Odd little treasure found in an Arkansas wine shop: the 2003 Egervin Egri Bikavér from Hungary. $10. Cherry pie aroma, with tart cherry flavors and a pretty light body. Actually pretty fun wine here. No real tannins to speak of, and only 12% alcohol, but the tartness is really refreshing. Although this may look like a powerful, full-bodied monster, it's lighter than some Beaujolais I've had. This is the second Hungarian wine I've had, with the first being a "Bulls Blood" mix as well. And you've got to love this explanation of the name:
During the siege, the citizens of Eger opened their wine cellars and drank red wine to give them strength to fight off the Turks. The wine spilled over their beards and onto their armour, colouring them blood red. As the citizens continued their valiant fight against the invading Turks, word spread quickly that the Hungarians were drinking the blood of bulls to make themselves strong and fierce.
4 comments:
Its been absolute ages since I tried a Bulls Blood - I remember it being quite heavy and rustic certainly not light and Beaujolais like.
Bulgarian wines have really slipped off the radar in the UK over the last few years. They use to be good, honest, (cheap) staples. Then along came Australia.
Is it supposed to taste like cooking sherry?
I drink this almost exclusively, when I do drink, and it's certainly not a 'light' wine. Rather robust in my opinion, and pleasantly dry.
Benito, this is a crappy producer we Hungarians are actually ashamed of. There are quite good Bulls Blood producers out there (St. Andrea, Heimann or Tóth István, to name a few) and I can't imagine how the crappy Egervin made it to the US market. I liked your post on the Furmint though!
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