Wine and Palinka
Bull’s Blood
The Bikavér (Bull’s Blood) blend, exclusive to the Eger and Szekszárd regions, is the best-known of all Hungarian wines. Legend has it that the name originates from the unsuccessful siege of Eger by the Turks in 1552, when the heavily outnumbered Hungarians had nothing to drink but red wine. This proved to be to their advantage, their red stained beards and wild eyes terrified the Turks, who thought they had been drinking Bull’s Blood.
Unfortunately, the quality and reputation of the wine suffered during the years of collective farms and quotas that typified the Socialist era in Hungary. Since 1990 the improvement has been nothing short of spectacular, reflecting a renaissance of the industry as a whole. Many of the top Hungarian wine producers have a Bikavér in their portfolio, names to look out for include Tibor Gál, Thummerer, Vincze, Pók-Polónyi, Tóth, and Kőporos from Eger, or Vesztergombi, and Takler from Szekszárd.
Despite the legend, the Bikavér name was first used as a brand name in Szekszárd, not Eger, and not until the 19th century. The Bull’s Blood of both towns originally relied heavily on the Hungarian Kadarka grape. The blend that became famous and gained Eger international recognition contained a fiery combination of Kadarka, Kékfrankos, and Kékoportó grapes, with perhaps some Medoc Noir added for extra body. This lasted until World War II, following which quality control was cast aside in pursuit of larger production volumes.
Modern Bull’s Blood does not usually contain Kadarka, the producers of the high-quality versions now use Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot in the blend. The precise quantities of the three or four grape varieties blended together tend to be a closely guarded secret, adding to the wine’s mystique.
Tokaji Aszú
Described by Louis XIV of France as “the king of wines, and the wine of kings”, Aszú even gets a mention in the Hungarian national anthem.
With good reason – it is one of the world’s finest dessert wines. Like a Sauterne, Aszú is made with grapes that have succumbed to the botrytis cinerea fungus, otherwise known as noble rot. If conditions are just right – the convergence of three rivers on Tokaj creates a unique microclimate, the botrytis mould causes sweet grapes to dry out and shrivel. The resulting Aszú berries have a very high concentration of sugar and rich flavours, and must be hand-picked to separate them from unaffected grapes. It is the shrivelled grapes that lend Tokaji Aszú its intense colour and distinctive range of flavours.
Only four varieties of grape are permitted in Tokaji Aszú: Furmint, Hárslevelű, Muscat Lunel and Zéta. The botrytised grapes are mixed with dry wine or must to extract their flavours. On a bottle of Aszú wine, you will see the word “puttonyos" preceded by a number. This refers to the number of hods (a puttony is a 27-litre grape picker’s hod) of aszú berries that are added to a 136 litre cask of must or wine during the making of the Tokaji Aszú. Six is the maximum, and a six puttonyos Tokaji Aszú will have the most intense, richest botrytis flavours. Even further up the scale, the Esszencia makes do without the base wine entirely. These sumptuous elixirs have wine critics waxing lyrical about sun-dried fruits, nuts, caramel and toffee, as well as the mineral flavours characteristic of the grapes grown in this region. Many people shy away from sweet wines, but they are missing out on a real delicacy.
Szamorodni
Szamorodni, another speciality of the Tokaj region, is made from bunches of grapes that contain some botrytised grapes, but which are not separated by hand. It has some of the flavour characteristics of Tokaji aszú, but can be sweet or dry.
Sparkling Wine
You may perhaps be surprised to learn that Hungary also has a long tradition of making sparkling wines. The best-known name today is Törley a company with a rich pedigree. József Törley studied in Reims and started making sparkling wine in France, before relocated to Budafok, just outside Budapest, back in 1882.
Pálinka
A ubiquitous speciality throughout Hungary and the Hungarian enclaves of neighbouring Transylvania, pálinka is the generic name for the fiery fruit brandy often distilled by peasants from home-grown plums, apricots and pears. Hungary’s most famous pálinka distilleries can be found in Kecskemét.
Unicum
Unicum is a special blend of herbs and spices that Hungarians swear by as an aid to digestion, among many other things. It is indisputably Hungary’s answer to Marmite– you will either love it or you hate it. Even Peter Zwack, the man who brought his family’s original Unicum recipe back to Hungary after the regime change, admits that the secret is to convince people to try it twice.
