Zéta: The Invisible Grape of Tokaji Aszú

Zéta: The Invisible Grape of Tokaji Aszú

Zéta is one of the six grapes permitted in Tokaji Aszú, and one you'll almost never see on its own. It's rare enough as a dry, single-varietal wine that I doubted I'd find one at all — until a wine shop in the village of Tokaj turned up a bottle.Get more from my wine journey on Instagram 📷 https://www.instagram.com/uncorkmywine_official/Zéta is a fitting name. In Géza Gárdonyi's Hungarian novel, Zéta is a Greek slave who moves unseen through the court of Attila the Hun — an invisible man. The grape is nearly as invisible: around 110 hectares, almost all in Tokaj, and mostly used as a blending partner in Aszú rather than bottled alone.It's also a modern variety. Zéta was crossed in 1951 by Ferenc Király — a breeder so fond of the letter Z that its half-siblings include Zenit, Zengő and Zeusz. It was called Oremus until 1999, when it was renamed to avoid confusion with the famous Oremus vineyard and winery. Among the six Tokaji Aszú grapes it earns its place by ripening early and taking botrytis readily, which makes it a useful backbone for the noble-rot sweet wines.The wine here is a dry, 100% Zéta from a small family estate run by Péter Ákos, between the villages of Tokaj and Tarcal, aged in old oak. Pale and greenish, 13% alcohol, and more complex than I expected: citrus and lime, an underripe-peach freshness, wet-stone minerality, and a chemical, almost bergamot edge on the nose, with a light creaminess and roundness from the barrel. Medium-plus acidity, good structure, fresh and lively with a medium finish — a terrace wine that also handles light fish or a cheese plate.

Fetească Regală: Romania's Royal Maiden

My first Romanian grape of the project, tasted deep in Transylvania near Dracula country. Fetească Regală, the "royal maiden," is grown almost nowhere but Romania, and at the Liliac winery I taste it two ways: a fresh, steel-tank white full of peach and citric acidity, and a serious, oak-aged Private Selection with the substance to age. I get into the grape's royal naming in 1928, the hundred-year mix-up over its parentage that DNA has only recently corrected, and why cool, green, rainy Transylvania gives it such freshness. One of Romania's most planted whites, and far better than its simple reputation suggests. Full notes at uncorkmywine.com: https://uncorkmywine.com/grapes/feteasca-regala

The Wine that Ended a Turkish Siege in 1522 - Discover Eger in Hungary.

In 1522, the Turk’s were abandoning a siege, because they saw the locals drinking bull’s blood, the famous Egri Bikaver red wine blend…Eger has been one of my first wine trips ever. So, I am especially excited to share this 20-minutes wine travels report with you and introduce you briefly to some of the top wines here. Get more impression from my wine journey on Instagram📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uncorkmywine_official/Discover the Eger wine region with me. Located 90 min North-East of Budapest, it offers not only beautiful architecture and exciting history, but also a bunch of quality winemakers taking local grape varieties, and the famous local blends to the next level. Egri Csillag is the famous Eger white wine blend, translating to “the star of Eger”. Only local white wine varieties are allowed, Furmint, Harslevelu, Leanyka, Kiraleanyka, and Zenit. Introduced in 2010. Much more history is on the back of the bull’s blood blend, the Egri Bikaver. Heavy red wines dominated by the famous Hungarian grapes Kadarka and Kekfrankos, and supported by international varieties such as Merlot, Syrah, and Pinot Noir. Often oak matured and alcohol-heavy, these red wine blends can age for decades and only get smoother with time. Wines tasted:1. Gal Tibor, Egri Csillag 2025, Eger, Hungary2. St. Andrea, Merengo 2022, Egri Bikaver Superiore, Eger, HungaryGal Tiborhttps://galtibor.hu/en📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galtibor.titi/St Andreahttps://standrea.com/en📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/standreawinery/#wset #wineeducation #winemaker #wine #winetasting #hungary #winelovers

Leányka: Eger's Underrated Maiden Grape - Tasting Hungarian wine by Toth Ferenc.

Leányka is Eger's "maiden grape," and the reference books are unkind to it, soft, unexciting, usually blended away. I disagree. Tasting a steel-tank Leányka from the Eger legend Tóth Ferenc, I make the case for it as a fresh, saline, high-acid white with real charm, and tell the stories around it: the 1552 Bull's Blood siege, the naming rivalry during Hungary's War of Independence, why it is not the same as Romania's Fetească Albă, and how it became the parent of Királyleányka, the little princess. One of Hungary's coolest wine regions, one of its most underrated whites. Full notes at uncorkmywine.com.

Somló's Sheep's Tail: Juhfark with Kis Tamás of Somlói Vándor

The Wine Grapes encyclopedia describes Juhfark as "perhaps the least modern or internationally appealing of Hungarian varieties." I take a different view, so I went to Somló, a nine-million-year-old volcano in northwest Hungary that formed under an ancient sea and never erupted. Kis Tamás of Somlói Vándor farms six certified-organic hectares across twelve small parcels on the hill. We discuss why this thin-skinned, high-acid "sheep's tail" grape nearly vanished under socialism, why he sees it as a winner from a warming climate, and why Somló wines taste sharp and salty even when the numbers suggest otherwise. We also cover his use of oak, extended lees ageing, and a local fertility legend that no one can quite substantiate. Part of Uncorkmywine, a series working through the grape varieties of the Wine Grapes encyclopedia, recorded on location with the people who grow them.