old!
PLOVDIV – www.plovdiv.org
This is the second largest city in Bulgaria and certainly one of its most beautiful.
Episode 4 - Romania
Isabelle’s journey comes to an end in Romania; where vine covered slopes meet the Black Sea. Having only recently joined the EU, the valleys of times past remain as yet undisturbed and Isabelle gets stuck right in, taking to the road in a horse and cart! What she finds is a real surprise. This is a country that adopted both its name and its love of wine from the Romans; where every Tom, Dick and Harry cultivates a vine and makes wine in his backyard. And yet, for all this lengthy history and affinity with all things grape, it wasn’t until 2000 that Romania actually made its first dry wine! As Isabelle finds out on this curious journey, modern winemaking here is in its infancy and yet has managed to produce some rather precocious wine.
For more information on the wines, wineries, and activities featured in this episode check out these sites…
BUCHAREST – www.romaniatourism.com
The capital of Romania and rapidly developing as a tourist destination.
CARL REH WINERY – www.reh-kendermann.de
When Ceausescu fell, many foreign wine conglomerates turned to Romania as a potential source of wine. Reh Kendermann, a large German wine producer, did just that and set up shop in the 90s. They make wines for export and for the Romanian market.
CRISTI BOEREAN – www.vinul.ro/culinar
Check out Cristi’s culinary column in Romania’s foremost wine mag.
DOMENIILE CLOS DES COLOMBES – www.closdescolombes.eu
A French female winemaker who set out by herself to make wine in Romania. She’s now onto her third vintage and has opened a restaurant at her vineyard, a few kilometers off the Black Sea coast.
PRINCE ŞTIRBEY – www.stirbey.com
This estate is owned by one of Romania’s old aristocratic families that had to flee the country under Ceausescu. Now they’re back and their wines are gaining ground internationally.
VINUL.RO – www.vinul.ro
A great insight into wine in Romania, only catch is… bar a couple of pages, it’s only available in Romanian.
GUIDES
For any help planning a journey through Romania help on the ground is invaluable. The Travel Channel team worked closely with the following:
* DAGECOM Travel Services – dagecom@xnet.ro
* Tudor Vallimarescu – Independent Guide & Translator (English / French / Romanian) – tudor_vallimarescu@yahoo.fr
The Travel Channel team would like to thank BMW for their help in making the programme.
