CLUBHOUSE | LIQUID ASSETS
TOKAJI MAD-NESS RICHARD SUTTON, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ARMIT WINES HONG KONG, WRITES ABOUT THE UNIQUENESS OF HOLDVÖLGY, A TRULY WORLD-CLASS WINERY IN NORTHEASTERN HUNGARY.
H
oldvölgy, Hungarian for Valley of the Moon, has been an absolutely thrilling discover y for me. The likes of Bordeaux, Burgundy and Barolo might be the most popular areas of our portfolio but every now and again something unique and individual comes along that is just too good to miss out on. T he Tok aji wine re gion of northeastern Hungary is famed for its sweet dessert wines. The wine culture there is steeped in history – lauded by such luminaries as The picturesque Holdvölgy winery; a bottle of Culture Russian Emperor Peter the Great, and (left), a two-time winner of Hungarian Wine of the Year composers Brahms and Schubert. Holdvölgy winery (pronounced ’Hold-vudge’) started off as a heart-felt gesture, the presence of their wines in the Hong Kong and a birthday gift of vineyards from owner Pascal Demko's mother to her husband, Asian markets. Pascal even discovered the pairing that has now ballooned into the most exciting wine project in Hungary. Pascal of his wines with some of our local Cantonese was entrusted by his mother to find vines for his father in Tokaji, where he had long dishes to great satisfaction. Prices range from HK$209 per bottle for the dry worked, and during the course of his search became enthralled by the quality and Furmint ‘Meditation’, to HK$749 per half bottle for potential of the region. He ended up with 25 hectares of vines on volcanic soil in the wonderfully-named the exquisite top-of-the-range Aszu 2007 ‘Culture’. commune of Mad, wherein lie all of the originally classified Crus of the region. Pascal The latter is a deep bright gold colour, a totally and his team, including French winemaker Stéphanie Berecz, who received her earlier beguiling plethora of flavours, incredibly intense training at Château Dubourdieu in Bordeaux, are making some of the most precise and rich yet so precise. Deep vivid characteristics of dried peach, crystallised citrus, orange blossom and quality-driven wines in the country today. The keys to quality here are an acute understanding of the varying terroirs in the honey, apricot and Seville orange. It contains 174g/ famous Mad basin; hand-tending and harvesting the vines and a careful parcel by l of residual sugar but with more than enough parcel selection. They use small steel tanks to accommodate the separate vinification depth and freshness to carry it off. Plaudits from the wine professionals are of 19 different parcels across seven separate vineyard Crus. Only wild yeasts are used, the dry wines are fermented and aged mainly in steel with some used oak, while following thick and fast. The South China Morning the sweet wines are aged in a mix of French and Hungarian oak in their vast two- Post's wine critic Sarah Wong described the Holdvolgy range as "precise" and "elegant". The kilometre network of centuries-old cellars split over three levels. As the Hunagarian grape varieties such as Furmint and Harslevlu are not well- Culture 2007 was voted Hungarian Wine of the known worldwide, and moreover are difficult to pronounce, Demko has chosen to Year for the second year running in 2013 (Culture brand the wines under names which are more expressive of the style of each wine: 2006 also won in 2012) at the recent prestigious Mediation, Expression, Intuition, Eloquence, Signature and Culture. The labelling, Pannon Wine Challenge, where the judges designed in Paris and London, is modern and classy – a reflection of the luxury brand included Stephen Tanzer, Tim Atkin MW and Isa Bal MS, Sommelier at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck. that Demko is building. Production levels are tiny, and the wines are exclusively available from just two For an opportunity to discover these extraordinary agents worldwide: Justerini and Brooks in London and Armit Wines in Hong Kong. wines for yourself while stocks last, contact Armit Wines Pascal and his sister Natália, who heads up their marketing, are very excited about Hong Kong on 3796 7191 or wine@armitwines.hk
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HK GOLFER・JUL 2013
HKGOLFER.COM