Ever since the "reds" lost political power in Hungary, there have been whispers and promises of an equally-momentous revolution involving the country's most famous red wine, the Bikavér ("bull's blood") produced in the north-central region of Eger. Two decades later, the revolution really does seem to have happened.

One unmistakable sign of the new times was a tasting held last week at the Batthyány utca HQ of the Bortársaság, where György Lőrincz of leading egri producer St. Andrea (he's the guy in the tie in the top right of the top photo) presided over the first public tasting of the newest vintage (2006) of the winery's deluxe "Merengő" Bikavér.

In Hungarian, mereng means to muse, brood or meditate over something - it's a very literary word - and a merengő is someone who does it. Which seemed like a good word to describe everyone in the room as Lőrincz passed out glasses of the wine, which was only recently bottled, and will not hit stores until the fall.

A few other interesting details. First is that Lőrincz said that, based on the advice of a friend, the staff has started to actually sing to the wine to help the fermentation process move along. Which may partly explain the second interesting detail, which is that the '06 is being sold en primeur (that's the French word for előjegyzés, meaning it's sold before it arrives in the store) for a very un-Bikavér-like price of Ft 6,930 (€27) a bottle - a figure that the folks at the Bortársaság say may be closer to Ft 10,000 by the time the regular allotments hit the shop in the autumn.

As for whether the wine is worth all that singing and money, just follow the link below: