Karádi - Berger Winery

Tokaj Region

Zsolt Berger switched a life of financial journalism in Budapest for winemaking in the Tokaj region, and hasn’t looked back. He owns this winery, in the village of Erdőbénye, with wife Szilvia Karádi, who hails from the region. Located in an old villa which once belonged to an Armenian wine merchant, the couple has painstakingly restored the building, creating this winery from scratch. Karádi – Berger focuses on dry wines, like single varietal furmints from the Palandor and Narancsi vineyards. They are also one of the few wineries still regularly producing dry szamorodni, a wine which ferments under a layer of flor and is reminiscent of a fine Jura or a dry sherry.

Palandor Furmint, 2012

Furmint is the flagship grape of the Tokaj region. This dry, organic Furmint is from Palandor, a south-facing vineyard, which is located on the upper-third of the south-facing hill of Sajgó-hegy. It once belonged to the Diocese of Spiš, and was classified as a first growth in 1795 by Antal Szirmay. From organically cultivated old vines growing in volcanic rhyolite tuff mixed with clay. Thanks to the south-facing aspect, the grapes always reach full ripeness in this cooler, northern part of the Tokaj region, something which was easily achieved in the very warm 2012 vintage. Furmint is loved by Tokaj’s winemakers for its ability to be an articulator of terroir, and this fine example captures both notes of the grape and the place of growth. Intense aromas and flavors of Furmint’s trademark quince note, baked apple and pears with complex yeastiness. Full-bodied, juicy and round on the palate with stony minerality on the finish. Fermented and aged in (mainly) used 220-liter barrels. Excellent with white meat and fish. Made by Zsolt Berger, who switched a life of financial journalism in Budapest for winemaking and hasn’t looked back. He owns the winery with wife Szilvia Karádi, who hails from the region.

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