János Németh’s winery is located at the top of the hill in the Ivan-völgy part of Szekszárd. Völgy means valley in Hungarian, and there is a lovely view from the terrace in front of the winery over the rolling hills covered with vines and dotted with small white cellar buildings. János greets us with his Riesling, quite welcome after all the reds so far, of which he has only about 2000 bottles. He tells us that it went through a serious hand selection, saw no oak and was spontaneously fermented. He has ten hectares of vines and makes around 40,000 bottles per year, although he says he could probably up that to 50,000.
We talk about how everyone in the region is trying to find their way, as is the region itself. In the past, everyone was producing rich Bordeaux blends, now people are looking for lighter wines with greater acidity. He’s planning to reduce his range to six wines and make his Bikavér his top wine. Although there are still plenty of people who like ‘big’ wines, like the Cabernet Sauvignon we tried, so he may continue to make his Serius, a blend of the Cabernets, Merlot and Syrah. On the other hand, consumers are tending towards white too, hence the Riesling. Other than his rosé and siller, all his other wines are reds.
He produces a large chunk of cheese made from the milk of Jersey cows, interestingly by a lorry driver. It is delicious and rather reminiscent of cheddar. We nibble on this as we taste the Kadarka. He laments that people are not prepared to pay premium prices for Kadarka, despite the difficulty of producing it. You can often only make a good one every four years or so, so this should give it scarcity value. We discuss the need to change people’s perception of the variety. Naturally we also taste a Bikavér and his Deviant Syrah with its modern label designed by Bence Stumpf. Interestingly, a Latvian visitor had criticised this and another label as looking too Communist. I hasten to say, we didn’t agree. The wines were certainly up to scratch too!
Riesling 2015 I 84 points
A light, summery wine with bags of lemon and lime, green apple and a touch of minerality. Fresh, crisp acidity. Light and elegant, but not a great deal of complexity.
Kadarka 2015 I 90 points
Not a classic year for Kadarka, meaning they had to harvest early. Nevertheless, an elegant wine made from nine different clones. Plenty of fresh red cherry, sour cherry, raspberry, cranberry and spice on the nose. Lovely juicy fruit on the palate similar to the nose, with some plum, strawberry jam and smokiness too. Smooth, silky tannins and zippy acidity. Simply delicious.
Deviant Syrah 2015 I 92 points
Rather reminiscent of a northern Rhône Syrah. Elegant and floral with fresh plum, cherry, bramble and pepper on the nose. On the palate, blueberry, cranberry, pepper and some violet. Velvety tannins and fresh acidity. An exciting, complex wine with great potential.
Sygno Bikavér 2013 I 92 points
Bags of dark berry fruit, cherry, plum and bramble, complemented by the spiciness of the Kadarka and Kékfrankos and a floral note. A tight structure with lovely fresh acidity and fine, silky tannins. Toast, raspberry and some dried cranberries make themselves felt on the palate. A complex and elegant wine.
Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 I 88 points
A rich composition of dark black cherry fruit, blackcurrant and blackberry with layers of smooth dark chocolate, toast and liquorice. Firm structure, with smooth velvety tannins and fresh acidity. Wonderful long finish.
