Actually Tasting Fekete Jardovany

Back in February, I posted about coming into possession of a wine made from a rare grape -- Fekete Jardovany. Last night, we opened it to go with a dinner led by Tuscan pork tenderloin, one of the great bargains from my favorite membership warehouse club.


As we noted some five months ago, this bottle can only be recognized as red table wine. In the US, it could be called most anything that the winery would like to call it, but in most of Europe, regulations prevail. And, there is no part of Hungary in which Fekete Jardovany is a recognized grape. Therefore, it cannot be place designated.

On opening the bottle, the cork was nicely moist and the immediate aromas coming from the bottle were much in the style of a vanilla capuccino. In the glass, the wine bright red, but as the light hit it, it had a very pinkish hue to it.

The wine paired nicely with dinner as the earthiness went quite well with the Italian seasonings on the pork. And, the excellent acidity of the wine allowed it to pair well with the accompanying brussels sprouts (a notoriously difficult food to pair with).

The predominant fruit to this wine was something between a red cherry and black cherry which when blended on the palate with the vanilla and caramel gave it a somewhat dessert like taste on the front of the palate, but as it moved back, the oregano and thyme handled the spicy Tuscan seasonings excellently.

You'll probably never have the opportunity and I might not have it again, but if you run across a bottle of Fekete Jardovany, give it a try.

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