Hungarian Wine of Eger: More than Bull's Blood

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome back to Exotic Wine Travel. I am your host, Matthew Porky. We're here with another video about Hungarian wines. We're in Hungary for three weeks. We've had an amazing time. Before I start this video, I do want to thank some people that helped us out. Wine Amore Travel and Winesofa.eu. They're our friends. I will put their links in the description box. They've helped us organize visits with producers and organize some accommodation as well. One of the wines that I really wanted to taste when I came to Hungary was Bíkavár or Bull's Blood from Eger. Now, for those of you who don't know, Hungary was occupied by the Ottomans. There's a story behind the Bull's Blood blend. When the Ottomans were coming to this village, Eger, the locals just got really, really messed up on some red wine. They had red wine all over their faces, their teeth, and their eyes. The Ottoman soldiers, even though they outnumbered the villagers, they went back and they were scared. They told their commanders that they thought the villagers were drinking bull's blood and made them real fierce. That's kind of where the name came from. It's a unique blend. They make it actually in Eger, where it originated in North Hungary, and in Czechoslovakia in the south. Bull's Blood is actually a blend. It has to be a majority of Kekfrankos or Kadarka, local grapes. Then it can have a bunch of other grapes in it, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon. I think Merlot as well. Some other grapes in there as well. There are barrel age restrictions requirements as well. There are different yield processes. You can have regular Bicover, Superior, and Grand Superior. Anyway, enough with the technical stuff. If you look in the past, I did a video on a cheap Bull's Blood Bicover. When I was back in the United States, I found it on the shelf for like five bucks. It was drinkable. It wasn't great. But I knew there was high quality stuff being made there. We went to Eger for a day. It was a beautiful, small, little town. We visited three producers. All of them had vineyards on the most prestigious vineyard site in Eger. What I like about Hungary is there's a real emphasis on single vineyard wines and sites. A lot of times on the label, they will actually put those vineyard names or sites on the label. The vineyard space to know if you're in Eger is called... Let me see if I'm pronouncing this right. Nazigen. Nazigen Hill. It's actually the highest elevation vineyards in Hungary. But Hungary is not a high country. The hill goes to over 500 meters in elevation. There's over 30 hectares of vineyards on the south and southwest facing slopes. Very steep. Unfortunately, when we were there, it was rainy and muddy. So the cars couldn't go up the steep hill. But I saw it from afar. I've seen pictures of it. It really reminds me of the vineyards. It kind of looks like the Hermitage Hill in the northern road in France. But anyways, the three wineries we went to all had vineyards on that hill. They're the only three. Grof Butler, Kovacs Nimrod, and St. Andreas. Our first stop was Grof Butler. They picked us up. They were fantastic. They have this beautiful cellar. It was drilled into the side of the hill. So their cellar is all old rock. It's beautiful on the side. They have lots of space. They actually have so much space that they have a little bank where they actually cellar and store other people's wine for them. In terms of their wines, we tasted through all of their superior level wines. And you know what? I have to say, the wines were a little bit rustic, if I'm going to be honest. But in all the wines, I could taste a high level of high quality fruit. And that's because all their superior wines come from the Nashigin Hill. And their Bic of Earth Superior blend was really actually fantastic. It had the right amount of notes of aging, a little bit of bread. And then the fruit was nice and well. Some spice and some complexity. I'll put those notes in the description box, in the article, in the tasting article. Grof Butler also made a Kadarka from Nashigin. And it was a late harvest, infected with noble rot, dry red wine. I thought it was very interesting, very delicious. Not for everybody, but for some hardcore wine geeks. You might want to check them out if you are in Hungary. The second visit, we went to one of the most famous producers here in Hungary, Kovacs Nimrod. He actually lives in the U.S. He's Hungarian. Spent some time in Hungary. Big time businessman, but he owns one of the more famous wineries. He also has 10 hectares of vineyards on Nashigin. His wines are, he also exports to the American market, so they're a little bit bigger. They're more extracted, they're richer. But he makes some beautiful stuff. I mean, Shireen was really impressed with his Batmaz Chardonnay. She said it really reminded her of some Santa Barbara County Chardonnays. He also made a Pinot Noir out of clone 777. It was really interesting. So anyways, while we were in the cellar, we were with the winemaker, the consultant, and the owner. And Shireen said, 777, is that the clone? And they were really actually impressed with that. The Pinot Noir was a pretty lovely, correct Pinot Noir. But the wines from him that really stood out to me were his crew wines from Nashigin Hill. They were the NJK, which are his initials, Nimrod J. Kovach, and also his Grand Bleu. Now, the NJK was spectacular. It was a blend of mostly Kepfronkosch and Syrah. I don't even know what it tastes. It was rich, dense. It was in between a New World with some Old World sensibility. It wasn't too over the top. And that's the one I liked of his the most. Maybe my favorite wine of the Agar region that I tasted. He also makes a Grand Bleu, which is 100% Kepfronkosch. And it was interesting to taste a Blau Frankisch, a Kepfronkosch that was that extracted, rich. It really tasted to me like a deep, dark, central Italian red. Like a big-time Chianti Classico Riserva or one of those Super Tuscans. It was really interesting because some of the Blau Frankischs I've tasted with too much wood or too woody. That worked out really well. The last visit we went to is St. Andreas. And it's a big name here in Hungary. They actually have in Budapest a wine bar restaurant and also a Sky Wine Bar downtown, which I've been to both places. They're really cool. St. Andreas, they focus a lot on the blends. White blends and red blends. Traditional Agar wines. And I have to say, I was impressed with their entire portfolio. Shireen said their basic white wine was maybe one of her favorite entry-level whites ever. Yay! She just heard me and she just screamed. I was also impressed with their... They have several Bicover Bull's Blood blends. And they had a beautiful one called Marengo. And then also a one called Naziget Ezi, which is... Naziget Ezi. I think I got that right. It's a Bicover blend just from the highest part of the hill. And for medium-bodied red wines, those wines were complex. Had a little bit of perfume. They weren't too overly ripe. The tans were soft. I was very impressed with the wine. They also made a beautiful white wine, barrel-fermented, out of Chardonnay and Fourment. Great stuff. The label is fantastic. They're well-presented. They have beautiful cellars. It's a father-son team making those wines. When I first saw the labels, the wine bar, I thought it was a big corporation. But it's not. They're only making 120,000 bottles a year. So, beautiful stuff. So, if you make it to Hungary, you have to try the Egri Bicover. Oh, one thing. In Hungary, you add an I to make it possessive. So, Egri is the town. So, Egri Bicover is Bicover from the town of Eger. See how you added the I there? That might be useful and interesting. So, check them out. Check out our tasting notes in the description box. I will put the article below. Guys, if you like this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. I will see you at the next episode.