Pinot Brut Nature – Nádas Borműhely

Pinot Gris is known as Szürkebarát in Hungarian, but many Hungarian winemakers are still hesitant to call their Pinot Gris wines by the local name due to its bad reputation as a bulk wine during Communist times. Whatever its name, this wine has no need to worry about any Szürkebarát baggage from the past. This is a wonderful sparkler, from a region which keeps getting better and better with its sparkling wines. Sparkling wine has been produced in this region since the first half of the 19th century, pioneered by Törley.

At the beginning of the 20th century Hungary was second only to France in sparkling wine production, and Hungarian pezsgő (sparkling wine) was exported all over Europe. In recent years producers in the Etyek region have gone all in on making sparkling wine of the highest quality, and they have achieved getting Etyeki sparkling wine named as Hungary’s first designated PDO for sparkling wines. So, Etyek is at the same time an old sparkling wine region, and an up-and-coming region! The area is one of Hungary’s coldest climate wine regions, and limestone soil is more predominant here than anywhere else in the country (similar to Champagne). This results in wines that are perfectly suited for sparkling wine, with fresh crisp acidity, chalky minerality, and restrained fruit. ​​Pinot Gris is a color mutation of the Pinot Noir grape—which explains why its berries can look more like red grapes than white ones, ranging in color from pink to red—and this wine marries the two. It is a blend of 98 percent Pinot Gris and two percent Pinot Noir, from 40 year-old vineyards. It was fermented half in steel tanks and half in oak barrels, before being bottled with zero dosage (brut nature), and then two years of bottle aging before release. It is an extremely elegant wine, with lively bubbles, fresh fruitiness, and a lingering toasty finish. Nádas only produces vintage sparkling wines, since his aim is to produce different wines every year, rather than following a template. Enjoy this wine with salty snacks, oysters, sushi, or charcuterie. Only 448 bottles made.