Nádas Borműhely, “Ösztön” Pinot Noir, 2022

Nádas Borműhely, Etyek-Buda Region

Wine has played an important role in the culture and commerce of Budapest for centuries, and continues to do so today. Etyek, as the closest wine-growing area to Budapest, is not only one of Hungary’s important wine regions, but a sort of backyard weekend wine destination for Budapest residents, who happily head there for festivals and wine tastings. The Etyek-Buda wine region—usually called Etyek, for short—is a small region (1,652 hectares of vineyards) with PDO status. The region stretches west from the Buda hills to the surroundings of Lake Velence (Hungary’s second largest lake, after the mighty Balaton) in the southwest and to slopes of the Gerecse hills in the northwest. This is a hilly area—not mountainous—but full of beautiful rolling hills. Etyek is primarily a white wine region, but winemakers also know that the region’s limestone soil and overall colder climate make it, arguably, Hungary’s best region to grow Pinot Noir. This wine is 100 percent Pinot Noir, which winemaker Szilárd Nádas sources from several different vineyards. Grapes were fermented with their skins in an open vat, with the cap regularly punched down until the end of fermentation. The wine was then aged for one year in old oak barrels. This wine has a vibrant, youthful, cranberry juice color. The vibrancy happily continues on the nose (which is fruity, with cherries and strawberries), and in the taste. The palate also has a hint of raspberry cordial, and some tannins and spiciness (cloves and black pepper) in the finish. This is a fun and well-balanced wine, which we could drink anytime. It’s a perfect wine for pizza, grilled meat, eggplant dishes, lamb, or duck. Only 1,088 bottles made.

Read About The Etyek-Buda Region

Nádas Borműhely 

Winemaker Szilárd Nádas and his wife, Veronika Rajnai, both horticultural engineers, are the team behind Nádas Borműhely (“Wine Workshop”). They both worked in Bordeaux, Yarra Valley, and Okanagan Valley, before starting their own winery. In 2011 they bought a crumbling 19th-century press house on Etyek’s Öreghegy (“Old Hill”), and they now have six hectares of vineyards—mainly the white varieties typical to Etyek, such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Szürkebarát (Pinot Gris), Királyleányka, and Zöldveltelíni (Grüner Veltliner), as well as some PInot Noir. With their newest plantation (finished in 2019), they also have some rarities, such as Viktória Gyöngye (Pearl of Victoria), Pinot Meunier, and Chenin Blanc. They produce up to 14,000 bottles annually, and receive many visitors. They like to experiment with local varieties, while also showing their international grape varieties in a different light, unique to the Etyek region.