Voulez vous Pinot Noir avec moi, ce soir?

In Hungary this sensitive early ripener is all too often left on the vine too long in search of concentration, or it catches far too many rays, making it a bloated, over tannic and lazy beast. 

However, there are some lean and gracious creatures flowing out of Hungarian terroir. Etyeki Kúria found a novel way of introducing its 2006 Pinot Noir to a bunch of wine lovers by offering it to taste alongside various Pinots from around the world and some closer to home. It’s not as though they bunged any old Pinot into the bargain in a bid to inflate the credentials of their own, for there were some very decent wines on show.

First up was Cono Sur’s basic Pinot Noir 2006 from Central Valley in Chile. I’ve not seen this one in Hungary but it is ubiquitous in the UK at around £5 a bottle. Raspberry colored, the scent of this fruit also made an appearance on the nose, along with other red fruits like strawberry and cherry. Enjoyable rather than complex, it also revealed a touch of animal character and some spice on the palate but definitely no alcohol burn. 

From Austria’s Burgenland, which borders Hungary’s Sopron wine region, Prieler’s 2005 oozed a more engaging assortment of plum, raspberry and dark chocolate complemented with the presence of forest mushrooms, the latter representing some of that mysterious earthy character often present in higher quality Pinot. 

Also from the Burgenland, Umathum 2005 had everything going for it and really delivered the complexity of which Pinot Noir is capable. The nose was a subtle mix of animal, fruit, smoky and floral character that was not at all overpowering despite the gaggle of aromas packed in, and the balance followed though to the palate and lingering aftertaste. 

From close by in Neusiedlersee, a 2003 courtesy of Paul Achs for me was missing that ethereal quality so present in the latter two, and was rather characterized by red fruit compote that nevertheless provided a pleasing finish.

From Martinsborough near Wellington, New Zealand, Schubert Wine’s 2003 Pinot Noir had the red compote thing going on too, but rather than being loaded with treacle, it had a smooth creamy texture plus a bit of that classic foxy Pinot feel. This one really tickled the palate and for a long time. 

One region rising to prominence is Oregon, United States, but the sample of Beaux Frères’ Belles Soeurs Beaux 2001 from Willamette Valley appeared to have already passed its peak. It was a long way from the sweet nose of black cherries, currants, vanilla and a touch of spice, with silky texture and currant and cherry fruit flavour pledged by Beaux Frères.

A 2004 from Morey St.Denis, Clos de Lambrays, had a remarkable bouquet infused with a melange of scents from wild mushrooms cum earthy forest floor to cinnamon, plum and red fruits with floral notes also present. However, on the palate there wasn’t much more than red fruit compote, but methinks this one needs time for the complex flavours to transfer to the palate. This certainly has the acids needed to take it perhaps very far indeed.

In the Magyar camp Tiffáns’ 2004 was all strawberry jam and cream but not much else on both the nose and palate and lacked subtlety. Also from Villány, Vylyan’s 2005 was light but complex and on top of red fruit, the scent of violets, another classic Pinot trait, could be detected. 

As an aside from the tasting, I recently opened Bock’s full-bodied Pinot Noir Barrique 2003, which had a rich scent of plums, truffles and dark chocolate scents but was a touch jammy in the mouth as well as overly congealed with thick tannins. While teeth-coating tannins are a feature of Villány’s reds, they might just block out the best of Pinot’s features.
It should also come as no surprise that one of the foreign wines on display at the Etyek tasting was panned for a lack of tannin. In fact one of the Hungarian wines that did possibly miss just a touch of tannin was Tibor Gál’s Titi, which nevertheless had pleasing red fruit character.

After all this came the evening’s feature presentation. Having recently been impressed with Etyeki Kúria’s 2005 fruity and smoky Pinot, it was notable that there was more intensity and concentration in the 2006. It has layers of rich fruit but also more of the Pinot Noir X factor. It fared very well against the foreign wines and was for me the pick of the Magyars on show.
While 2006 was a piping hot vintage that might have given this coolish region more depth, Etyeki Kúria’s Austrian winemaker Rudi Krizan points more to the fact the vines are a year older and penetrating further into the minerals below ground. Four barrel samples from Pinot grapes harvested at different times that will be blended to make the winery’s 2007 version will all bring something different to the 2007 Pinot party: one oozed pure red fruit, another blackberry, then came thick chocolate merged with animal character and the last a lot like raisin. 

Pinot Noir, so diverse from one vineyard to the next, be it over a neighbor’s wall or on another continent, may just be feeling at home in Etyek."

By Robert Smyth

Source: Budapest Business Journal