And so it begins...

My crazy #harvest2022 adventure is under way.

I plan to make six wines in four countries in one vintage.

I know my limitations as a winemaker, so I am teaming up with people who know what they are doing. But I will be encouraging them to experiment or try something different – perhaps a technique that I’ve picked up from writing the winemaker interviews for Canopy.

The first wine is an unusual méthode traditionnelle featuring a unique blend of a disease-resistant variety and a grape that’s better known for producing still wines.

For this experiment, I’ve come to an up-and-coming sparkling wine region – Etyek-Buda, about 30km west of Hungary’s capital, Budapest. Etyek-Buda is Hungary’s first PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) for sparkling wines, and the first releases of ‘Etyeki Pezsgő’ are due in 2023, from the 2020 vintage.

The winemakers behind the Etyeki Pezsgő wines are trying to rebuild the reputation of Hungarian fizz and restore the beautiful town of Etyek to its place among the great wine capitals. József Törley was the first to recognise the region’s potential after returning from an apprenticeship at Louis Roederer in Reims at the end of the 19th century. He realised this cool region – with its limestone soils – had a good deal in common with the Champagne area and set up a winery for sparkling wine production in Budafok, south of Budapest. The business grew rapidly and Törley exported his wines around the world, setting up warehouses in Hamburg, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Paris to cope with demand from Germany, Scandinavia and France!

Two world wars, nationalisation and a switch in focus to high quantities for the Russian market erased the region’s reputation. But, since the fall of the Iron Curtain, there have been swift changes in winemaking in Etyek, with a return to private and family winemaking enterprises and renewed interest in producing high-quality sparkling wines.

My favourite wine from the region so far is Nádas Borműhely’s GV Brut Nature 2019 – 100% Grüner Veltliner, with 30% fermented in barrels. I love the delicately spicy, almost peppery finish.

This wine meets two of the new PDO’s strict criteria:

• Traditional method wines with a maximum dosage of 12g/L of sugar;

• Minimum of 24 months’ ageing.

But it fails on the crucial third point:

• Grüner Veltliner is not one of the four permitted grape varieties for Etyeki Pezsgő. Although it’s one of the 40 authorised varieties grown in the region, the PDO regulations have restricted the permitted varieties to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc.

Tamás Hernyák, of Etyek family winery Hernyák Estate and one of the driving forces behind the PDO application, admits that changes to the permitted varieties are possible in the future but these four are “a solid foundation, a good starting point”.

They want the region to become known for sparkling wines with medium intensity aromas of biscuit, roasted nuts and breadcrust, an elegant fruitiness on the palate, harmonious acidity, creamy texture and velvety bubbles.

That’s what I’m aiming for with my wine, but with less traditional grape varieties…

Before Törley opened his winery in 1882, the main grape varieties in the region were Kadarka, Dinka, Gohér, Rakszőlő, Hárslevelű, Mézes Fehér, and Sárfehér. By the mid-1970s, the key varieties were Mézes Fehér, Ezerjó, Hárslevelű and Olaszrizling (Welschriesling), with the Department of Viticulture of the University of Horticulture adding Chardonnay, Királyleányka, Rizlingszilváni, and Zöld veltelini (Grüner Veltliner). Another influx of new varieties came to the region in the 1980s, with large-scale plantings of Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Irsai Olivér, Riesling, Muscat Ottonel and more Olazsrizling. There were also experimental plantings of Hungarian-bred grape varieties including Cserszegi fűszeres, Zenit, Zefír, Zengő, Karát, Mátra Muscat, and Viktória Gyöngye.

As well as using barrel- and tank-fermented Grüner Veltliner in my sparkling wine, I’m also going to use one of these Hungarian hybrids.

The winemaker behind my favourite Grüner Veltliner sparkling wine, Szilárd Nádas, also mentioned that he made a sparkling wine from Viktória Gyöngye, which translates as Pearl of Victoria. It’s not a grape I’ve come across before and a quick search on the internet revealed… absolutely nothing. I was intrigued.

This is what Pearl of Victoria looks like in the vineyard that Szilárd rents from Törley, Hungary’s largest sparkling wine producer. It has large clusters and berries, and the unusual feature is that the berries turn white and crunchy when ripe.

Szilárd tells me this white grape variety is a crossing of Seyve-Villard 12375 and table grape Pearl of Csaba. It was selected in 1966 and registered in 1995. It can also be found in Hungary’s Kunsági and Egri regions. Szilárd says he uses it because it was bred for sparkling wines and is resistant to fungal diseases and frost.

He has only sprayed the Pearl of Victoria vines four times this year, while his other varieties have received seven treatments. “It’s a very good variety,” he says, before outlining its many advantages: “It’s easy to grow, easy to produce, it’s very stable. If I could, I would produce two tanks but, at the moment, people have to know about it.”

Challenge accepted.

Szilárd says that his former employer, Törley, uses it in some blends. In fact, my Pearl of Victoria comes from the same plot of 32-year-old vines – probably the largest Viktória Gyöngye vineyard in the world: a whopping 1.5ha.

But, as far as he knows, he’s the only one producing a varietal sparkling wine from it.

“This variety is not listed in the region as a grape, so I cannot use the name of the village, I cannot use the name of the region on my labels. I don’t fucking care. Is it good or not? I sell 70% here,” he says, as we stand in his cellar, which dates from 1879. “So people will believe me or the taste.”

The large Pearl of Victoria berries for his varietal and my blend were picked five days apart because the harvest was interrupted by heavy rain. The second picking, with higher potential alcohol and lower acidity, was added to the tank containing the first when it had nearly finished fermenting.

“The first pick was like 9% potential alcohol. That’s why we added the second picking, which had higher sugar levels,” he says.

As we taste the juice, Szilárd comments on the strange vintage – explaining that he’s normally finished picking in four days but this year the harvest will continue for four weeks. His wife Veronika and a small team of pickers were out bringing in the last of the Grüner (at 11% potential alcohol) when I arrived.

The first picking of Grüner, hand-harvested at 9% potential alcohol, was frothing nicely as I checked the temperature (18°C).

Looking for reassurance that I’m not completely crazy in trying to blend these two varieties, I ask Szilárd why he doesn’t do it and only makes varietal wines.

“Blends are always cheap,” he replies. “In this place you cannot produce anything cheap because all the production prices are triple the big ones, so I have to show very different products than the others and that’s how we could win little segments of the market.”

Established in 2011, Nádas Borműhely produces 10,000-12,000 bottles of wine a year from vineyards around the village of Etyek. His PDO wine will be a blanc de blanc, from Chardonnay, aged for at least 24 months.

After tasting the Királyleányka and Pinot Gris must, Szilárd pours me some Zenit, one of the other experimental varieties introduced to the area in the 1980s. Szilárd plans to make a sparkling wine from it this year and offers me some for my base wine. I consider it for a moment.

The early-ripening Zenit – a 1950s crossing of Ezerjó with Bouvier – performs outstandingly well in Etyek and was one of the few success stories in the disastrous 2014 vintage. Although a Grüner, Pearl of Victoria and Zenit blend would be equally unique, I’m wedded to the vision of a Grüner-Viktória Gyöngye blend. I have this gut feeling it’s what the world is waiting for. We’ll see in 24 months or so…

‘I have this gut feeling it’s what the world is waiting for’

The word ‘unique’ is often overused and wrongly appropriated. But I think it’s accurate for my first sparkling wine.

As I leave Etyek for my next stop, I drive past the Viktória Gyöngye vineyard and notice, on the other side of the road, the huge film studio which has caused some people to nickname the town ‘Etyekwood’. I smile to myself: my grapes came from the same hill. It’s all the convincing I need that my blend is going to be a blockbuster. And frankly my dear, if the world is not waiting for it, I don’t give a damn. I’m already having fun making it and learning from Szilárd.

Creating a unique base wine

I return to Hungary to craft the blend for the second fermentation in bottles…

Winemaker Szilárd Nádas greets me with the exciting news that a Michelin-starred restaurant in Hungary has requested a sample of his 2018 Pearl of Victoria sparkling wine.

“They want something nobody else has” and Szilárd’s Nádas Borműhely is the only winery in the world producing a classic-method sparkling wine from Viktória Gyöngye, a Hungarian crossing of Seyve-Villard 12375 and table grape Pearl of Csaba.

Szilárd shows me into his cellar, which dates from 1879. He takes me through all his base wines, as I’ve come here to put a blend together for my first sparkling wine.

The wines have completed their fermentations, been racked off the gross lees and have had some SO2 added.

The Chardonnay and Pinot Gris taste amazing and are destined for Nádas Borműhely’s Etyeki Pezsgő (the collective name for top sparkling wines from Etyek-Buda, Hungary’s first PDO for sparkling wines). Although Szilárd usually makes varietals, he is barrel-fermenting and blending these two varieties – two of the four grapes permitted for Etyeki Pezsgő – to create his new flagship sparkling wine. “We choose the two best barrels for the blend. That will be our crown wine,” he says.

All the base wines taste great. When I raise my concerns about my ability to blend a good base wine, Szilárd reassures me: “If the base wines are good, the sparkling wine will be good.”

Although I could be like a child in a sweet shop and take a bit of everything, I am wedded to the idea of producing the world’s first sparkling wine made from Viktória Gyöngye and Grüner Veltliner. It’s what I came here for at the beginning of September, when my crazy #harvest2022 adventure began.

Szilárd (above) pours me the ’22 Pearl of Victoria sparkling base. “It’s beautiful,” he says with a smile as he hands me the glass.

I agree. I’m genuinely surprised by how delectable an unknown grape variety can be. “That’s my favourite sparkling base of the year,” Szilárd adds.

It has “the perfect” amount of alcohol for a base wine (10.16%), “beautiful, nice big acidity” (8.59g/L) and a pH of 2.88.

The aroma is particularly intense because the wine is still cloudy.

The Pearl of Victoria, I think, tastes fantastic as a base wine. It’s got crispy apple aromas and flavours. It’s a real revelation. The Grüner in oak is on the edge of being a lovely still wine. The Grüner in stainless steel is also mouth-wateringly appetising. They both have pear aromas and flavours, with notes of cinnamon in the barrel-fermented version (which has higher alcohol and slightly lower acidity, probably as a result of the yeasts). But will the apples and pears complement each other? Will the sum of the parts be greater than the parts themselves? Is there a reason they aren’t considered natural blending partners?

Szilárd puts me on the spot and asks what blend I had in mind. I pluck some figures from thin air: 60% Pearl of Victoria (because I was so impressed with the flavours of the base wine), 20% Grüner from the tank and 20% Grüner from the barrel. “If there is a little bit of oaky part, that’s always good,” Szilárd nods.

We taste the blend. Something is missing.

“I would put more barrel,” Szilárd declares.

I suggest 60% Grüner and 40% Pearl of Victoria.

Szilárd seems inspired as he takes a 100ml measuring cylinder to the tanks again. He returns with a blend that’s 50% Pearl of Victoria, 25% Grüner from the barrel and 25% Grüner from the tank. This version sings. There’s no other word for it. Like the Grüner from the barrel, it’s on the edge of being a good still wine. “You can feel the barrel,” Szilárd says. “It’s not too much, it’s quite elegant. I prefer this.”

It’s balanced and has a long finish. I can imagine it with bubbles and more autolytic influence.

“Acidity is good, alcohol level is good, nice flavours. I like it,” he adds.

We continue to sip our samples.

“Very fresh acidity, very citrusy. The flavours of both (varieties),” Szilárd concludes.

“It’s a blend I have never done.”

I’ve only been in the cellar 40 minutes and we’ve come up with the blend at the second time of sampling. I feel like we should go through a few more options but Szilárd is so excited by this blend’s potential that I can’t suggest a change. We decide that we’ll leave the wines where they are for another couple of months to clarify naturally and also so the Grüner can soak up a little more structure from the oak. The wine in the barrel will be stirred every other week “for more contact with the lees”.

There is only one barrel of barrel-fermented Grüner, so Szilárd has to check that he has enough left for his own Grüner sparkling wine. It works out fine. He can produce 600 bottles for me. He will put the blend in bottles for the second fermentation in the spring (after pruning).

After ten minutes discussing the next steps, we raise our glasses and toast each other. The Pearl of Victoria aromas are beginning to show… “It’s beautiful. I could drink it now,” Szilárd says.

A few weeks later I call him to check on the wine’s progress. Szilárd tells me the three different wines have now been blended and, when the cellar warms up to 10°C, he will add some Bentonite to clarify the wine, then do the first filtration.

I ask him about the Michelin-starred restaurant. “The sommelier loved it,” he replies, “but there was pressure by the owner, so they had to choose a Prosecco!”