Thursday was a very busy night. Besides hosting the Mookie Brando Concert at Treehugger Dan’s, Bottlehugger Ben and I had received VIP ticket’s to a wine tasting at Doblo Wine Merchants (on the corner of Dob u. and Hollo u.). Somehow I managed to attend both. Having informed Mookie that I would have to leave early, he was kind enough to sing some of my favorites at the start of his set, including Stevie Nick’s “Landslide” which makes me cry every time. Doblo is run by the sales manager of Hilltop Wines, David Popovits (see here for blog on Bitch Moan and Wine’s Hilltop wine tasting at Doblo). This night, his tasting featured Eszterbauer from Szekszard.  The first thing you noticed was that this guy has some good marketing going on. He has some beautiful brochures, stand-alone posters, and the labels are great. The labels are sepia-toned photographs of village life and wine making. If you place the labels of the boxes side-by-side, you can piece one big picture together.  It does not sound very exciting perhaps, but I thought it was pretty cool.  Unlike some recent wine tastings I have attended, there was also a spittoon, soda water, bread and crispy chicken bits to clean the pallet (however, a price list was missing). Well done David! Now for the wines:

• “No…Fiam” Chardonnay 2008 – this would have made a great Olaszrizling, but it’s a Chardonnay…Buy it if you like Olaszrizling, but not if you want a Chardonnay.

• “Orom” Szekszardi Kekfrankos –Kadarka Rose Cuvee 2008 -  unimpressive. The color is faded and there is no fruity explosion one comes to expect from a Rose.

• “Nagyapam” Szekszardi Kadarka  2008 – spicy, great color, good body, with (for me) an unpleasant meaty, maybe sausage aroma. Beyond the strong aroma and spiciness, I could not taste much.

• “Pinceatlag” Szekszardi Cuvee 2007 – a cuvee of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Kekfrankos, Pinot Noir and Kadarka. This smells like a Bikaver (which of course it basically is), a dark red wine. It is dominated slightly by the spicy Kadarka, which lingers. Time in a barrel would soften the acids. Good for Christmas.

• “Tuke” Szekszardi Bikaver 2007 – The last wine I tried before going back to the concert won the Pannon Bormustra 2009 Csucsbikaver award, along with the Vinagora 2009 gold medal. With its very nice aroma and slightly fruity flavor, it is a good Bikaver, but not quite very good. Strangely, neither the label nor the brochure mention what grapes are used in this cuvee.

Eszterbauer himself still has to understand that most of the people that come for wine tastings come for the wine and the company, not to hear someone droning on for 2 hours about the wine. If he adjusts the amount he speaks about his wine to just a couple sentences each, it would make for a more pleasant evening all around. Although I was frustrated by his speech, I was also embarrassed for him because all the people not showing any respect and speaking during his talk. He should have taken this as a sign.

Thanks David for the VIP tickets, the excellent space at Doblo, and for arranging this tasting. Learning by doing is what it is all about. Wine tasting is like teachers; if you get one good teacher in 100 count yourself lucky. But once you find a good wine or a good teacher, life is sweet.