Wines of the New Year

• What wine shall we drink this year?
• Recommendation by Gabriella Mészáros, international wine academic and wine writer
• Review of the 2021-2024 wine production season

Let’s admit it, festive wines are easier to find, as they are mostly intended for specific occasions. It is more difficult to choose reliable batches for everyday use that are suitable for all circumstances. On 364 days of the year, we crave wines that often quench our thirst, or we simply want to return to familiar aromas and flavors and don’t want to explore new paths. Certain wines often require time, patience, and the right frame of mind. This is sometimes the same as wearing a hat. (After all, putting on a beautiful hat can be a challenge for a woman. She must also prepare her soul at this time, and it is no different with festive wines.) However, we often long for security, for the familiar, for things we can count on at any time.

Winter is the time for warm rooms, open spaces, and cheerful toasts. In the old days, we would transfer our important phone numbers to the next year’s calendar, but sometimes we would also flip through our wine tasting notes from the previous year. All this, of course, in the company of a glass of wine – a good friend. That’s what I’m doing now – although my notes and phone numbers aren’t hidden away in a notebook, but rather tucked away in the hidden corners of my computer.

I know it’s difficult to get hold of any of the 2021 wines now, but we had the opportunity to taste some truly beautiful wines from this year on several occasions. It has been a long time since there has been such a balanced and exciting vintage, especially since, in addition to dry and sweet white wines, the selection of red wines was also excellent. It wasn’t too hot, and there was some rainfall that summer – the grapes rewarded us with a balanced structure and elegant flavors.  The most memorable wines came from Eger, Somló, Sümeg, Sopron, Szekszárd, Tokaj, and Villány. These are exceptionally balanced wines that can be aged beautifully for a long time.

I would highlight two wines from Eger from the selection. In my opinion, Orsolya Cellar’s Chardonnay from the Nagy-Eged vineyard and Nimród Kovács’s Fusion Kékfrankos-Merlot blend took the cake. But at least Hoop Wines’ Gereg Kékfrankos from Mátra and Tokaj Kikelet Cellar’s Váti dűlő Hárslevelű were characteristically pure. It’s a difficult choice, because I can already taste the beautiful fruitiness of Zoltán Demeter’s Sweet Szamorodni in my mouth, as well as the lively savour of Unger Wine Manufactory’s Kálvária Ördög Kékfrankos from Kőszeg. A truly excellent selection, whichever way you look at the wines.

The following years (2022, 2023, and 2024) presented our producers with many more challenges. There was frost, late flowering, devastating hailstorms, powdery mildew and drought, black rot and horrendous amounts of rainfall. It is difficult to adapt to these challenges – not to mention the economic difficulties. Now, however, I am trying to highlight the positive aspects of the vintages – because there were some. We will not forget the hot summer of 2022 anytime soon. Inhuman heat and drought wore down the nerves of the grapes and producers. Nevertheless, quite a few wines with a truly concentrated and rich flavor profile were produced. One example of this was Péter Vida’s red blend from Szekszárd, named Lösz. Excellent raw material, ripe grapes, rich and concentrated flavors. Despite the persistent heat, István Balassa’s Sweet Szamorodni has been one of the most exciting sweet wines in recent years. It is well worth waiting for.

The following year, however, caused headaches for our growers due to the excessive rainfall. Where there is moisture, mold thrives. No matter how we try to sugarcoat it, this year has not been easy for domestic winemakers either. It is true that farmers who were able to keep their grapes healthy were able to produce beautiful and exciting wines. A particularly beautiful botrytis infection began in Tokaj, which favored the production of a relatively large quantity of high-quality aszú berries. Here, even the dry wines have been bottled with exceptional balance, and although they are still in the early stages of development, we can expect serious quality. The Late harvest blend from Erzsébet Cellar is already in excellent shape, with its rich fruitiness and beautiful acids sure to impress anyone. But that’s exactly how Spiegelberg Cellar’s Juhfark wine from Somló from 2023 and Hegymente Estate’s Laska from Mátra became my favorites.

Continuing the trend, 2024 was not an easy year either. There was ice and then merciless heat again. The harvest dates were uniformly the earliest ever in all of our wine regions. White wine regions may have fared better this summer, but we cannot really talk about serious quality in general. Nevertheless, some very exciting wines have been produced. One such example is the Orange Wine from Bock Cellar in Villány. Would we have thought so? Hardly! But the wine is excellent, clean, decisive, enriched with just the right amount of sugar, and has an outstanding style and personality. We tasted it among wines from late harvests, so everyone was genuinely surprised when we revealed the bottle.

Well, I hope I have managed to draw attention to some truly exciting wines, regardless of what we think about recent years as a whole. The best wineries – if the grapes are in good hands – can still produce excellent wines even when conditions are not necessarily ideal. It is a serious challenge, but discerning wine lovers encourage everyone to take up the gauntlet. Let’s go on everyday adventures!