It has been some time since I have wrote something down here, time simply did not allow me to write as much as I wanted but this has changed again. After the Budapest wine festival I was convinced I should and will make time again to write, so here we are!

Today we will start with a red blend made by a wine maker I have met on the Bikavér challenge last spring. I was so impressed by his bikavérs that I decided to visit them in May and do a full wine tasting at their cellar.

My feelings about this winery only got a boost after tasting more of their wines and hearing their stories. Besenyei started in 2000 and has since then collected several medals and rewards for their wines! They have around 40 hectares of wine fields but cultivate only 37-38 hectares. Besenyei cultivates a lot of different types of grapes which I will list. The red/blue grapes are : the three bordeaux types ( Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon), Turán ( a grape that gives perfume and tannin to a cuvée (blend) it’s also very powerful on it’s own and can be very complex!), Portugieser (kékporto), kékfrankos (Blaufränkisch), blauburger (cross breed of kékfrankos and portugieser) and Menoir (also called Medoc Noir). The white grape list is much longer and some of the grapes are very unknown so I sum down a smaller list : Rajnai Rizling (Rhein Riesling), Olaszrizling (Welsh Riesling), Leányka, Ottonel Muscat, Tramini, Irsai Olivér and cserszegi fűszeres the last three grapes are known for their perfume and aromas. The winery is located in Andornaktálya, a village just to the south of the main city Eger in the wine region which is also called Eger!

Let us talk a bit about the wine itself, as said before it is a cuvée(blend) of three grapes. The dominant grape is Cabernet Sauvignon with 50% after that Kékfrankos with 30% and 20% merlot. I remember it was barrel aged but I can not remember how long it was exactly.

The color is purple, and has a clean medium intensive nose. U can smell a bit of eucalyptus, sour cherries and some raspberry jam. The wine is also medium intensive on the tongue with a little bit of tannin. I detected some oaky vanilla, sour cherry and cranberry and at the very end a bit of natural grass flavor. The wine is full bodied, you can feel the alcohol ( 14%) and the finish is also medium long.

It is my opinion to not drink this wine on its own like I did unless you are really ”hardcore”, it would fit very well with some heavier meat dishes like steak or roast beef. Also let the wine stand for a half an hour to an hour to let it breath, it will be much more pleasant to drink.

My score for this wine is 87, it is a great priced wine and you get a lot for that. The alcohol is a little bit off but not too much.