2016 Olaszrizling Szentanna

Olaszrizling is one of the most planted grapes in Hungary. It can make some of the best wines in the country and some of the absolute worst. Among a few others, this was a workhorse grape during the Soviet era of quantity over quality. Grown on Sár Hill, Levente’s 1.6 hectares of 60+ year old vines predate this era and have very small berries and thick skins. Despite the relatively short 1 day of maceration, there’s plenty of texture and concentration. There’s oiliness and honey meets umami quality from the barrel time, but there’s also plenty of fresh floral/herbal aromas of Olaszrizling because it spent 6 reductive months in tank prior to bottling. Good Olaszrizling shows fidelity to place, this wine can only come from Abasár.