So the other day, we ate our first crab of the year with some delicious 2010 Geyerhof Grüner Veltliner Rosensteig.

    Grüner Veltliner is Austria's national grape, accounting for more than 30 percent of the country's vineyards and it is at its best along the Danube river were it grows in terraced vineyards on slopes so steep they can barely retain the soil, producing mineral-driven wines that can age well.

    The Geyerhof winery is situated on the southern slopes of the Danube Valley east of Krems. The owners, Josef and Ilse Maier, have 15 hectares of dry-farmed vineyards on loess, sand and tertiary gravel soils and produce mostly Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. The fruit of the Grüner Veltliner Rosensteig comes from the organically farmed Rosensteig vineyard and has been manually harvested. The wine had a light golden color with aromas of Granny Smith apple and peach on the nose. On the palate, it was crisp, mineral, well structured, with notes of lime and paprika on the finish.

    I am looking forward to some more Dungeness crabs this season and some more Grüner Veltliner as well!

     After a few months of tasting with industry insiders and the general public, I have come to realize that people are afraid. Restaurant owners are afraid to put it on the list because they don’t think anyone will order it. At stores, patrons are afraid to take a bottle home because they don’t know if their guests will like it. This fear afflicts even those purchasers who love the wine and recognize its value.

     It’s no shocker that the king of wine and wine of kings has earned a reputation for being a bit pricey, and admittedly, the prices can climb to the upper end of the scale. Even when it’s a great value, expensive price tags are not in fashion. The American stigma against sweet wines, a rapidly changing dogma, does not help the cause either. People just don’t know what to do with this unfamiliar style of wine, and how to best enjoy them. This makes for a double-dilemma: an unfamiliar style at less-than-cheap prices. The risk seems high for both the businessperson and the patron.

     As with Sherry and Madeira (two other underappreciated wines) the key lies in food pairings. Offering a 3 oz pour of 3 puttonyos with the cheese plate on your dessert menu is sure to intrigue enough customers to get your full margin, not to mention heighten their gustatory experience (hello, return customers!) Similarly, passing around a bottle of 5 puttonyos at your holiday dessert parties will secure your status as best host(ess) or most creative party guest. Turning people on to new delicacies is fun, and whether they are your neighborhood regulars or your friends and family, its always appreciated.

     One of the nice things about a bottle of Tokaji Aszu is its ability to stay fresh for at least 2 weeks…not that it ever lasts that long in my home! This means that you can experiment over the course of multiple meals to find your favorite pairings. With all of the parties, hearty food, and merriment, the holiday season is the perfect time for Tokaji.

    Patricius Red Leonis Tokaji Aszu 3 Puttonyos: the acidity here is sky high which keeps the overall impression light, you’ll be surprised how easily this goes down next to savory courses throughout your meal. Try this not-too-sweet wine with blue cheese, breasola, spicy noodles, or lobster bisque.

     Patricius Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos: this deeply colored nectar is sweet and rich with a slightly thickened, but balanced, body. Try this alongside creamy deserts like crème brulee and panna cotta, or pastries like cheese and fruit Danish, or crepes with apricot preserves.

    

    To learn more about the different styles of sweet wines and their production methods, check Kristian Kielmayer's latest blog post: Drawing on examples of sweet wine production in different parts of the world.

    Recently, my mom made friends with a favorite local oysterman. It was rumored that his were the best, so for this most recent visit she order 3½ dozen for just 4 of us. The guy hand delivered his day's catch to the door. Most were these deliciously fresh, even sweet locally farmed 'America' oysters, but the real treat were the dozen strongly flavored wild Belon. Forgoing the typical compliment of Muscadet, or Chablis, I selected something more appropriate for the season. After all, in Maine, winter is the best season for oysters; so why should we drink summer wine?

    

Receipt for the oysters

    

    My wife Kristyn and I were on the Peljesac Peninsula in Southern Croatia a few summers ago. While there, we visited with farmer and winemaker Frano Milos. He mentioned the locally popular combination of raw oysters and the rugged Plavac Mali based red wines, like his own. Strange as the match sounded, the coves of this rocky peninsula are bivalve paradise, our curiosity was spiked. Unfortunately, all the restaurants we visited serving them had discovered, only white wine should be served with oysters.

    

Milos family vineyards and their view of the sea

    

    Our Maine oyster feast was the perfect opportunity to test this “scary” pairing. Some were baked with butter and herbs, most of them were eaten raw with, champagne mignonette, lemon juice and Tapatilo, or just raw. We opened the 2006 Milos Plavac, along with a few whites for backup. All who experienced the harmony of this unlikely duo were shocked and delighted. The tea and spice scented Plavac was the first bottle drained. My favorite match was with the raw, unseasoned, wild oysters. There is a simple answer for the success of the combination; ‘brininess’. Any proper Plavac Mali should have a touch. Some of the most delicious, the Milos wines included, are actually salty.

    

Surprise, surprise!!

    

    Peljesac wine are some of the most transparent expressions of place and people being bottled today. Paradoxically, it is this individuality that enables them to relate so brilliantly to the culinary traditions of other places. For me, winter oysters in Maine will never be complete with out some hearty Plavac. This makes the world feel smaller, but in a good way.

    

The test

    The tasting featured 13 wines covering 6 major wine producing areas including Mátra, Szekszárd, Sopron, Eger, Villány, and last but not least, Tokaj.

    

    Our first flight featured 2 whites from Mátra and 2 reds from Szekszárd. Mátra is a wine producing region located in the northeast part of the country, in the foothills of the Matra Mountains. Characterized by cold winters and volcanic soils, the area is noted for its white wines.

    • Szõke Mátyás Királyleányka 2010: produced by Szõke Mátyás, one of Matra's most important family-owned wineries. Királyleányka means "little princess" and is a traditional variety of Transylvanian origin. Light golden color, attractive floral nose of acacia blossom. On the palate, crisp, slightly waxy with grapefruit flavors and mineral notes on the finish.

    • Szõke Mátyás Irsai Oliver 2010: Irsai Oliver is a hybrid grape variety from the Muscat family. Intensely aromatic with rose petal aromas, dry and crisp palate with additional flowery notes on the finish.

    Szekszárd is a wine district located in the southern part of Hungary and one of the oldest red wine-growing areas in the country. Although Kékfrankos is the region's most important red variety, its best-known grape is the thin-skinned and hard-to-grow Kadarka.

    • Eszterbauer Kadarka Nagyapám 2009: produced by Eszterbauer, a winery that has been making wine in the region for 10 generations. Medium red color, fresh cherry nose, dry, spicy, with lively acidity on the palate. A good accompaniment to paprika-based Hungarian fish stew.

    • Eszterbauer Tüke Bikavér 2008: Szekszárdi Bikavér or "Bull's Blood of Szekszárd" is the southern version of the famous Bull's Blood of Eger. Bikavér, like Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is a blend of potentially 13 grape varieties. This wine has some Kékfrankos for the backbone blended with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Franc. Dark color, sweet berry aromas on the nose, full-bodied, good overall complexity.

    

John Szabo getting ready for the tasting.

    Our second flight featured Kékfrankos wines from the Sopron and Eger regions. Kékfrankos, also called Blaufränkisch in German, is a dark skinned grape variety grown mostly in central and eastern Europe that can produce rich and spicy wines.

    Sopron is situated on the Austrian border, at the foot of the Alps. With a climate characterized by cool summers and mild winters, it produces elegant reds mostly made of Kékfrankos.

    • Pfneiszl Kékfrankos 2009: produced by the Pfneiszl estate, owned and managed by sisters Birgit and Katrin and currently transitioning to a completely organic winery. Medium red color, vibrant aromatic nose, aromas of dark berries, well-balanced, very tasty.

    Eger is located in northern Hungary, on the southern slopes of the Bükk Mountains. The climate is characterized by late springs and hot summers. It is home to the popular Egri Bikavér (bulls blood of Eger), a red blend based on Kékfrankos.

    • J&J Eger Winery Eged Hegy Kékfrankos 2006: produced by J and J Eger Wine Company, a partnership between John Szabo and Eger native, physician, and winemaker Dr. János Stumpf. Sourced from the dry farmed Eged-Hegy (Eged Hill) vineyard. Dark color, cassis aromas on the nose, full-bodied, good acidity, woody with some tannins. Serious wine but still young.

    • J&J Eger Winery Eged Hegy Kékfrankos 2007: tighter than the 2006, concentrated, needs more time.

    

    Our third flight took us to Villány, in Southern Hungary, not far from the Croatian border, where the climate is warmer with Mediterranean influences.

    • Attila Gere Portugieser 2010: produced by winemaker and winery owner Attila Gere, whose family has been in the wine business for seven generations. Portugieser is an old grape variety that probably originated in the Danube Valley. It is usually vinified as a light, fruity wine. Medium red color, fruity, Beaujolais-like nose, light bodied, fresh, easy to drink.

    • Attila Gere KOPAR 2007: Bordeaux-style blend of 52% Cabernet Franc, 46% Merlot, and only 2% Cabernet Sauvignon (Cabernet Franc ripens more reliably than Cabernet Sauvignon in the region). Aged in large Hungarian oak casks. Spicy nose, sweet berry fruit on the palate, well balanced, good with grilled meat.

    

    Our last flight was dedicated to the Tokaj wine region in northeastern Hungary, famous worldwide for its botrytized wines, although the production of dry Tokaj is growing. The climate is continental with dry, cold winters, late springs, and hot summers. The soil is of volcanic origin, with high concentrations of iron and lime. Furmint is the main grape variety. It covers about 60% of Tokaji's vineyards with Hárslevelü covering an additional 30%.

    We first tasted two semi-dry Tokaj from Bott Pince, a small winery founded by Judit and József Bodó in March 2006. The Bodó family owns 1.5 ha of vines on a west facing terraced slope in the classed vineyard of Határi.

    • Bott Határi Hárslevelü 2009: pale golden color, spicy nose with notes of honey, citrus and herbs, well balanced on the palate, mineral finish.

    • Bott Csontos Furmint 2009: light golden color, fresh floral nose, flavors of honey, dried apricot, licorice, softer than the Határi on the palate.

    We concluded the tasting with 2 sweet Tokaj from Patricius, a winery established by the Kékessy family in a rebuilt and modernized wine-press house previously owned by the Jesuits and various aristocratic families.

    • Patricius Late Harvest Tokaj 2008: made from over-ripped and partly botrytised berries. Bright golden color, apricot, peach, kumquat aromas on the nose. On the palate, bright acidity, notes of honey and dried herbs, long finish.

    • Patricius Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos 2000: deep amber color, intense nose, flavors of bitter orange marmalade and rock candy, very sweet finish.

    

The Blue Danube team Rachel, Eric, and Frank with John Szabo and David Fenyvesi, from Eger.

    I told Luis that this is a great idea but that we are already overworked and overcommitted. If you know Luis you know that he does not give up and never sleeps, so two hours later I see a tweet in which Luis asks us to put some effort into this project and to publish our Top 5 on our web site. So here they are:

    No 1: Donkey Peljesac, Plavac Mali, Vinarija Dingac, Peljesac Peninsula 2010

    No 2: Geyerhof: Gruner Veltliner Rosensteig, Kremstal 2009

    No 3: Bibich, B6 Riserva, Northern Dalmatia 2008

    No 4: Eszterbauer Kadarka, Szekszard 2009

    No 5: Kabaj Rebula, Goriska Brda 2008

    Cheers, and Thank You for your support.

    Owned by the Stiegelmar family, Juris farms 17 hectares of vineyards in the Neusiedlersee wine region, half way between Vienna and Budapest. This is the warmest part of Austria with climatic conditions well suited to red varieties, which explains the winery's special focus on St Laurent and Pinot Noir wines.

    The Stiegelmar family has been cultivating grapes in this area since the 16th century. One of the winery's underground cellars was built in 1756, Mozart's birth year. It was dug 52 meters long, 12 meters below the surface, and maintains a stable temperature of 10°C (50°F).

    
The underground cellars.

    But over the past 10 years, Axel Stiegelmar and his father Georg have developed a modern winery. The transport of grapes, mash, must, and wine is done predominantly through gravity to avoid damage by careless transport. The storage building is Austria's first passive energy wine storage facility. The building, neither heated nor cooled by fossil or electric energy, has various temperature and humidity zones to provide optimal storage conditions for different wines at different stages of their production.

    St. Laurent is a red grape of mysterious origins. It is said to belong to the Pinot family, although its exact ancestry remains unclear. It is an early ripening grape variety, sensitive to frost, sunburn, and botrytis. The name comes from Saint Laurent's name day on August 10, which is when the veraison of the grape occurs.

    If the wine had the bright acidity of a Pinot Noir, it was spicy like a Syrah. It showed a very dark color with aromas of black cherries, moka, and gamey notes. On the palate, it was quite smooth and tasty with maybe a hint of sweet chestnut on the finish.

    

    Harvest reds are wines that taste like early fall, warm without being too bold, fruity with savory flavors that evoke wood smoke, fallen leaves, and wild mushrooms. But where to find them?

    “Lately there is no better place to start than the lap of Europe, which on my map is Austria and Hungary”, says Comiskey. “Both countries are enjoying a resurgence among their red wines; each has an interesting collection of oddly named indigenous (or nearly so) varieties that are being revived.”

    In Hungary, he adds, “your options are more limited but potentially more exciting. Importers such as Blue Danube are bringing small-production wines into the market, like the Soproni Kekfrankos made by Pfneiszl (about $15). Kekfrankos is Blaufränkisch, a bit more gripping and rustic than Austrian versions. Hungary is also the continent's last great repository of Kadarka, a thin-skinned red variety thought to have originated in Romania, with a clean and peppery red-berry flavor, worth chilling for a stew. Look for the Kadarka from Eszterbauer, a 10th-generation producer who also makes a very drinkable Bikaver (Bull's Blood) blend (both around $20).”

    So for Halloween, try the Eszterbauer Tüke Bikavér 2008 from Szekszard wine region in Hungary's Transdanubian hills. It is spicy and deep, yet easy to drink, but beware, this bull's blood may attract some vampires!

    Read Comiskey's article here.

    The Bott Határi Hárslevelű is a dry white wine from Tokaj, home to Tokaji Aszú, the world's oldest botrytized wine, although Tokaj is increasingly well-known for its distinctive dry wines.

    It is produced by Bott Pince, a small winery founded by Judit and József Bodó in March 2006. Bott is Judit's maiden name and she is the one crafting the wines while her husband focuses on the vineyard. The majority of the region's vineyards are planted with Furmint but Hárslevelű is Judit Bodó's favorite varietal as she explained in a recent New York Times interview: “Sometimes the furmint is too harsh,” she said, “too 'gerade' in German, too 'straight' and harslevelu has more play. It's more layered, it has more nose, it has more nuance.”

    The Bodó family has 1.5 ha of vines on a west facing terraced slope in the classed vineyard of Határi. The soil is volcanic rocks mixed with clay. limestone, and chalk. Challenging growing conditions and an average vine age of 40 years result in low yields in the vineyard. The wine fermented in 220 liter barrels for 6 weeks using native yeast and remained in barrel for 9 more months.

    That night, my dinner plan was to sauté some shrimps with garlic but after sniffing the wine, I decided to cook them with a Southeast Asian twist. Fortunately, between the pantry and the refrigerator, I had all the ingredients that I needed to accommodate the shrimps Thai style: fresh ginger and garlic, one onion, curry paste, a can of coconut milk, frozen bell pepper strips, and of course the shrimps.

    As I retasted the wine during dinner, I was quite pleased with my shrimp curry dish. Far from being overwhelming, the medium-hot curry spices combined with the creamy coconut flavors were adding more dimensions to the wine.

    Showing a light golden color, it had a flowery nose, slightly waxy, with notes of dried apricots and honey. On the palate, it was extremely creamy, mouth-filling, with a good amount of acidity. There was also some sweetness that interestingly disappeared on the finish, leaving an after-taste of dried herbs and mineral notes.

    

     To this end, Italian and Slovenian producers are in the process of creating the first ever Trans-Border DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) that celebrates the Carso (Italian) or Karst (Slovenian) region. For instance, there are already joint community initiatives such as Scenarios and Flavours from the Karst Plateau without Frontiers based in Trieste that functions much like a “Doctors Without Borders” for food and wine. Concerning wine, they focus on the grape called “Terrano” (Italian) or “Teran” (Croatian and Slovenian) coupled with the iron rich “Terra Rossa” (red earth) unique to the region. These are red wines with off the charts acidity, enough minerality to meet a healthy diets monthly quota, and often a slightly tangy wild berry flavor that make it an incredible wine of place. It’s a killer with Prosciutto.

     With this in mind, I’ve had many buyers admit they love the wines I’ve shared with them but immediately follow it up with, “They don’t fit anywhere on my list” or "They won't sell here." At the same time, they carry wines that share virtually the same soil, grape, climate, and history but happen to have DOC, DOCG, or IGT instead of Product of Croatia or Slovenia on their labels. If Terroir driven wines are really at the heart of their philosophy, why are politically drawn borders getting in the way?

     The following is an actual email exchange that argued why a focus on Northeastern Italian wines should also consider the wines of Istria, Croatia. For privacy, the names have been blocked out.

    

    

    

    

    In a short couple of months the trio has managed to put their 'almost famous' burgers on top of the heap. This is not your ordinary burger joint where the choices are between American or Swiss cheese.

    At Bistro SF Grill they serve only the finest beef some of it as exotic as Alligator, Buffalo, and Ostrich. Then there is a Lamb Burger and another made from organically fed Kobe beef. I tried most of them and my favorite is the Balkan Burger, made from a mix of lamb and beef with savory spices.

    Our wines from Balkan countries like Slovenia and Croatia pair beautifully with these burgers. For instance, try the Donkey Dingac or the Bibich Riserva R6 with a Balkan burger and you will agree that the wine will make the flavors jump. The Croatian Plavac Mali - relative to the Californian Zinfandel - shows a certain rustic spiciness which pairs well with the Balkan burger. My guess is that it's the Paprika which corresponds so nicely.

     Besides offering great food and wine, the Bistro also frequently hosts wine tastings. We were invited to pour our wines at the first tasting which was dedicated to Balkan wines. We are now looking forward to the next event: The Party - Rock me Amadeus! As you can tell, this one will feature wines from the former Austrian-Hungarian empire, home of Mozart and an old, sophisticated wine culture. Join us when we pop a couple of corks and pour some really nice Gruner Veltliner, Blaufrankisch, Kadarka, and Kiralyleanyka. Come explore with us the lands along the Blue Danube River:

    

    Tuesday, August 16 from 6pm - 2819 California St. 415-409 6410

    Photography courtesy of Eric Danch ©2011

    I was excited for the first ever Grand Croatian tasting, having tasted a handful of their local wines, and being particularly intrigued by a former vintage of Dingac Winery’s Peljesac, or ‘The Donkey Wine’ in some circles. I knew that the variety had alluring aromas of flowers and herbs, an elegant translucence, and beguiling sense of fruit. Still I was not prepared for the diversity and terroir-specificity this grape offers.

    The grape most commonly linked with Plavac Mali is Zinfandel, which originates in Croatia and is a relative of Plavac. I typically describe the wines as exhibiting the deep, dark fruited spiciness of Zinfandel, with the old-world body of Gamay. The grapes and wines are surely related, though each with a very distinct personality.

    Between the Hudson Terrace grand tasting and consumer event put on by Oenocentric with Blue Danube at Veslo in Astoria, I tasted at least 20 distinct Plavac Malis and blends, discovering a wide range of styles. Sometimes with a touch of residual sugar, there were both soft and light wines and others that were bold with more structure. One of the most exciting aspects of this variety is that it produces unique wines with complexity, even in its simpler expressions. It was and remains thrilling to explore the Southern Dalmatian regions and sub-regions, and impossible to enjoy the wines without longing to visit the places they convey.

    This diversity promises a category of wines full of food pairing opportunities. Milos Plavac is served locally with oysters, something I hope to recreate in NY soon. We can also easily imagine it’s tea-like flavors complementing tea-smoked duck, a Hunan dish. Beyond pairing with its own and other cuisines, I expect Plavac Mali to be especially suited to the innovative and fusion menus popular in New York. I can almost taste how the duck confit empanada would draw out the floral and spicy flavors of Bura Galerija.

    Now, after drinking my way up and down the Peljesac peninsula, I feel connected to Croatia. If ever I thought selling wine in New York was blasé or just a job, working with this set of bridge building wines has restored my enthusiasm tenfold. Plavac Mali, a true Croatian treasure, is one of the most exciting varieties we have access to. Though admittedly hard to pronounce, this grape outside the realm of the familiar invites you to become a part of its Aegean coastal culture.

    (We are very happy that Tess Rose joined the Blue Danube Wine team. Tess will represent our wines in New York.)

    We are at the Kabaj tasting for trade and press, held Thursday at the restaurant Terroir in Tribeca, NYC. Jean Michel and Kabaj’s sales manager, Tomo Ceh, were there to pour eight wines made in the hills of Goriska Brda hard against Slovenia’s border with Italy.

    I closed my eyes and tasted the light amber wine in my glass. The aroma was rich, of honey and sweet pollen. The wine was smooth, with ample body and a lactic topnote, like the smell of a great cheese shop, as well as a noticeable oxidation which, with the healthy acidity and slight tannin of the wine, gave its body rigor. Beneath was an elusive floral quality and light smoke. If I hadn’t known this wine was white, with my eyes closed I might have assumed it was a red with a little age on it—and that was Jean Michel’s point.

     “It’s red wine—only the color is white,” he says.

    The 2006 is the middle vintage of three white blends he is pouring that are made in Georgian clay amphoras buried in the ground following a 7,000-year-old method. Amfora is made from the indigenous Rebula (Ribolla Gialla), Sauvignonasse (Tocai Friulano), and Malvasia Istriana. The maceration and fermentation of these whites is ten months long, extracting tannins, deep color, and the flavors of wild yeast while intensifying further through the loss of 20% of the wine through evaporation.

    Kabaj’s non-amphora wines are also intense. Winemaking in this area of western Slovenia is characterized by long maceration for concentration and structure. Many who taste the wines may recognize the grapes from their knowledge of the Italian wines of Collio, but most don’t realize that Collio and Brda are the same place. Both words mean “hills,” and the vineyards cross borders without regard for nationality. (30% of Kabaj’s Sauvignonasse grapes grow in Italy.)

    Kabaj’s wines are Old World in style, with the still-tart acidity made for food, and the structure for aging. Tomo pours the 2007 Merlot and I ask when he would drink this herbaceous, smoky, slightly tannic red. His answer: “From 2013 to 2020”. It is easy to imagine the Cuvee Morel 2006 (60% Merlot, 18% each of Cabs Franc and Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot), a beautifully complex wine that tantalizes the senses with aromas of herbs, flowers and grasses, developing nuance upon nuance well into the twenty-teens.

    After the tasting, Stetson and I chat about what makes these wines stand apart. It is Brda and its winemaking traditions, the terroir of soil/fruit/yeast that the wines express, and Jean Michel’s careful guardianship in the winery. These are not “minimalist” wines, which can sometimes seem dirty and experimental, but they do possess a quality that I loosely call funky. Funky is a very good thing—it means I can taste the land, the fermentation process, a bit of oxidation maybe. The wines taste earthy more than fruity, and they have integrity.

    “Elegantly funky,” says Stetson. Perfectly stated.

    Jean-Michel and Tomo are flying now to California where they will be hosting a number of wine dinners and tasting events in Los Angeles and San Francisco starting Sunday, May 15 with a tasting at Silverlake Wine at 3pm. We hope to see many of you there.
You can read the full schedule of the Kabaj events on the new community site Slovenes in USA.

    Text by Katherine Camargo, DWS , photos by Holley Robbins.

    Please welcome Jean Michel of Kabaj when he makes his 1st step into an American Wine Bar: Terroir NY Tribeca, Thursday, May 12, 1-4pm. Jean will pour a selection of his finest wines for trade & media. R.S.V.P. required. On his trip from New York to Los Angeles Kabaj will meet and work with two James Beard Award nominees: The first is Chairman Paul Grieco of Terroir NY who was nominated for Excellence in Wine Service. We are very happy that Paul graciously agreed to host Kabaj for his first ever tasting in the United States at his renowned wine bar in Tribeca.

    It is an honor that the first wine dinner featuring the wines of Slovenian breakout Kabaj will take place at LA's iconic AOC. Paired with the cuisine of 2010 James Beard Award Nominee Suzanne Goin by the chef herself, this is a once only experience. The combination of Kabaj and AOC is deeper than great wine and great food.
The kitchen that French vigneron Jean Michel Morel and his wife Katja maintain at the Kabaj estate in Western Slovenia has a decidedly Provencal touch thanks to Jean's French roots. This elegant meal represents nothing less than a meeting of masters is also a cross cultural dialogue. The comprehensive line up of Kabaj wines will include 2 vintages of the estates benchmark "Amfora". This is sure to be one of the finest dinners we have yet been a part of. Please join us as we toast to them both this Monday, May 16th at 7pm at AOC. Please see the menu here.

    Watch a short & sweet video about Kabaj.

    

    The range of Krajančić's Pošip redefined the varietal to me. They were the deepest, most powerful and yet most elegant examples I had tasted. Each one was different, but always reflective of the site, the vintage and Luka's perspective. At the end he pulled out a sample of a 1 barrel production from an old patch of red Plavac vines, very rare on this white wine dominated island. It was inky, thick, explosively aromatic and deliciously savory and sweet. Though he produces no red wine commercially he clearly could. As the tasting winded down he casually asked if we could join them for lunch at his little beach house.

    

    We grabbed bread, a case of Pošip and made our way to what turned out to be a beach so beautiful I thought I might pop like a bubble. It was a lazy little building set among craggy rocks and pine trees the porch we ate on looked out on a bay of electric blue sea. There we ate local shrimp and sardines packed in local olive oil with local vegetables and just baked bread. We talked wine, philosophy, art, sex, listened to some of Luka's heartfelt poetry and even made a poem with him. We swam, basked in the sun, drank our fills of his Pošip and laughed our asses off. It was a day of dreams that I will relive every time I open up a bottle of his delicious Pošip or set eyes on a sea of electric blue.

    

    We are very excited that almost one year later Intrada, Luka ‘s premium Pošip is on its way to the U.S. It should be here shortly by the end of May.

    Also at the fair pouring were a number of Slovenian producers including our friends from Kabaj. We had made plans to stay at their estate in Goriška Brda which has excellent guest accommodations. Together over the next few days we sped around Slovenia visiting their friends whose wines they thought we would enjoy. On the way from Zagreb we stopped in the chilly, domed hills of the Bela Krajina region to taste electric Laški Rizling and very cool climate Modra Frankinja AKA Blaufränkisch. We drank the iron rich Vitovska and Teran of the Karst, sea tinged Malvasija and Refošk from Koper, Pinela in both light and powerful forms from the Vipava and a long list of Brda wines, too numerous to recount. Our stay at Kabaj gave us a sense for not just the Kabaj wines but the family themselves. We tasted many wines some experimental, some from barrel, some quite old and others yet to be released. One long night this lasted until 6am in the morning. To enjoy this close a perspective on such an interesting producer was an honor. After this we met with our great partner Silvo Črnko and his 16 year old daughter Tamara who is a certified diver and now on her way to become a pilot. Naturally happy, Silvo’s gift is his ability to turn that happiness into wine. The 2010 Jareninčan, like the 09, is pure refreshing joy. Snow gently fell while we enjoyed a familial meal with the Cvetko's on the vineyard hill named Kogl. We selected a rose of Pinot Noir and an elegant sparkling from the expansive carefully nurtured selection of estate wines they Franci makes to be added to the classic dry whites of theirs we have long sold. These plus new wines from both Batič and Kabaj are due in Mid April.

    From Slovenia we charged full bore into Hungary. Staying in Budapest next to the castle of Queen Maria Theresa, we took day trips to a number of important appellations. While in Budapest we spent time with our friends Gábor and Carolyn Bánfalvi who offer some of the best food and wine tours in Europe through their travel business "Taste of Hungary". Gábor introduced us to a number of excellent Forditas, an almost extinct “lesser” style of Tokaji we have been on the look-out for. We visited two volcanic wine regions back to back. Somlo, exclusively a white wine appellation and Eger which is almost exclusively red. Generally speaking the wines could not be more different. Somlo whites are big, gentle and lovely, while the reds from Eger are angular, sinewy and often demand aging. What they share is pronounced, often aromatic minerality and an infinite range of texture derived from the unique volcanic soils of each. Drawn to Somlo in part by the rare grape Juhfark we were equally struck by the Furmint, Hárslevelű and most of all Olaszrizling we tasted. In Eger we spent an evening with Dr. Janos Stumpf enjoying homemade wild venison sausage and a range of already delicious barrel samples. He is involved in a collaborative export project with Canadian Master Sommelier John Szábo called J&J. Their perfumed, muscular 2006 Kékfrankos from primly situated Eged vineyard will be coming to us soon. Taking little time to rest we managed to see both of Hungary’s major southerly red wine regions Szekszárd and Villány. After tasting the 2009 Eszterbauer Kadarka named Nagypám or Grandfather at Bistro Bock in Budapest last year we contacted Janos Eszterbauer and were lucky enough to buy a bit. Never met, only tasted one wine and it turned out to be one of the fastest selling for us, ever. Finally able to meet the family we discovered Eszterbauer is more than just great Kadarka. Just briefly seeing Villány we were happy we did not miss it. The final taste left in our mouths was Gere’s lovely new 2010 Rose and the sensational vintage specific Pinot Noir’s from the impassioned team at Vylyan.

    As we seem to always find at the end of these trip our partners and the quality of their wines exceeded our expectations. We are excited to share what we found with you and hope that the wines will inspire you to visit our friends who make them.