(27
wines tasted thus far)
It
is my third and final day here in Eger.
Today is devoted to two things – tasting red wine and eating another
heavy delicious lunch at Kulac’s.
The
weather was in the upper 80’s yesterday.
Thankfully today the thermometer reads just a little over 80 late
morning . The outside temperature has no
effect on the interior of the caves. It
is always pleasantly cool inside.
I
have chosen two caves to taste red wine – Toth Ferenc and Sike Tamas.
TOTH
FERENC Cave 46
Kekfrankos
2012
Color
maroon
Not
a deep color
Acid
lot of tannin art finish
Bikaver
2013 (bulls blood)
Very
dry
Slight
acid
In
first taste flavor of several grapes competing for attention
This
wine is a blend of pinot, merlot, cabernet franc, kekfrankos, and two others
that I forgot to write down for a total of six blends of wine
Bikaver
superior 2013 (bulls blood)
Each
individual wine to be later blended is made, put
in small casks for one year. The wines
are then blended together and returned to large cask for six months then
bottled and laid back for an additional six months minimum.
Color
deep red
Nose
well rounded
Taste
beautifully rounded, amazing for so many varietals in a single bottle.
(FYI
for you bulls blood aficionados the base wine used to be Kardaka but is now usually kekfrankos)
Kadarka
2013
Used
to be an important grape for the base blend of bulls blood
Taste
- Dry wine with a lot of backbone. Can
understand why it’s a good base for blending bulls blood
Merlot
2009
This
year was the most outstanding vintage year in recent memory
Color
ruby with a flash of light purple
Taste
full body unusual merlot
Wine
flavor stays in the mouth a long time then goes to dry
Varvedo
castle defender 2011
14
months in oak
14
1/2 percent alcohol
10%
merlot 30 cab Sauvignon 60/ Cabernet franc
Nose.
Light bouquet
Taste
cabernet with cough syrup at the end
It
was a delightful and well spent hour and a half at Toth and interesting as well
to learn so much about the wines as the tasting went along.
It
was time to take a break and walk over to Kulac’s for lunch. Today I had an appetizer of cock’s testicles and
an entrée of two sirloin steaks (that’s not a typo. There were two). Plus the were
smothered in a ragout of goose livers.
Don’t
laugh. I grew up in Kentucky eating testicles
(hog and lamb especially). Except we
called them fries. Obviously not the
case here if you look at the photo of the menu page below.
They
were incorporated with onions and other veggies and served in a large rich omelet.
Lunch
over waddled to Sike Tamas for an afternoon of red wine tasting.
Kekfrankos
2009
Color
violet to purple
Taste
slightly tart, chewy, a little cherry lollipop, semi dry finsh
Pinot
Noir 2009
Light
color
Nose-
cannot define
Taste-
some Pinot grape with acid and slight alcohol
Aftertaste
slightly off putting
Bikavar
classic 2006
Color
oxblood
Acid
dry finish
6
Wines in the blend
Lost
tasting notes
Valami
Voros 2009
Cabernet
franc and Syrah
Color
medium red to light purple
Nose
faint
Taste
very young Cabernet franc with little Syrah flavor
Dry
finish clings in the mouth
Cabernet
franc 2006
100%
franc
Very
dry exceedingly dry
Tannic
Merlot
2011 'dry'
Nose
none to speak of
Taste
of berries going to very very dry. Slight
alcohol
Tasting
over and back to my lodging for the last night.
Tomorrow I get on the train and go to Budapest.
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