A Rare Grape in our Possession

Imagine a grape that once flourished. It grew far and wide in the Carpathian Basin spanning a good bit of what is now Hungary, western Ukraine, Romania, and Slovakia, and bits of Poland, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia at the very least. For centuries, Fekete Jardovany grew and it grew plentifully. 

And, then in the second half of the 19th century and the phylloxera mite struck and Fekete Jardovany, along with a number of other grapes, was wiped out, except that some enterprising ampelographers saved a limited number of seedlings.

In 2004, one winery in the Villany region of Hungary decided to experiment with Fekete Jardovany and a few other essentially extinct grapes. Of all of them, this one showed the most potential, so this winery, slightly to the west of the Danube and nearly at the border with Croatia decided to make a wine from it. To their knowledge and mine, this is the only winery in the world using this grape. And, we're fortunate enough to have a bottle. Yes, in real life. We have a bottle in our cellar. And, it was not at all expensive, although I guess that depends on your idea of expensive. But, to me, $25 for a bottle of rare wine is not a deal killer although it's not what we drink every day.

In the meantime, I've done some research on this grape, but since this is a blog and not reality here, let's benefit from my research and take a trip to the winery to enjoy this wine.

The flight to Hungary takes a connection from here. As we've done previously, we're going to make the change in Amsterdam and fly south to Budapest. Hopping in the car with our driver, it's just 2 hours almost entirely south to Villany. For those that don't know, Villany is home to some of the world's most promising Cabernet Franc. Much less expensive than that of Bordeaux and with tremendous character, these wines are worth owning. But, they are not why we are here today.

The weather here during growing season is warm and dry. Protected by mountains on three sides. And, also warmed by the breezes coming from the Mediterranean to the south, these mostly southern facing slopes are perfect for growing grapes. The topsoil is loess with a limestone and dolomite bedding that gives the grapes great natural minerality.

The wine is quite bright in the glass, almost cherry red, but pinkish with the sunlight peeking through. We get notes of vanilla, caramel and coffee (think Frappuccino) with infused black cherry. With its pronounced yet rounded tannins and high acidity, we get a long finish with just a hint of earthtones coming through.

A wonderful experience, or so we hope when we open it in real life.

Looking at the bottle, we are amused. It is simply red table wine. That's all they can do. This is the EU. There are rules and on top of those rules, there are rules. And, then there are more rules. and Fekete Jardovany is not an approved grape in Villany or frankly anywhere else in the EU. So, it cannot carry a designation. It's just a wine.

And, we hope, a great wine. If it is, we know how to get more.