The most recent installment of the Bitch Moan and Wine Society was guaranteed to leave us legless, but somehow even with the best intentions, the combination of Tokaj wine, Scottish whisky and Dutch cheese did not leave me with a hangover. Following our tradition of promoting young wine makers and local food producers, we invited Geza Lenkey, and Szilvia Karádi and Zsolt Berger, along with Tom de Smet (Table Tom), and an extra special treat Patrick McMenamin with a selection of Scottish whisky. When I first came to Hungary 18 years ago I tried Tokaji <!-- pagebreak -->Szamorodni and Furmint, and hated it. Thinking that this is what Tokaji wines are like, not having had the aszu, it took me years to try Tokaji wines again. When I helped my friend Balazs' family harvest out in Sarospatak and had some aszu, it was an eye-openner. Therefore, it was with some trepidation that I approached some of the wines on offer last night. To my surprise, I liked the Hárslevelu the best. Table Tom provided a sheet for people to reflect their preferences for different combinations between his cheeses and the wines. I am still not a fan of young cheeses, but Tom's more aged cheeses, especially the Old Remeker and the Saanenhof old organic goat cheese were tops with me.Patrick from the Caledonia gave a moving introduction to whisky tasting. Patrick had 3 whiskys on offer last night, but has over 140 available and a special tasting room at the Caledonia Bar.

We tasted:
Lenkey Pinceszet
    * Tokaji Hárslevelu late harvest (dry). This is a harvest of the end of November from Holdvölgy, Kishegy, Vilmány, Bomboly, Becsek, the vineyards of Mád and Hegyfarok the vineyard of  Bodrogkeresztúr. Our wine was fermented in oak barrels and aged for 10 month until bottling. We recommend serving it at 10 °C. It is best with crispy-fried spicy pork or chicken dishes.
    * Tokaji Fordítás (sweet). We made our Fordítás as an experiment. We added the must of Hárslevelu from Bomboly wine-land to half of the aszú pulp and added the the new wine of Furmint from Hegyfarok to the other half of the aszú pulp. Following their fermentation in May, the two items were domesticated and matured together in oak casks. We recommend serving it at 12 °C.
    * Tokaji Aszú 5 puttonyos Hárslevelu (sweet). Making our aszú wine we added the new wine of Hárslevelu from Bomboly wine-land, Mád to the aszú pulp. Following its fermentation in March it was matured for 24 months in oak casks. We recommend serving it at 12°C for blue cheese and cold goose liver dishes.

Karadi & Berger
    * Szamorodni 2003 (dry). The well known Tokaj wine categories are capable of renewal. This has become clear in case of the Aszú wines, but now we would like to give the dry Szamorodni a chance as well. This wine was produced by the fine selection of the aszú grapes in 2003 and it was aged in oak barrels from the Zemplén region. The wine has nice light colors and its aromas are reminiscent of dried fruits, bread crust and peanuts. Its aftertaste is complex and lasts for long.
    * Selectio 2006 (sweet). We have been waiting for this wine for a long time. We have been planning to come up with a Tokaj wine which can show the concentrated nature of the Tokaj wines. Yet it is fascinating with its fresh  fruitiness. Its primary aroma reflects white peaches and pears and its taste has overtones of honey and fruit. Its sweetness, however, is counterbalanced by its frisky tannins. It contains 190 grams of sugar so it should be in the same league with the 'Aszú Esszencia' wines. However, it is much younger, fresh and dynamic. It is a "Selectio" because it has been made out of carefully selected aszú grapes soaked into high-quality fermenting must. It is a "Selectio" also because only 450 bottles have been produced and thus is available for a limited few.

Scottish whiskey tasting from the Kaledonia Pub

• Aberlour
• Bowmore Surf
• Auchentoshan

and Table Tom offered the following Dutch Cheeses
    * Stolwijk young, from the Stolwijk region near Gouda. Raw cowmilk, farmercheese.
    * Zoeterwoude old, from the Zoeterwoude region, also near Gouda. Raw cowmilk, farmercheese.
    * Remeker old, made of milk of Jersey cows in the Gelderland region, 100% organic farmercheese.
    * Saanenhof goat cheese old, from  100% organic goat farm in Noord-Brabant.

These wines and more than a thousand more are available at great discounted prices from the itch Moan and Wine Society. Membership costs 3000 forint, of which you can use 1500 on your first wine purchase. Contact us for details at wine@bitchmoanwine.com

Additional Information from Table Tom
As a part of the project ' A future for Hungarian cheese & dairy' , the Dutchman Tom de Smet (Table Tom) connects Dutch and Hungarian cheese makers and the Hungarian winemakers with each other to find out which tastes, flavors and structures fit well together. Especially wines from the Tokaj region seem to harmonize with the strong, spicy, for a long-matured Dutch artisan raw milk cheeses. But how can we make a development in Hungarian cheese culture so that in a few years also good, matured, authentic Hungarian cheeses can be made and will be eaten with their wines? It's not just a matter of importing cheese products from the Netherlands to Hungary. The supermarkets and big international dairy-industry already are doing that, even worse: they destroy good artisan and 'slowfood' producers and farmers. So it's time to connect regional producers and their organisations together to make a network in Europe. Bringin in Dutch raw milk farmer cheeses can help and stimulate the Hungarian cheesemakers to develop their own. Not only by copying, but as examples to teach them in producing, marketing and branding their products in regional, invironmental, natural conditions like the Dutch cheesemakers learned too in the last twenty years in the battle to head the big Dutch dairy industry. With the project 'A future for Hungarian cheese & dairy' Dutch organisations and companies are going to work together with the Hungarian ones to make Hungarian cheese & dairy culture stronger and connect the Dutch and Hungarian producers and their regions, terroirs in a challenging, but at the same time confusing, agrarian and food-producing new European context.

But no cheese without wine!
In Hungary, good farmers cheese is getting more and more popular. In the Netherlands, a growing amount of people are getting interested in Hungarian, mostly white, wines. One way to promote them there, is to connect them to Dutch cheeses. So both countries can come together in taste. During the Buda Hill Winefestival, September 2008, Tom de Smet and the Dutch cheese-trainer Fons van den Hout, already organized together with the Hungarian gastro-philosopher András Csizmádia and two of the best Hungarian cheese makers a seminar about Dutch cheese & Hungarian cheese in combination with Hungarian wines. Besides that, the goal was also to open the network and inform producers and customers about the project and the possibilities in Hungary to use their terroirs, knowledge and traditions for cheesemaking the same way as the do with their wines.  In the next year more tastings and presentations will be organized, in Hungary and in the Netherlands. Not only with Dutch cheeses, but also with the most promising cheeses from Hungary at this moment, because already more and more good quality cheese (especialy from goat- and ewe-milk) is made in Hungary!