FriciSpritz, the new take on Hungarian fröccs, makes its entrée – PHOTOS

There is every chance that at this summer’s Gere Jazz festival the crowd’s favourite is going to be the new FriciSpritz coming in several different flavours. Guests arriving in the garden of Gere Attila Winery can enjoy the Villány party spirit while sipping these fruity and refreshing drinks.

2010 was a rather challenging vintage for red wine makers however it was more than excellent to craft sparkling wines and Attila Gere had taken the opportunity to produce his first sparkling wine. The style he wished to emulate was that of the Italian frizzante and the name Frici is also a reflection of this inspiration being a humorous take on the original Italian. The base wine is made in stainless steel tanks, then CO2 is added and it is filtered in order to dissipate the raw bubbles and thus to achieve a creamy but still vivid texture.

In the blend of Rosé Frici the more intense, floral, rose scented and peppercorn spiced menoir is complemented by the suave fruit character of merlot.

With the white Frici the aim was not to make it too perfumy, too obvious, that is not to let királyleányka or muscat ottonel become overbearing but to come up with a blend where the inviting character goes hand in hand with elegance.

The Fricis have recently received a „facelift”. „The image we had in mind when looking for the new bottle and label design was something youthful and dynamic. We are very happy that compared to the older version the new outlook has retained the lightheartedness that characterizes our sparkling wines but that has been complemented by a bit of southern French, carefree, Côte d’Azur feel”, says Andrea Gere.

The idea of FriciSpritz is also connected to this update. The Gere Family has turned to Klára Koroknai for expert advice; having gained valuable experience in London and New York Mrs. Koroknai offers her services for large beverage companies. She was the one who provided assistance in coming up with a drink that is refreshing, chock full of delicious fruit and enticing herbs and can still be easily reproduced at home. She has created six different versions of spritz, but you can adapt the ingredients to your own taste and develop new versions.

For her creations she was looking for the kinds of fruits and herbs which are widely available so that anyone could make these drinks for their own pleasure or to entertain guests.

„I would gladly have the strawberry FriciSpritz everyday, it’s so addictive. It’s important to choose fruits of intensive flavours because that’s the best way to bring out the best from the mix with the bubbly. You crush the strawberries in the glass, if you want you can add some lemon juice and sugar to highlight the fruit flavour, then pour the Rosé Frici on it and also some soda water. It’s that simple. Whether you add some mint or basil leaves on top it’s up to you”, says Klára Koroknai about her current favourite spritz.