Tag Archives: sweet wine

When You Can’t Help Taking Notes – Tokaj and Villány in Tigris and Halászbástya

There are dinners where you should really just let yourself enjoy the atmosphere and the delicious menu. I did not manage to behave myself this time on two consecutive nights in March, so here are my notes. The dinners were organised for the speakers of VinCE, a high-end annual consumer and trade event in Budapest, and as such the line-ups were amazing.

The first dinner was hosted at Tigris Restaurant in the Fifth Quarter, just a few corners from Chain Bridge or, St Stephen’s Basilica in the other direction. Our party was hosted in the private dining room of the restaurant, which you need to access via a beautifully restored fin de siècle courtyard, hence often used by the political and business elite as well as the celebs. The food for carnivores looked and smelt amazing, but as the chefs had not known beforehand that I was vegetarian, mine was quickly improvised to an ‘okay’ standard. The service was impeccable. So, let me straight get on to the wines.

The selection was very Continue reading

Sauternes in the Making: Visit & Tasting at Ch. Suduiraut

The making of all great wines starts in the vineyard, they say. It is true in the case of the 1er Cru Sauternes property, Ch. Suduiraut, too, who devote a great deal of their time to maintaining a healthy and balanced vineyard. Most of the vineyards, approx 80-82 ha, is in one piece and there is another 10 hectares, which are situated close to the vineyards of Ch. d’Yquem, the unquestioned Continue reading

Crème de la Crème: Sauternes – Barsac & Tokaji Wines

Ch d'Yquem 1988

Pierre Montégut, Technical Director of Chateau Suduiraut, and István Szepsy from Tokaj co-presented a fantastic tasting at VinCE, an annual trade and consumer wine weekend in Budapest, earlier this year.

The tasting showcased the similarities and differences between the two regions producing most sublime noble sweet wines. Sauternes and Barsac are nestled in the larger Bordeaux wine region and with their combined 2,240 hectares, they account for only 2% of all Bordeaux wines. In comparison, the region of Tokaj covers almost 6,000 hectares, but it does not enjoy the benefits of being part of a larger appellation producing some of the finest wines in the world.

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