Szekszárd - New red wine stronghold with Kadarka?

„What do wine connoisseurs know from Hungary? Certainly Tokay, the famous sweet wine region that is becoming dryer and dryer – as far as wine taste is concerned. Then maybe from a holiday the region around Lake Balaton, Eger (because of the Egri Bikavér – bull’s blood) and the Villány red wine region in the deep south and Sopron, immediate neighbor of central Burgenland (because there, Franz Weninger, an Austrian top vintner, has established a top wine estate). However, there is as well a considerable 36,000 inhabitant city with vineyards in the south, which, in 1989, entered into a town twinning with Bietigheim-Bissingen, Wurttemberg: Szekszárd. (...)

But let’s go back to Kadarka, that has much in common with the Swabian Trollinger, not only the late ripening. When one is working explicitely with this sort of grape – like Mr. Heimann jun. and Mr. Heimann sen., Ferenc Takler and also Peter Vida, the „Vintner of the Year 2011” are doing with 90 year old vines, this can lead to a wine with profile. During the last few years, many wineries in Wurttemberg have understood this.

They have strongly reduced the Trollinger yields, and they rely on traditional mash fermentation again and not on mash heating, which can cause marmelade tastes. They vinify the wines in classic wooden barriques and allow him to ripe for some time. The result are powerful, fascinating wines with pleasant tannins – as they are possible as well in Szekszárd with Kadarka. When the sympathetic Hungarian vinters put still more emphasis on this sort, they have a chance to distinguish themselves especially.”