2022 Heimann & Fiai Szekszárd Bikavér

Notes & Pairings

One of the few wines known from Hungary apart from Tokaj in classic wine literature is Bull’s Blood, aka Bikavér. Whether you subscribe to the legend of soldiers fortifying themselves with the dark wines from Eger which Ottoman troops mistook as drinking the blood from bulls, or soldiers once again fortifying themselves in Szekszárd against, you guessed it, Ottoman troops invading in 1552, the brand has survived quite a bit. Fun mythologies to be sure, but difficult to link to any imperial truths. There is however a famous poem from 1846 by János Garay entitled “Szegszárdi Bordal,” which noted how dark, spicy and rich the wines from Szkeszárd were. Regardless, this part of Southern Hungary does have a rich palette of reds to paint with. This also marks our very first Bikavér from anywhere because most are super international in style, and designed for tourists seeking big, over extracted and oaked reds. For instance, the minimum Kékfrankos is 45% by law, Heimann upped theirs to 65%. There is a little Merlot, Syrah and Cab Franc to help balance things out, but a lot of the spice, aromatics and acidity come from the Kadarka. Hand harvested, whole cluster pressed. fermented spontaneously, and aged in large oak barrels, this is a big red that doesn’t require a nap afterwards.

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