Above: The
aerial skyline
view of Budapest
at sunrise, with
Szechenyi Chain
Bridge, Matthias
Church and the
Parliament
of Hungary
us, and his accompanists. Nobody
spoke any English.
If my parents had never returned
from their day-long excursion to the
Tokaji wine district, perhaps I would
be speaking Hungarian today! Tokaji
was the reason for their absence,
and I have grown to understand
their reasons for leaving. inking
we'd be bored by the long journey
there, they deserted us to go on a
pilgrimage to discover the region
known for making one of the most
legendary wines in the world.
As great a capital as Budapest is,
with its spectacular architecture and
history, Hungary is better known
for its excellent array of wines. For
those of you my age, or senior, you
will doubtless remember the very
successful Hungarian wine called
Bull's Blood or Egri Bikavér.
It got a bad name because it became
so commercially successful but,
actually, red wines from Hungary
can be very fine indeed. It produces
wonderful dry white wines too,
especially from the Furmint grape.
Although it is only the famous
dessert wine, Tokaji, made from
the Aszú grape, which could
possibly entice a couple to risk the
abandonment of their children to
the communist regime.
Tokaji produces one of the most
exquisite sweet wines in the
world, to rival the very greatest
Trockenbeerenauslese wines from
Germany and the best Sauternes
from Bordeaux. ese Tokaji wines
vary in sweetness levels, resulting
from shrivelled grapes, the ultimate
being the Essencia which is made
from Aszú grapes which can only
be described as being beyond raisins
in ripeness. ey are hung and
very slowly allowed to drip any
remaining juices.
e Hungarian wine regions await
discovery and are oft overshadowed
by their European neighbours, but
they are by no means the only wine
regions to be discovered floating
down the Danube. e Danube is
the second longest river in Europe.
viking.com
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