Hungary has at least twenty distinct wine regions available for growing grapes. Vineyards have been operating since the Great Roman times with many variations of grapes. With its seasonal extremes of cold winters and hot summers, the weather in the country is a large factor. This weather creates a diversity of soil conditions that allow wine makers to produce quite a variety of wines. Many people are unaware of the fact that it is the diversity of climate that accounts for the flavor of many of the fine wines in the world today.

The locally favored wine is called Tokay Aszu and has been consumed by the populace for hundreds of years. Today Tokay Aszu is one of the most popular dessert wines in the world and remains popular in Hungary with meals or desserts. Discovered in the middle of the 17th century by the aristocracy of Europe, Tokay Aszu was thought to have mystical healing power. This rumor helped spread the popularity of this sweet wine.

Another common food wine found in Hungary is known as Bull,s Blood. Also called Egri Bikaver, this wine takes its colloquial name from the rich dark red coloring. This sweet wine can go well with desserts but is also used with regular meals. First created in the 16th century, Bulls Blood remains popular to the present and is commonly found all over Hungary and other areas nearby.

If you ever visit Hungary, you should make a point to spend some time in Tokay which is in northeast Hungary. Just a few hours by train from Budapest, this region is a wine lover’s dream come true. The many wineries found in this area offer tours and tastings throughout their season from May through October. You will be able to see the ancient underground wine cellars and sample some fantastic Hungarian wines.

If you enjoy wine, you can’t go wrong with adding some Hungarian wines to your repertoire. With the ancient traditions that come close to rivaling that of France, Hungary continues to produce superior wines for every occasion. Whether it’s a bottle of Tokay Aszu to serve with your dessert menu or the rich Bulls Blood with a filet mignon, wines produced in Hungary will prove to be of high quality. As the world discovers Hungarian wine, you will be able to find more types in your local shops.

Hungary has a long tradition of wine making that goes back to the Romans and possibly earlier. The climate and soil is ideal for wine growing.

Communist rule did no harm to the traditional techniques of wine making in Hungary. It could even be argued that Communism preserved the old

ways better than in the West.

In France, and to some extent in Italy and Spain, the big labels dominate the market. But in Hungary there are many small producers. The market

is more like it was in France in the 1950s. It makes it more difficult to read but it means that there are always some serendipitous discoveries to

be made in Hungary.

There is a tremendous uniformity about New World wine and increasingly so from French wine. This is great for the supermarkets who want to

stock their shelves with a product that remains the same year in year out but it is very dull for the wine lover who wants to be adventurous.

Choosing Hungarian wines demands that you know something about the different regions and the types of wine they produce. There are at least

20 different regions in Hungary and many different varieties of grapes. This tends to produce a great range of wines that reflect the soil conditions

and climatic variations of the country.

Tokay Aszu has always been one of the most famous of Hungary’s wines. It became popular among European aristocrats in the seventeenth

century. Louis XIV called it the king of wines and Voltaire wrote a poem about it.

It was thought to have healing powers. Who knows whether that is true? The wonders of red wine are only just beginning to be investigated by

scientists. Whether it cures all ills or not this is one of the best Hungarian wines to try.

The long warm moist autumn in this region allows the grapes to ferment on the vine. This is known as the noble rot. It produces a characteristic

wine that is allowed to age in small casks in tunnels cut into the volcanic rock of the region.

Tokay wine has been called the ultimate desert wine. But it can also be drunk as an aperitif like sherry.