February 25, 2006
Eger in Tokaj, Hungary - how to find good wine on vacation
The Tokaj wine region is located 125 miles east of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. I never actually made it to the twon of Tokaj, but I did go to Eger, which is in the Tokaj wine region. Here's some advice on how to avoid the crappy tourist wine in Eger and find the real wine while your on vacation.
Tokaj is a very sweet desert wine. Sweet wines are not popular with everyone, but if you like sweet wines Tokaj is not to be missed. Eger is a popular spot to taste wine and it is only 37 miles from Budapest. You can travel down to what's known as the "Valley of the Beautiful Ladies". The valley consists of a few narrow streets and a few pinsze (the spelling might be pincze – I don’t remember) where you can purchase wine by the glass, bottle or bog (the wine is taken directly from the barrel and put into a plastic bottlelike a soda bottle).
The wine you'll probably be buying Eger is the legendary Hungarian "Bull's blood". There are commercial wine cellars all over the place but the catch is: it's the crappiest wine in the whole country. I've talked to so many tourists who have come home and complained about the awful wine in the famous Tokaj region.
While in Eger, I saw a man standing outside some private wine cellars and I asked him in my broken Hungarian, "Where is the best wine?" I had some of the best wine I’ve ever had in his private cellar. Other than "Bull’s blood", try to taste some Kekfrankos and Riesling. The Rieslings aren't typical because they're very dry. They’re also delicious. Any smaller town should have a commercial pinsze (the spelling might be pincze) where they serve decent wine at a few forint per decalitre. It might even say "pinsze". If you want to find one just ask someone. "Hol van yo bor?" – “where is good wine”? It worked for me.
By the way, you don’t have to drink wine all day, every day while in Eger. Eger has (or is near) medieval castles, 16th and 17th century mansions, churches, and historical villages and towns with great folk art.
Posted by James Trotta at February 25, 2006 11:57 PM