The bottle includes a handy map so you don't get lost in varietals

Having visited Pfneiszl last year, I've been intrigued by the wines that Birgit and her sister Katrin have been making.     In preparing for her career as a winemaker, Birgit literally traveled around the world to learn about winemaking in Italy, California, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand. The result of this was an interest in trying out the various wines from these regions in their vineyards in Hungary. These few vines were just starting to produce last year and they had they have had their first proper harvest of them.     The end result is the távoli világ, a wine that is a blend of Shiraz, Carmenére, Malbec, Zinfandel, and Sangiovese. Definitely a wild blend (that I hope I never have to pronounce in front of a Hungarian), but one that is done quite delicately reflecting the fact that Birgit learned these grapes well in her travels. It's quite subtle at first, but then opens up with mint and watercress in a decently mineral nose. That watercress then turns in to a peppery, enjoyably spicy body that is light and fresh with the slightest tinges of strawberry and much more prevalent dark chocolate flavors. Raspberry also comes out after some decent breathing. On there finish there is a slight effervescence which is also in the nose when first opened.     An interesting wine that, due to the small amount of vines is not a large production, which is shown in the 500ml bottles and the fact it's most likely not going to be available outside of Hungary and Austria.

A tasting out amongst the Pfneiszl vineyards that started with their Sparkelina.

Pfneiszl is a young winery on old lands. Or actually, it's an old winery on its own old lands if that makes any sense. You see Pfneiszl (or Pfneisl depending on which side of the Hungarian/Austrian border you're on) is an old family winery based in both Hungary and Austria. It's just that in Hungary, the 27 hectares that made up their wine growing lands were seized by the former communist regime of Hungary in the name of collectivization. After that happened, they had to "make due" with the 70 hectares that the family kept in Austria just on the other side of the border. In 1993, these lands were returned to the family after decades of pumping out cheap bulk wine that was mostly sold to Russia. By this time, on the Austrian side they had been making very well-recognized wines and in what must be one of the most incredible gifts I've ever seen from a parent, they gave this 27 hectares to their daughters to work up and establish as a Hungarian winery.     These stories are not uncommon in the area of Sopron (pron. Shohprohn) in the far east of Hungary on a peninsula of territory that sticks in to Austria, right in to the middle of the very nice Burgenland winegrowing region. The Pfneisl sisters (they grew up in Austria, thus the spelling), Birgit and Katrin have now been running the vines for several years and bottled their first vintage in 2004. A good deal of replanting happened 10 years ago to replace a number of vines, although some of their older vines still remain. These days, they're growing Kékfrankos, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Sangiovese, Malbec, Carmenére, Zenit, and as amazing as it is, even some Zinfandel. Birgit's study of winemaking around the world quickly becomes evident in the diverse selection of grapes.     While they have a tasting room near the center of Sopron, they took us out to a tasting amongst the vineyards overlooking Lake Fertö, which is a wide, flat, reedy lake that is at most two meters deep. Once up in the vineyard, one can see that it creates for an excellent micro climate that allows for a great deal of sun to hit the vines all year. Overall, you can taste this in the wines, as they hold a great deal more depth than other wines from just over the hill. But, enough about history, let's talk about the wines themselves.     We started off with their take on the Sparkling White Wine, which they call Sparkelina. We tasted the 2007 vintage and found it to be not too dry and very even-tempered. It has a clean finish and while I'm not a huge fan of the bubbly in general, I found their version to be quite pleasant and pleasing to drink. From there, it was on to the Kékfrankos 2006 'Classic'. It's a blend of grapes that have been aged in stainless steel with 30% in old Hungarian barrique. The nose is very calm and mild. The body is easy to drink and rather light and seemingly typical of Kékfrankos from the region, but light blackberry tones give way to a touch of pepper and other spices that you can taste near the end and in to the finish of the wine.     It was then on to one of Pfneiszl's signature wines, which is the Tango. We tasted the 2006 which is a blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 60% Merlot, and 10% Shiraz. The nose is light with a hint of vanilla and stronger blackberry elements to it. The body is smooth and the finish is pleasing. As the wine breathes more, it becomes more and more pleasing and is a wine that I would really recommend for just bout any meal as it is even-tempered and mellow, while at the same time carrying a good deal of flavor.     The Kékfrankos 2004 is a vintage that was aged in barrique for 22 months. Again, the nose has blackberry aromas to it, but it develops a slightly more complex nature with herbs coming through. A number of the aromas drop out in the body, but the berry tones stay quite prevalent and the body is a good deal more dry than the other wines of theirs we tasted, yet it is still quite pleasant.     The 2005 Shiraz has what I describe as a very creamy body which according to Birgit is from an extended fermentation period in the barrique. The barrique are French oak due to the 18 month stay in them, the wine takes on a number of vanilla qualities.     Their 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon proved to be a nice surprise. Other Cabs from the region, I've often found to be rather flat given that I've been spoiled growing up on California Cabs. But the Pfneiszl Cab is not flat at all. It is dry, but very flavorful. The body is complex and earthy. It doesn't have the "cherry nose" to it that I've often found in other Central European Cabs. Birgit said that it had just been bottled a few months previous, so it was still under a bit of bottle shock, but irregardless, it was a very enjoyable wine to drink. Perhaps this is due to the 24 months it spends in Hungarian barrique.     The Impression Rouge is a blend of 50% Kékfrankos, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 25% Merlot. There is good deal more oak to it, which is probably due to the newer barrique that are being used. The finish has a delightful touch of boysenberry to it, which was quite unexpected. It is also a delightful wine to drink with deep, woody tones.     One thing to note about these wines is that Birgit's style is to allow the wines to be a bit more "wild" in their flavors. She doesn't try to force a particular consistency to the wines and this allows them to each be their own and age as they may. While this may be a death knell for other younger winemakers, she manages to work the wines in this manner with a great deal of success, making each Pfneiszl vintage quite unique. To this end, they also give each wine vintage its own name based upon how they feel the grapes tasted for that year. For instance, 2004 was, "Cool Elegance" and 2005 was "Starling's Favorite". It's a nice touch that makes the wines have a bit more character than just a numerical year on them.

Vineyards in Paso Robles at sunset.

Last weekend more than 90 wineries participated in the 2008 Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival, which included an array of special events such as winemaker dinners, food pairings, seminars, open houses, a live auction and special tastings. Although (unfortunately) this year we didn't make it to the festival, we recently had the opportunity to visit Paso Robles Wine Country and to enjoy some of the region's fine wines.     Paso Robles is located on California's central coast, halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Paso Robles has a long history of winemaking and grape growing beginning in 1797 when the first wine grapes were introduced by the Franciscan missionaries at the historic Mission San Miguel Arcangel. The Padres produced wine for sacramental purposes and made brandy for export. After Mexico secularized the California missions in the 1840s the vineyards were abandoned until European immigrant farmers started to arrive in the 1860s, following California's independence in 1850.     Today, Paso Robles is California's third largest and fastest growing wine region, with over 26,000 acres of vineyards (more on Paso Robles Wine Country history can be found here). Cabernet Sauvignon is the leading variety for the Paso Robles appellation, accounting for 38 percent of the region's planted wine grape acreage. After that the most widely planted varieties are Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Sauvignon Blanc. With Italian, Spanish and Rhône varieties on the upswing, more than 40 other varieties with 300 to less than an acre are planted in the region.     In the last decade, Paso Robles has seen an increase from 35 to nearly 170 wineries, of which about two-thirds produce less than 5,000 cases.     Among the few wineries that we visited during our brief passage through Paso Robles, we can recomend Eagle Castle, ensconced in a real modern-day castle. Founded in 2000 by Paso Robles natives Gary and Marylou Stemper with the motto "A royal experience", Eagle Castle produces an award-winning Viogner, a rosé and a few interesting reds. Our favourite was the recently released 2004 Zinfandel, a bold red with peppery notes both in the nose and the body, as well as a strong jammy flavor and a smooth finish.     Another winery that we particularly enjoyed was Castoro Cellars who produces, in their own words, "dam fine wines". Established in 1983 by Niels and Bimmer Udsen, the name refers to Niels' long-time nickname "Beaver", which became "Il Castoro" (beaver in Italian) when he was working in Italy. In the span of a dozen years, Castoro Cellars has gone from making a few barrels of wine for family and friends in a rented corner of someone else’s winery to a production of around 40,000 at present. They produce half a dozen whites, about twenty reds and a couple of dessert wines. We were lucky to taste a good number of their wines, including their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon blend which was so easy to drink that we took a couple of bottles home. We also enjoyed their affordable Muscat Canelli, a perfect match for a fruity dessert or just to sip in the terrace at any time.     For those of us who missed the Zinfandel Festival, on May 16-18th Paso Robles will be hosting their 26th Wine Festival, which will be a great opportunity to discover this fast-growing wine region or to explore it further. Cheers!