Pale lemon hue, with a reserved nose of citrus fruits, some green apple, and a bitterish touch of white flowers. Round, but lively acidity,with a firm body. Much more bitterness on the palate, with citrus fruits, and firm tannins. A firm core, and good concentration, and a reasonable use of barriques, I suspect.

Seems to have all the potential a well-supported, furmint blended, old vine olaszrizling can (ever?) offer. Probably a bit closed down at the moment, but I think it will be worth to look back in 3, 5, 10 years, at least.

92 points for the great structure, and the potential I suspect. Show a lot more if drank slightly warmer.

I have just realized that TheEdAlc covered this wine precisely a year before me, and scored it at 7 points (worth ca. 90-91 here, promising more, if barrique tones retire with time).

(On a late note, this wine has spent ca. 4 weeks in the fridge after opening. It was completely unchanged, showing the very same profile, shifting towards a bit more fruit.)

I found the picture in TheEdAlc post.

Disclaimer: This wine was my own purchase from here.

The Grand Tasting for Furmint February 2012 organized by Vinoport takes place at Vajdahunyadvár in Budapest, 9 February 2012. Tickets cost 6.900 HUF, grab yours here.

Click here for last year’s report Part I and Part II.

This year’s participants come 77% from Tokaj, with a few Somló producers, and the odd guest from the Mátra Hills, lake Balaton, Eger, Zala, and Austria. This means there are no Slovenian guests with šipons this year, but more Hungarian wine regions join the show. (Non-Tokaj participants are bold):

Árpád Hegy Pince, Szerencs
Árvay JánosCsaládi Pincészete, Rátka
AZ Nektár, Sátoraljaújhely
Babits Pincészet, Tolcsva
Balassa István, Tokaj
Bardon Borászat, Erdőbénye
Barta Pince, Mád
Béres Szőlőbirtok és Pincészet, Erdőbénye
Bodrog Borműhely, Bodrogkisfalud
Bott Pince, Bodrogkisfalud
Breitenbach Kézműves Pince, Bodrogkisfalud
Chateau Dereszla, Bodrogkeresztúr
Demetervin, Mád
Demeter Zoltán, Tokaj
Dénes Hegybirtok, Ság-hegy – Somló
Disznókő Szőlőbirtok, Mezőzombor
Dobogó Pincészet, Tokaj
Dorogi Testvérek Pincészete, Tarcal
Fekete Béla, Somló
Ferdinánd Pincészet, Mád
Füleky Pince, Bodrogkeresztúr
Gizella Pincészet, Tokaj
Gróf Degenfeld Szőlőbirtok, Tarcal
Györgykovács Kispincészet, Somló
Heidi Schröck, Rust, Austria
Hímesudvar, Tokaj
Karádi és Berger, Erdőbénye
Kardos Szőlőbirtok, Mád
Kerkaborum, Zala
Királyudvar, Tarcal
Kolonics Károly Családi Pincészete, Somló
Kovács Nimród Winery, Eger
Kreinbacher Birtok, Somló
Lenkey Család Szőlészete és Pincészete, Mád
Losonci Bálint, Gyöngyöspata - Mátra
Majoros Birtok, Tarcal
Orosz Gábor, Mád
Patricius Borház, Tokaj
Pálffy Pince, Köveskál – Balaton
Royal Tokaji Pincészet, Mád
Spigelberg Borpince, Somló
Szarka Pince, Mád
Szent Benedek Pincészet, Tokaj
Szent Tamás Szőlőbirtok és Pincészet, Mád
Szepsy Pince, Mád
Szirmay Kúria, Tállya
Tokaj Hétszőlő Szőlőbirtok, Tokaj
Tokaj Kereskedőház, Tolcsva
Tokaj Kikelet, Tarcal
Tokaj Oremus Szőlőbirtok és Pincészet, Tolcsva
Tokaj Pendits, Abaújszántó
Tokaj Zöld Birtok, Tokaj
Tornai Pincészet, Somló

This wine looks definitely older, and has a garnet hue with a pale rim. Pretty simple at the start, but develops a nice bouquet after a few hours in the bottle. A mature nose of leather & tobacco, with some black cherries. Some dark chocolate appears, with a touch of that interesting, slightly vegetal note that made the 2000 so exciting. Black cherries on the palate, with some chocolate. Nice acidity, with a considerable amount of smooth tannins. The warmer it gets, the heavier it seems to be due to a 14% alcohol. At first it looked pretty lean compared to my memories of the 2000 & 2002 vintages.

Anyway, it is a great wine from a not-so-great vintage. A classic in Hungary, while possibly a bit shy of being an unquestionable classic on the international scene. Lots of Bordelaise wines are gone by now from the poor year of 2001, only the top ones are performing still. This one is tirinig, but definitely on the chase. 89 points with me & a buy at half price for 3200 HUF or ca. 12 EUR. Drink it soon, do not lay further.

Or rather 10 EUR, that is, as some goddamn politician is unable to keep his (not-yet-)bloody mouth shut again.

Last year I bought a cheap barolo in an Autogrill on the Tuscan motorway, just for fun. And this cheap barolo did provide enjoyment due to its tipicity & good drinkability.

So it was pretty straightforward what to do, when I noticed a whole set of very reasonably priced barolos & barbarescos in the Austrian discount chain Merkur. I bought a full set of the Terre del Barolo Cooperative products between 12-16 EUR, and started drinking.

Mid garnet hue, garnet brim. A beautiful, uncomplicated, very much nebbiolo-like nose, cherry, tar, sweet spice, mostly fruit, and very much varietal. The same on the palate, dominated by sour cherry and a touch of spice, mid-level tannins get a firm, but very gentle grip on the palate. A really nice experience for a beginner like me on the nebbiolo scene. Varietal, enjoyable, recognizable, and equally useful for an evening chatter or a good meal. Whao. I might need a bit more of that. 84 points. No faults, with some recognizable values, and a bit of fascination. I bought this wine at the Austrian supermarket chain Merkur as a budget wine for ca. 15 EUR. And I am satisfied.

Also, we had a Barbaresco Riserva 2006 a week before. It was OK at around 82 points, but failed to impress for 12 EUR, what is a really entry level price for barbaresco.

I still have a higher positioned Barolo called ‘La Terre’, and also a Decanter World Wine Award bronze medalist Barbaresco. I am looking forward to them.

At Ráspi’s

The winemaker József Horváth “Ráspi” is running his family gourmet restaurant in the village of Fertőrákos, a restaurant not to miss by any means. The winery is located at the same place, his own wines are served with the meals.

The 2008 vintage has just been bottled, so I had to try my favourite merlot. It is a great wine, sails past the 90 points mark again, and confirms my opinion that merlot is able to consistently show something really special for Sopron. Check here and here. Still, it fails to impress me as the 2007 vintage did with 93 points. It might just need some time.

The other 2008 wines tasted fine, I liked them better than the much earlier released Pinot Noir and Syrah from 2008. I met these at a few wine shows & festivals, and always had the impression that they are surprisingly jammy despite the not-so-overly-warm vintage. The Pinot Noir 2008 could not live up to its benchmark 2005 release, the only one to date, that really fascinated me a year ago. The Syrah 2008 is the first release of a new planting, and was very much like to pinot noir of the vintage.

Altogether, the 2008 wines looked fine, but the vintage needs a much deeper look than such a first sight. It might also be the time to properly retaste that syrah again.

From the 2009 vintage only has the base cuvée Kopár has been bottled yet (not to be confused with the prestige wine of Attila Gere in Villány.) It is probably the most fruity wine I ever tasted from the Ráspi sortiment. Not a special wine, but has an obvious fruitiness.

I also got to taste a few barrel samples, that further confirmed the high expectations of Mr. Ráspi for the 2009 vintage. I am willing to say, that the 2009 vintage has the most fruit in the barrels, I am looking forward to the wines, especially the syrah, and kékfrankos selection. The Gneis 2007 (old vines kékfrankos) is soon to be bottled, and it will be something to look at.

There has been an extremely small harvest from the 2010 vintage, only 5 barrels of wine were made, mostly kékfrankos. The acids are surprisingly good & low for such a bad vintage.

I had a porcini cream soup and a Wiener Schnitzel for a quick lunch, and noted that I need to get back for a full menu some day.

At Weninger’s

I have also visited the Weninger Winery, who cultivate ca. 22 ha of vineyards, and switched to biodynamic farming lately. I was the lucky guy that day, as I arrived after some Japanese journalists, so I got to taste a few leftovers from their tasting.

The first vintage of Cabernet Franc, from 2002 was open, and it was a faultless wine, just on its way turning into a mature wine, developing a nice bouquet. Pretty good for a Hungarian wine. If you happen to own the wine, start drinking it now, OR keep it for a further 10 years. Cabernet Franc seems to be a hit also for Sopron. The 2009 vintage is still in the barrel, but it will be another wine to look at from a superb vintage.

I was especially curious of the 2010 vintage. As Weninger has converted to biodynamics by the 2006 vintage, from 2010 he decided on not putting any sulphur in his wines, at least in their first year in the barrel. After the first year, minimal sulphur is added as the wines require it. So at the current moment (ie. June 2011) the 2010 pinot noir & syrah has completed fermentation, and is resting in barrel without any sulphur. This makes them a unique experience to taste. Both are extreamly lean, nearly fragile for the structure, and have a pale colour, but both have a beautiful taste and frutiness, though seem to be slightly “sterile”, lacking a bit of flair to make them really interesting. Still, they will be my benchmark wines for the 2010 vintage, they are absolutely special in the Hungarian landscape. Just as 2005 produced some outstanding, light pinot noirs in Hungary, I hope these wines are the precursors to a few more.

We started with a sauvignon blanc called Cornelius Sauvignon 2007, by Scotchmans Hill. It is a beautifully crafted wine, in the style of the Bordeaux blancs, but still staying an authentic Australian wine. I am not a fan of sauvignon blanc, but this one could dismiss some of my doubts whether a 93 point sauvignon blanc may ever exist. I still had some second thoughts, but basically, I was convinced.

A deep, greenish-yellow hue, with a compelling & elegant nose with smoke and fruits. Nuts, green apple, with a touch of tropical fruits. An elegant structure, with round, but lively acids, a wee bit hot on alcohol, with a medium body and intensity, but a long aftertaste, nevertheless. A very well-made, clean and elegant wine, not dominated by an expensive barrique.  Reaching as high as white Bordealais, more elegant than any other sauvignons, but still has room to improve. As for me, concentration & intensity could be better indeed. This is a beautiful wine, but you need to go after it. It should have more immediate presence in the glass, thus command more admiration. Perhaps balance could be even sharper through a bit lower alcohol, but to be honest I do not really care. I leave that to the English. 93 points, with room to improve. (Most other tasters skipped this wine with a score of 89, as it is lacking things mostly up front – but actually these are the only bits separating it from perfection.) If every country has sauvignon blanc, why don’t they try to make a wine like this?

Oakridge 864 Chardonnay 2009

Light-to-mid lemon & green hue, roasted sunflower seeds, citrus fruits and candies on the nose. It has intensity, depth, and complexity. Thick in the mouth, with huge intensity. Vivid, but ripe acidity, an incredibly long aftertaste. Easy-to-understand, clear, simple and complex at the same time. A faultless wine with a remarkable intensity of taste and an extreme length of aftertaste, rising up to 95 points. Again, there are some obvious areas to improve (like matching a relatively faint nose to the very strong performance on the palate), but that would close up on the 100 point score.

By Farr Sangreal 2005

Mid garnet hue. Rose hip and liquorice dominate the nose, with some old cherry jam. A delicate nose with fine little twists. The very same notes appear on the palate, good intensity, nice, ripe acidity, and a very long aftertaste. Just as a great Burgundy, definitely not a New World pinot by style. There are two considerable differences: this wine is ripe for drinking (or ‘surprisingly mature’ in Old World terms). Unable to reach up to the very best of Burgundian pinot noirs, but it is not a failure by any means, unlike so many expensive Burgundys. Do not cellar, drink it now, there is not much acidity or further tannins to support the structure for ageing. 94 points.

Clonakilla Shiraz-Viogner 2009

Beautiful, glowing deep ruby hue, with an intensive scent of sour cherry and sweet, ripe apricots, and peaches. Lively and vivid on the palate, the first such wine tonight. It has a firm body, but the acids make the wine diverging, alcohol seem to be high, it is much less impressive for the structure than for the aromas. A really long finish and aftertaste makes it truly outstanding.

It scores 93 points altogether with me, it has everything the ’08 was lacking on the nose and the palate, but the structure fails to live up to it. I was satisfied with the ’08 wine for being focused and concentrated, even though it was closed down aromatically. They seem to be on par altogether. Perhaps it has lost some charm while travelling, as it is an outstanding wine, but I still fail to see it as the best Aussie wine of any vintage. A big step behind the later competitors.

Gróf Buttler Syrah Nagy-Eged 300-400 meter 2005

The second highest member of the syrah trilogy from Nagy-Eged. Ruby hue, with sour cherries and black pepper dominating the nose. Very obviously a Buttler syrah, even blind, notably without the vegetal/green marks. A ripe, fried beetroot-like note, typical for Eger & Gróf Buttler! Promising indeed. Ripe on the palate, though slightly lazy, and a lot of alcohol. Still, it reaches up to 89 points with me.

Gróf Buttler Syrah Nagy-Eged 400-500 meter 2005

The highest member of the syrah-trilogy. Even deeper hue, more intense on the nose, sour cherry, black pepper, nutmeg and more barrique notes, higher intensity & richness. Thicker, heavier stuff, with an even higher alcohol, but still in better balance. Could be 92 points or even higher, but the alcohol deprives it from higher scores. (Surprisingly, the label states 14% abv for both Gróf Buttler wines.)

Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet-Shiraz 2002 (the Baby Grange)

A really European wine, perhaps the only one tonight. Deep garnet colour, with a pale rim. Cedar, nutmeg, liquorice. Maturing cabernet & oak dominate the nose, a rather conservative, Old World style. At first it is like a pure fruit & some oak claret. Shows well on the palate, lively acids, good composure, but it also drinks well. A touch of mint of the nose, too. Marginally New World, overwhelmingly Old World in style, easily approachable for a Hungarian palate, too.

Great intensity, but the alcohol is slightly high. Nevertheless, it scores at 94 points, perhaps the best wine of the evening until now.

Wendouree Cabernet-Malbec 2004

Deep, opaque violet-ruby colour, ruby rim. Sour cherry, plums, a touch of marzipan. Plasticine, typical for Argentinian malbecs. Depth & concentration on the nose. Very thick stuff, but still far, far away. Smooth on the palate, thick, concentrated and focused. Impenetratable. Extreme acidity, but very well contained, just as in the Szepsy 6 puttonyos aszú 2006. Extremely powerful, impulsive, but very much bearable. Same on the palate as on the nose. Later liquorice & cassis / cassis liquor.

It is like gulping down the T1000 model down your throat. This year’s Nobel Prize goes to Tony & Lita Brady for inventing Bradynium. 98 points, could perhaps be more complex, but this is absolutely not a deficit. (i.e. Who cares?) Unique & unforgettable. Could well be a 100 points, as Tim Atkin puts it: Fuck it, how much better does wine get than this?

Penfolds Grange Bin 95 2004

Deep, opaque ruby colour, nearly black. A shocking, extreme intensity on the nose, sweetness, coconut, thick, dried sour cherry jam and plums. Extremely concentrated superripe fruits. Nothing cooked, or jammy. Sweet spice, and a touch of herbs: cooling mint and thyme. Very thick, heavy and concentrated on the palate, lots of acids curb a huge alcohol, and a Gargantuan body. Should have spent at least a day decanted. Hard to score, as it has been tasted nowhere near its full potential, approximately 95 points now. A less impressive personality than the Wendouree, but running very close.

Gróf Buttler Bikavér Nagy-Eged 2006

One of the highest rated wines from Gróf Buttler is the Bull’s Blood Cuvée, besides the syrahs and the occasional Pinot Noir selection. Nagy-Eged is definitely top rated terroir in the region. The wines of the 2006 vintage was much debated in public, certain critics providing really enthusiastic opinions, while others are debating jammy flavours, high alcohol, harmony and longevity. I share the worries of the latter group, while admitting to a very limited experience on maturing Gróf Buttlers.

This wine was an absolute waste to open after the Wendouree & the Grange. I was most sorry for the loss of the afterscent of Wendouree in my glass.

Mid ruby hue, with a slightly disturbing vegetal nose of black raddish, beetroot & cardboard. (No cork taint, though.) A very high alcohol on the palate. Overly aggressive & disharmonic. Neither flabby, nor lazy, but simply disturbing tonight. A taste of overripe, baked fruits, definitely improved from my latest memories a year ago, but the aftertaste in burned up by alcohol. Not a fair moment to score this wine, but it is obviously unable to keep up with the aussies yet.

Surprisingly, my fellow Hungarian tasters preferred this wine to the two syrahs, scoring them ca. 91 points vs 88 points, while I was rather thinking the other way round. Actually, I would have scored this wine under 85 points for sure, but I preferred forgetting it immediately, and got back to retasting the Wendouree.

Lillypilly Noble Family Reserve 2002

Deep golden hue, with a grapey, muscat scent, with surprising flashes of high volatile acidity. Funny to see how well the Sauternes varietals reproduce the very same wine style as in Sauternes and how it gets accepted for recreating the benchmark experience. Very sweet on the palate, could go with some more acids, it is a bit geil for me. Very clean flavours of grapes, apricots, apples, and a bit of tropical fruit. Very nice to drink, surprisingly enjoyable after the first impression, but pretty simple. Yes, the aussies seem to be able to produce an excellent wine in this category, but fail to excite my by any means. 90 points for being an excellent, nice, smooth & tasty wine, and also 90 points for being uninteresting and uninspiring.

Mid rubin hue, a spicy-fruity nose with cedar, cherry, red currant, a bit of spice. A light-to-medium body, medium alcohol, but acidity drives the wine. Sour cherry, and red currant dominate the flavour profile, a relatively light, enjoyable wine. Recommended for everyday chitchat, spicy food, light meats. Whatever.

At 83 points and a price of ca. 1800 HUF (6 EUR) another standard best buy on the Hungarian market. Probably also a typical face of Villány we may hopefully look forward to more often in the future.

Deep lemon hue, with a refreshing, aromatic nose of grapes, cherries, apples, plums, and a vegetal touch. A very reasonable wine for a difficult vintage.

Acidity dominates on the palate, fortunately they are pretty ripe and round, no sharp edges anywhere. Grape and citrus fruits dominate, alcohol is low, and has a hard job to withhold the acids of the vintage. Still, it is a good wine, enjoyable for the aromatic grapes in a cold vintage – at 81 points, and 990 HUF at Bortársaság a value wine for the summer. I have already had some much more simple, and harsher wines for the vintage. From bigger names, too.

Golden hue, and a warm, friendly nose. Definitely a furmint, but still not a typical furmint. Pear peels, apple peels, and some hard, green pear care for the fruit section, they are supplemented by a touch of light, but ripe sweetish-vegetal note. (Mom suggests horseraddish, well, it is not too far from kohlrabi, anyway.) White flowers. Undeniable from the Szepsy winery, if you tried any of their furmints.
Round, ripe, but firm acidity on the palate, thick, but well balanced material, with medium alcohol. Apples, citrus fruits, with a bit of young, hard, semi-ripe apricots. It is ready to drink, in its prime now, and there is no need to lay it for long, despite the fact that it will last. 91 points, very much like the St Thomas last time – just with a different character for a different vineyard.

Now I see why some people love this furmint – it also captured me, I am placing it with Úrágya and Nyúlászó of the Szepsy furmints.  They are my favourites for their warm & friendly style. Thurzó rulez, at least for me, the flagship vineyards still being St Thomas & Urbán for the winery.

(This wine surprised me by not requiring any aeration, and showed no signs of sulphur at all. It came with vino-lock, getting more and more popular these days. It was a family present, and it is only available at the Imola Udvarház in Eger. Find their wine list here.)

My expectations were high, as 2007 was a really hot vintage in most of Hungary, thus we expected round, rich, and very palatable aszú wines with a relatively lower level of acidity, pretty much for hedonistic consumption now, than cellaring for decades. The 2004-5-6 vintages were not famed for producing easily approachable wines, probably 2003 being the last such year.

The producers told a tale about a mild winter, budding arrived early. After a long, hot summer came the fall with a sudden rush of rains and cold, but the vintage was saved by a long and warm Indian summer. Aszú berries were either plentiful, or just fine in quantity, depending on the actual location, but noone complained about the weather. Some producers compared the 2006-2007 vintages to the pair of 1999 and 2000, where a high acidity, top quality vintage was followed by a very warm, round and approachable vintage.

Either way, 2003 and 2000 are the most cited analogies for the 2007 vintages. You can read about a recent 10-years-after tasting of the 2000 aszús here, actually won by  the odd 1999 competitor, and you can also find a top 1999 player with the pretty similar 1993er here.

We have also been presented the official Tokaj glass for aszús. A panel of 10 leading experts (mostly Hungarian AIWS, MW students, and Tokaj experts, plus perhaps a few foreigners, as far as I remember) choose a 420 millilitres Bordaux-style glass produced by Stölzl in a blind tasting event.

This was the glass to produce the most reliable tasting results for different kind of aszús, shifting them towards a reasonable equilibrium – both high acidity aszús for aging and cellaring, and also the ripe, ready-to-drink aszús of warmer vintages. The most spectacular performance was achieved by a slightly larger, ca 500 ml Bordeaux-stlye glass, transmitting most of the complexity and richness of these sweet, botritysed wines, but it did not work best for all wines in the tasting. Thus it came in second, but I still dare to recommend a big ass claret glass for Tokaj & Sauternes sweets, just to be on the safe side.

Anyway, here are the tasting notes, please take the scores as preliminary again.

1. Disznókő 5 puttonyos aszú 2007

A wine also tasted at the Tokaj vs Sauternes tasting, reproducing pretty much the same results here. The base aszú from Disznókő, with 70.000 (regular 0.5 litre Tokaji aszú) bottles produced.

Lemon hue, peaches and apricots on the nose, also dried. Pineapple, and a notch of tropical fruit. Round on the palate, with tamed, but still lively acidity, fruits dominate the flavours. Nice, smooth, well-composed, a fruit bomb with 90 points.

2. Béres 6 puttonyos aszú 2007

Mid lemon hue again, with a very reserved nose of peach and tropical fruit. Much more intensity on the palate, though, this is very appealing to me. Apples, peaches, tropical fruits are racing in my mouth again, with a bit more racy acids. They also contribute to the length and intensity of the wine, but do not turn excessive. Drinks very well despite the acids. I liked it, 91 points.

3. Chateau Dereszla 6 puttonyos aszú 2007

Dereszla has a policy of making the 5 puttonyos aszú as a domain wine, and the 6 puttonyos as a selection in all vintages. This puts production figures to 20.000 vs 3.000 bottles in 2007. This year’s 6 puttonyos aszú was mostly sourced from the 35-40-year-old vines in Zsadány.

Golden hue, with a pronounced nose of apples, peaches, dried apricots. A lighter mouthfeel, a not-so-huge body, a certain softness, but very much intense and thickness on the palate indeed. Cloves. A very long aftertastes stick in my mouth. 93 points at the end. Just simply great.

4. Patrícius 6 puttonyos aszú 2007, Várhegy vineyard (cask sample)

Mid golden hue, a hint of mustiness lingering above the glass. (The funny nose could perhaps be attributed to the fact this wine is a cask sample.) Apple & spice on the nose, mostly spice. Also on the palate. Bigger, thicker, rounder, and also slightly lazier. Concentrated, hardcore and really sweet. Deep hedonism. Very tasty, very creamy, with a really long aftertaste. I would drink it rather than cellaring it, but the winery director Mr. Peter Molnar suggests it has great potential, and a long life ahead.
Well, all aszús last for a decade at least, but I would definitely drink it in the first. I must have even more to learn than I thought before. Ca. 88 points altogether.

5. Tokaj Classic 5 puttonyos aszú 2007 (sourced from Király, Betsek, Juharos)

Shining golden hue, a grapey nose with some apples and a bit of nail polish. Probably even higher on volatile acidity than other aszús (they are always high on VA, due to the technology). Pretty much the same profile on the palate: muscat dominates, paint thinner seconds. A bit of mustiness appears on the palate, alos lingers on in the aftertaste.

An old-style aszú in a fruity coat, with slight missteps, making it shaky for me altogether. Definitely not a bad base material, but still weaker than its peers today. I would rather not score it – looks unsecure to me.

6. Nobilis 6 puttonyos aszú 2007

The winemaker Mrs. Sarolta Bárdos had a personal preference for the vintage, the 2007 aszús have charmed her previously. She rather compared the vintage to 2000 than 2003. This wine had a late harvest for its base wine, aszú berries were 70% furmint + 30% kövérszőlő.

Lemon-golden hue, lively & bright. A heavy nose, with ground sugar (sweet and has a certain ‘dustiness’), with dried apricots, and surprisingly dried cherries (or plums?) for fruits. Very round on the palate with a medium body, the flavours are also dominated by dried fruits. 90 point at first, that climed higher – a wine that drinks very well, and its qualities require concentration. Other people scored it at 92 immediately, it took me some time to recognize the good balance behind the smooth concentration, and the creaminess.

7. Royal Tokaji 6 puttonyos aszú 2007, Szent Tamás vineyard

Mid-deep golden hue. An interesting nose beginning with smoke and smoked fish(!). A bit of roast coffee, and surprisingly, some (for the lack of words) mineral notes. Slightly any fruit in sight, some quince and apples later. Lively acids on the palate, with a medium body, tastes pretty sweet despite the acids. A long finish of quince and roasted aromas. Reaches the 90 points barrier for sure.

8. Füleky 6 puttonyos aszú 2007

Mid-deep golden hue. Roasted aromas with quince, and a hint of petrol on the nose. Apples arrive later. Less acidity, and more sugar on the palate, a very round mouthfeel with dried apricots and sweetness. A long finish. A well-made clean wine with a big body, that drinks very well. 88 points.

9. Dobogó 6 puttonyos aszú 2007

A bright golden hue, with a heavy, direct grapey scent, probably for the muscat lunel, and some spiciness. Lively acids on the palate, still, it is well balanced. More intense on the palate, with sweet spices, vanilla, stone fruit & tropicals. I did like the taste and the raciness, plus its composure. 92 points.