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Hello! Welcome to As Drunk By Exotic Wine Travel, a weekly column where we feature wines that are worth noting. The reviews featured in this series may be written by either one or the both of us. The featured wines can be from obscure or well-known wine regions. We hope that these wine recommendations will keep you gastronomically curious and your palate invigorated!

Barta Öreg Király Dülo Mád 6 Puttonyos

In the winter of 2017, we were invited to attend the second installment of the Furmint Forum in Košice, Slovakia. It’s a festival and tasting showcasing both dry and sweet Furmints from Slovakia and Hungary. The morning before the event, Daniel Ercséy of WineSofa invited us for a blind tasting of Tokaji wines.

The tasting took place in Villa Cassa, the top wine bar & shop in Košice. Daniel invited a group of writers and enthusiasts from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia to taste the wines. He pulled the wines from his own cellar and served them to us blind.

 

 

All of the wines showed well. We tasted one dry and five sweet wines in the tasting flight. There was not a bad effort in the bunch and the room was silent during the tasting. Everyone took their time to focus on these thought-provoking wines.

At the end of the tasting, Daniel revealed the wines which all came from the same producer and the same vineyard.

Barta is a winery in the village of Mád within Tokaj – the most famous and arguably most renowned area for Tokaji wines. Barta owns ten hectares of vines in the Öreg Király Dülo which translates to the Old King’s vineyard. All the wines were superb but these two sweet Tokaji stood out above the rest.

• Barta, Öreg Király Dülo Mád 6 Puttonyos 2010

The 2010 vintage was not regarded as a great vintage in Tokaj. Daniel explained that many of the wines in this vintage suffer from extremely high levels of acidity (even by Tokaj standards). Ironically, the racing acidity is what makes this wine so delightful. The wine is a golden dandelion color. Flavors include gas, green apple, white pear, white flower, and mineral notes with a touch of honey. The fiery, powerful acidity raises the flavor profile from the mid-palate to finish. The Barta, Öreg Kiraly Dülo Mád 6 Puttonyos 2010 has crystalline flavors and a citrusy finish.

4.4/5

 

 

• Barta, Öreg Király Dülo Mád 6 Puttonyos 2008

The Barta, Öreg Kiraly Dülo Mád 6 Puttonyos 2008 left everyone breathless. There were lots of “ooohs” and “aaahs” once this wine started hitting everyone’s palates. The wines is golden in color with beautiful notes of fall leaves, dried apricots, and citrus notes. This has a good mix of dried fruit, fresh fruit, and aged notes. This has layers of flavor and a long finish. The acidity isn’t overly powerful next to the 2010 but it’s still uber complex and brilliant. This wine is what makes great Tokaji so enjoyable and hair-raising. 

4.7/5

(You can find out more about our scoring system on the START HERE page.)

 

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The ideas expressed in this article are personal opinions and are not associated with any sponsors or business promotions. Thanks to Villa Cassa for hosting the tasting.