Since in the late 70s, New Zealand pioneered reductive wine making, left corks for the Old World and put screwcaps on top to lock in freshness, primary fruit and all redolent goodness, it never really has gone out of fashion. Aromatic grapes came to the fore with super low fermentation temperatures, stainless steel vessels with no expensive barriques, old wood or oxygen on sight. On every wine producing country on all continent, winemakers try to emulate that intriguing, crisp, vibrant, fruit forward style of Sauvignon Blanc with thirst quenching acidity that the world seems never to get tired of. It may not be the most sophisticated, complex of wines or the most long lasting one, but who would not want an easy drinking, refreshing and juicy glass of it whilst having a barbecue or just lounging on the poolside in this unbelievable heat? It is not meant to be kept, it is not meant to be aged it is straight forward, enjoyable, paler in colour, a true trendy summer wine fit with lighter bites or just on its own.
The one thing that the world has have trouble with is trying more aromatic grape varieties, other than the famous Sauvignon Blanc. I do believe that if you find a bottle of wine and simply never heard of the particular grape or just cannot possibly pronounce it, you should buy it and try it immediately! You may have just struck gold and it is very likely to be a bargain as well. So, it is not much to lose. Bring it on Zibbibo, Torrontés, Viognier or in our case Irsai Olivér and Cserszegi Fűszeres! Two extremely popular Hungarian superheroes, not much heard about outside of Eastern-Europe. I know, unpronounceable names do not help on the export markets, and we have two complicated looking beauties here.
Both crosses were created fairly recently in Hungary, and they are actually related to one another. Irsai Olivér is a cross between Pozsonyi Fehér (Bratislava white) and Csabagyöngye (Perl of Csaba). As you can see, Hungarians are keen grape breeders. Irsai Olivér is named after the newborn son of the grape breeder’s friend as gesture of appreciation. It was created by Pál Kocsis in 1930 and it was meant to be a table grape and was until the 1980s. It has fairly high resistance to diseases, it ripens early, and it has Muscat and Gewürztraminer-like, pronounced, fragrant aromatics with a fruity-grapey character, and spicy finish. By the way, it is not related to Muscat or Gewürztraminer either. As it has lowish acidity, you can chill it well and if you mix it with soda becomes an excellent spritzer. Unfortunately, as a single varietal it is not for the cellar as it does not age well, but even the great, dry, off-dry examples are priced very-very modestly. If blended with a more robust variety, it can take some cellaring. It is grown all around the country on warmer sites as it does not tolerate winter freeze very well. You can find it in Etyek-Buda, Balaton, Kunság, Mátra, Hajós-Baja, Neszmély and some of the neighbouring countries. Great producers are Nyakas, described as a great party wine, Font, Frittman, who has a sparkling variation of it called Frisecco as well, Mátyás & Zoltán Szőke and Hilltop.
The Cserszegi Fűszeres was created some 30 years later by Károly Bakonyi, but it was officially released in 1982. The cross is between Irsai Olivér and Savagnin Rose or Piros Tramini in Hungarian (Roter Traminer). This very old and fancy grape, made famous in the Jura in France, is at least related to Gewürztraminer, but it is a non-aromatic version of it! Whereas Irsai Olivér likes warmer sites and does not like low winter temperatures, the Cserszegi Fűszeres is winter hardy and highly resistant to dieseases and to top it all gives high yields. It is grown well dispersed all around the country.
Cserszegi Fűszeres is named after a village in Zala county, called Cserszegtomaj and the addition of ’fűszeres’ means spicy. And spicy it is! It has small berries some of which are reddish, producing spicey, grapey, blossomy Muscat and Gewürztraminer-like whites, I have heard this somewhere before, with lively high acidity usually in a dry and off-dry style. It is worth trying wines of Font, Frittman, Hilltop, Benedek Pince and Jásdi.
Both grapes are very popular in Hungary, in Eastern-Europe and as you can imagine they may not have much chance to become household names all around the world. They may not have much chance to stand up to other more famous varieties and regions, but they are well-worth trying!
I was banging on about reductive winemaking, freshness and crispness, fruity, young wines and the last winemaker is going to go against the grain. From the Bükk region, in the city of Miskolc, just a stone throw away from the mighty famous Tokaj-Hegyalja, there is a man called Zsolt Sándor who makes organic wines from Cserszegi Fűszeres. It is not just organic, it is aged on lees, that is a serious no-no for aromatic grapes as it can lose the all-important fruit. He makes two variations, one called Anna Luca, that has been soaked and partially fermented on the berries, then fully fermented in barrels, aged on fine lees for 8 months with regular bâtonnage. Traditional oxidative winemaking at its bravest. A unique, elegant, silky wine with plenty of fruit and a lingering finish. The second ‘delux’ version called Lou Lee from the Csattos vineyard. It has been spontaneously fermented in barrels, aged on fine lees for a whopping 14 months. This is a Cserszegi Fűszeres made with a twist, in a very unusual way. A complex and refined gem of a wine that contradicts all tradition, yet somehow harmonious with it as well. Coming from a new breed of grape that is not meant to be premium quality, from a long forgotten and overlooked Hungarian region, from an organic winery that lies in an industrial city. Against all odds, a true freak of nature that somehow sums up inventive resourcefulness! That is what a great wine is all about!
Photographs by The Tannin Addict.