Tokay wine in Hungary

[alanbalchin]

Hi - I'm planning a trip to Hungary (Budapest) and am thinking of spending a few days in the Tokay region.

Anyone got any tips on how to get there, which wineries accept visitors, where to stay etc!?

thanks!

[Poots]

Alan, i went to Tokay in May of last year. It was a wonderful trip and i highly reccomend it. I rented a car in Budapest and drove to Tokay. We stopped for one night in Eger, home of the Famous Egri Bikaver(Bull's Blood). The story goes that in the 1500s the fortress of Eger was under attack and the soldiers drank large quantities of the local red to brace themselves for battle. As they ran into battle with wine stained lips the enemy fled from the men who drank 'Bulls blood'. Also right outside of town is a series of Caves where locals age their wine and hold wine tastings, either for free or for very cheap.

From there to Tokay we asked no directions and blindly followed the squigly lines on the map until we came to the end of the road....literally. The road ended at a large river. Luckily there was an older man at the end as well who spoke some english. He quickly explained that a small ferry(more like a large raft) would come across soon and carry our 2 cars across(his and ours). When he found that we hadn't set up lodging yet he insisted on us following him into town and he would show us a nice place to stay. I'll go and look for the name but i can't promise anything. What i can tell you is it was a big surprise as it was inexpensive and very nice. In the center of the small town on the right hand side is all the landmarks i can give you. It had an indoor pool and sauna, and while the owners/workers didn't speak much(if any) english they were extremely nice.

Wine tasting was lots of fun. We went to Oremus, Diznoko, Degenfeld(i think), and maybe one or two others. I'd highly reccomend Oremus and Diznoko. I don't know if English is your only language, but Diznoko(at the time) could only give us a tour in Hungarian or French. Luckily i manage to know just enough french to butcher it and so could enjoy the tour. My friend was reduced to listening to my half-assed translations. We enjoyed a nice lunch of Fois Gras and Duck Confit at the restaurant at Diznoko. If you didn't know it Hungary is the land of inexpensive Fois.....i hope you like it. I would reccomend stopping by the tourism office in the town of Tokay to pick up some brochures and make sure you're aware of tasting times and availability. I would call ahead as well, which i know we did at at least 2 of the wineries. The caves of the wineries are truly magnificent. With crazy mold growing in profusion and fully mold covered bottles on display in the cellars. I hope you have a sweet tooth as you can easily go into insulin shock from all the stickies. Even though the Tokay Aszu is the star of the show you can also taste dry whites and some interesting unusual reds as well.

regards,

Brian

[TGullet]

Tokaj is great to visit. So is Eger.

Especially in Tokaj it would make your trip more interesting to know where to go. Some of the cellars are smaller and less commercial that you may see in Napa, or Mendoza, or ?

If you have the time and love reds: you may also wish to add Vilany near Pecs.

[tejon]

Budapest is absolutely beautiful! Tokay and Egri were two of the first wines I ever sampled as an adult, and I still make comparisons to them in my mind when tasting something new.

[Sneakeater]

It's hard to think of any wines that really compare to those two.