Top 100 white wines of Eger
Discover the top 100 best white wines of Eger as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the white wines that are popular of Eger and the best vintages to taste in this region.
Discovering the wine region of Eger
Eger, in northeastern Hungary, is a wine region best known for its Egri Bikavér wine, popularly known as "Bull's Blood". Although Sweet, white Tokaji remains unrivaled as Hungary's most famous wine overall, Bikavér (Bull's Blood) is surely the country's most famous red.
The style – a Complex blend of several dark-skinned grapes – was first made in the late 19th Century, in Szekszard (200 kilometers/130 miles southwest of Eger). It rose to international fame in the 1970s, when the state-owned Egervin winery monopolized production of the style, and successfully promoted it on export markets.
The grapes that go into the robust Bikavér blend are Kadarka and Kekfrankos (typically the majority components), Zweigelt, Blauburger, Kekmedoc, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Pinot Noir. Wine laws introduced in 2005, just after Hungary joined the European Union, state that each of these varieties should be used to some extent in all Bikavér wines, and that none of them should constitute more than 50 percent of the Final blend. Good-quality Bikaver is Deep, purple-crimson in Color, with softish tannins a middleweight Body and plummy, Spicy aromatics.
Eger has a long history of wine marketing success, having shipped wines around Central Europe since the 13th Century.
The greatest interruption to its prolific wine output occurred when the Ottoman Turks invaded Hungary in the 14th Century; their Sharia law forbade the production and consumption of wine. When the Ottoman forces reached the town of Eger, they met with such fierce resistance that they thought the local people must have been strengthened with the blood of bulls (bikavér). And so a wine legend came into being.
White wines are made in Eger vineyards, although they rarely rival their red counterparts in terms of general appeal.
Discover the grape variety: Pinot gris
Pinot Gris is a grey grape variety mutated from Pinot Noir. It has its origins in Burgundy, where it is called pinot-beurot in reference to the colour of the grey robes worn by the monks of the region. Established in Alsace since the 17th century, pinot gris was called tokay until 2007. It is made up of bunches of small berries that vary in colour from pink to blue-grey. It is particularly well suited to the continental climate because it is resistant to the cold in winter and to spring frosts. This variety also likes dry limestone soils with plenty of sunshine in the summer. Pinot Gris is well suited to late harvesting or to the selection of noble grapes, depending on the year and the concentration of sugars in the berries. Pinot Gris wines are distinguished by their aromatic complexity of white fruits, mushrooms, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, etc., and their great finesse. In the Loire Valley, pinot gris is used in the Coteaux-d'Ancenis appellations. It gives dry or sweet wines with pear and peach aromas.
Food and wine pairing with a white wine of Eger
white wines from the region of Eger go well with generally quite well with dishes of rich fish (salmon, tuna etc), shellfish or vegetarian such as recipes of salmon steaks with soy sauce, shrimp in coconut milk curry or cream and tuna quiche.
Organoleptic analysis of white wine of Eger
On the nose in the region of Eger often reveals types of flavors of tree fruit, earth or spices and sometimes also flavors of floral, tropical fruit or citrus fruit.
