I’m kinda over Pinot Gris Ramato and then I come across a wine like this that makes me rethink everything. Yes, it has those classic notes of skin contact Pinot Gris (rose hip, red currant, candied strawberry) but it’s so fresh and clearly comes from a place — in this case the volcanic region of Hungary’s Lake Balaton — it’s flinty, with that volcanic licorice spice / allspice — and clearly from a cooler climate. The story behind the winemaker — a brave man in his 70s who has a former wine director for a Soviet Co-op, who now just wants to make good, natural wine his own way—and the label “Abeles” named for the Jewish family whose abandoned estate he found himself making wine out of before discovering an underground cellar and digging up the history of a family whose members were nearly all murdered during the Holocaust. It’s a just a great fucking wine without knowing the backstory; the backstory makes it profound.
I’m kinda over Pinot Gris Ramato and then I come across a wine like this that makes me rethink everything. Yes, it has those classic notes of skin contact Pinot Gris (rose hip, red currant, candied strawberry) but it’s so fresh and clearly comes from a place — in this case the volcanic region of Hungary’s Lake Balaton — it’s flinty, with that volcanic licorice spice / allspice — and clearly from a cooler climate. The story behind the winemaker — a brave man in his 70s who has a former wine director for a Soviet Co-op, who now just wants to make good, natural wine his own way—and the label “Abeles” named for the Jewish family whose abandoned estate he found himself making wine out of before discovering an underground cellar and digging up the history of a family whose members were nearly all murdered during the Holocaust. It’s a just a great fucking wine without knowing the backstory; the backstory makes it profound.
Sep 16th, 2023
