Hungarian autumn flavours to accompany rosés

Autumn is here and though the season of summer heat and ice cold drinks is over there is no reason why the popularity of rosés should be on the wane. Rosés can bring back memories of summer and provide the perfect accompaniment for seasonal dishes. At Nagygombos Winery there is an unwavering belief that rosé is not just for one season either as a wine in its own rights or as a foil to various dishes.

Anna Takács-Barta the winemaker of Nagygombos Winery in the Mátra region has decided from the very beginning that she wanted to make rosés fit not only for spritzers but ones that embrace the more serious style of the French and Spanish rosé traditions offering a complete experience for tasters. The Mátra wine region with its Northern location boasts a cooler, well tempered climate ideal for producing flavoursome grapes with a slower, more balanced ripening period conducive to retaining lively and refreshing acidity.

Photo: Furmint Photo

Anna believes in natural winemaking. On the one hand grapes are farmed in an environmentally friendly way, on the other hand winemaking is not rushed, processes are given ample time to run their course.

Therefore Nagygombos rosés typically hit the shelves of stores no sooner than the end of spring.

The 2017 Rosé Cuvée is a blend of almost equal proportions of merlot and zweigelt and thanks to the round acidity made possible by the warm vintage this is an inviting wine rich in fruit aromas. The 2017 Gróf Grassalkovich Gamay Noir Rosé follows in the footsteps of the previous vintage: half of the wine made from this variety which is rarely seen in Hungary was aged in steel tanks while the other half in oak barrels. There is a fine balance between the more substantial and textured palate and the intense fruit flavours promising a longer than usual lifespan.

„The style I have chosen is close to one of Provencal and Spanish rosés. The weight, the creamy texture, the lush fruit and the fact that the winemaking process is allowed to unfold at its own pace means that they are wines not for just one season, so our customers don’t have to dispense with the rosé experience in autumn furthermore the wines go well with seasonal dishes. I love cooking and I consider it important to pick ingredients in season and if our rosés match the dishes then everything is ready for a perfect meal”, says Anna Takács-Barta.

Photo: Furmint Photo

Striving to find the right balance between wine and food Eszter Bodrogi, the author of Spice and Soul blog has created genuine autumn dishes to match the Nagygombos rosés. Beetroot soup with grape must and caramelized grapes and Indian chicken bites with exotic spices – these are not the kind of dishes one would choose to have with average rosés, however with the right wines you can be more adventurous and go for autumn flavours.

„When friends come together we tend to start conversations with wines and to my mind rosé is the right kind of wine for such casual gatherings. Beetroot soup with grape must is an excellent choice for meetings like this as it can be served hot, warm or even cold. So it’s not a problem if some of the guests arrive later or stop eating their soups while sipping their wines and return to it later. Tasting the Indian chicken bites along the Nagygombos rosés took even me by surprise as one would normally think that a sweet Tokaji is the right match for such a dish but if you scale down the spices it works really well with rosé. Filled in tiny baskets it can be carried around during conversations and eaten with a glass of wine in your other hand”, according to Eszter Bodrogi.

As we wrote before, the journalist of the British Independent, John Clarke recommends five surprisingly cheap Hungarian wines in his latest piece published on 20 August. Check out which Hungarian wines are the Brit author’s favourites.

Also, we wrote before, the wine-expert and writer of the British Independent, John Clarke, has praised Central-European wines. He underlines that, nowadays, it does not cost an arm and a leg to buy quality wine from the region. In his list, he mentions five Hungarian products, read HERE.