Another brilliant Hungarian Kadarka – I’m starting to like this grape

Hungary

Another brilliant Hungarian Kadarka – I’m starting to like this grape

Hot on the heels of the fabulous Szentesi, I’ve been lucky enough to bump into another brilliant Hungarian Kadarka, this time from Orsolya. This is such an interesting variety, I’ll be looking out for more.

Orsolya Kadarka 2009 Egri Borvidek, Hungary
12.5% alcohol. Pale cherry red colour. Lovely sweet cherry fruit aromatics with some fine, spicy, herby notes. The palate is fresh and cherryish with real elegance and a sappy, green note. Very Burgundian in style: vivid, full flavoured and elegany with just a hint of undergrowth character and lively acidity. 93/100

Find this wine with wine-searcher.com

6 Comments on Another brilliant Hungarian Kadarka – I’m starting to like this grapeTagged ,
wine journalist and flavour obsessive

6 thoughts on “Another brilliant Hungarian Kadarka – I’m starting to like this grape

  1. Balazs – great website about the Kadarka, and in particular the translations (Google translate?). Try this……. The Kadarka is the most Mediterranean but Hungarian red variety, as we had sung yet. We have thought until now, it means laxity, consumption-on-cool and short life cycle. But. The extremely good year 2003 has opened our eyes. Drink Kadarka on 18 °C, after more (6-8 years) aging and riding on a barrel (Oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine…).
    Great tasting note!!

  2. Can’t make head or tails of that translation! Maybe too much Kadarka?

    Anyhow, some people think it was brought to Hungary by Serbs fleeing the Ottomans, others aren’t so sure. It used to be a more important grape in Hungary and sometimes can be really good. That however, is a relatively recent phenomenon. Post WWII, it was like much Hungarian red grapes – debased by communist focus on yield and harvest logistics, rather than quality.

    The first few I had back in the early 1990s were pretty rough but as the plantings have improved and the and the vines have aged and the winemaking has improved, it’s become a really nice grape in the hands of some people. In more recent years it’s quite good sometimes.

    For a long time I thought that Blaufränkisch would alway have an edge in producing quality wine in Hungary, and Kadarka would always be better as part of a blend, but maybe that’s not sufficiently optimistic. I would suggest however, that you look for some blends and some Blaufränkisch from the same producers.

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