There was an interesting column about Hungarian wines in this weekend’s Financial Times by legendary Master of Wine Jancis Robinson. It’s interesting not only because she names a bunch of local wines she thinks are super, but because she offers an explanation for why magyar borok so rarely make a splash on foreign tables:
A typical Hungarian wine today is really quite fine – not quite as high quality across the board as Austrian wine but definitely getting there. The only trouble is that Hungarians are so proud of their viticultural heritage that they are prepared to pay high prices for their best and/or most famous wines, which tends to make them seem overpriced outside Hungary.
That something like this has been going on has been obvious to me for a long time, especially when it comes to wines made from grapes not endemic to Hungary. (Why would anyone in, say, London pay as much for a high-end Hungarian Cab as one from Bordeaux?) But it was a relief to discover that this isn’t an issue/problem unique to Hungary, as Robinson says the same dynamic seems to shut up-and-coming wines from places like Israel, Turkey and even Spain from international markets.
By framing things this way one assumes that the bottles on the list of picks she included with the piece can hold their own abroad, meaning they should be pretty good values here. (Meanwhile, over on Robinson’s own website she has some detailed tasting notes on the wines she sampled, though you’ll have to register to view them.) She draws special attention to the 2007 “Battonage” Chardonnay by Nimród Kovács, which she says is an “absolute steal” at $20 a bottle, which means it must be highway robbery at the equivalent of $18.50 it is being offered for on the website of Kovács’s local retailer.
Well, duh! Guess it’s called “supply & demand.” Why venture abroad when you have a ready market at your doorstep? Looks like it’s mostly us foreigners proselytizing…
Well, duh! Mr Mihaly, If Hungarian wines never venture abroad they will never get international recognition. and the Hungarian wines will not reach the potential they could.
Looks like—at home at least—they already have. Which was my point, by the way. The rest should be up to the Hungarian wine industry and not some neophyte’s hosannas.
allegedi wrote “…and the Hungarian wines will not reach the potential they could.”
am i really interested in the wine’s potential or its bouquet, flavor, legs and that it is available to me at an affordable price???
tell you what, you take potential and the price tag that apparently assures you – i’ll take the vino!
cheers
4 euro will buy a very mediocre bottle in Hungary and a fully drinkable one down in Italy. 8 euro will give you some huge disappointments here, and a 99% likelihood of an excellent bottle there. That’s it.
It’s true. HU makes great white wine for less than 2,000 ft/bottle, but with red wine, you really have to go over this amount and even then, it’s very hit or miss and you typically have to stick to either the Szekszard or Villany region. Why is wine to be so expensive in this country?
My neighbour who makes a really nice dry white wine and sells it to me for 300 forint per litre, told me that Humgarian soil and climate is not optimal for red wine – only in these places like Badacsony and Villany and maybe a few more.
That’s why usually you gotta pay more for a decent red than for a satisfying white.