Wine Review Thummerer 2011 Cabernet Franc-Merlot

Not to long ago we had the pleasure of tasting a bunch of Hungarian wine at the Hungarian Wine Roadshow in San Francisco. As some of you know this can often lead to palate overload or thinking you like the wines more than you do because, well, the pretty girl is engaging, the expert tells a good story or the most likely culprit is after a dozen or so tastes in a friendly upbeat atmosphere you start to get a little buzzed (don't spit in front of the pretty girls, Mum says its not polite). The tasting was very nice and the representatives had voluminous amounts of information and there were some nice nibbles to for those who chose to indulge, and some truly indulged. Although we do really enjoy these tastings and as much value as they are in assessing new wines, it seems the real test is when you open a bottle at home on any given night to have with dinner. No pretense, no one to impress with your awe inspiring knowledge and tasting skills and the time to let the wine talk to you with the quiet to listen.

That being said we had arranged to get a few bottles chosen at random from the tasting list and plan to drink them at home with dinner and see how they fair. The first of these just happens to be going with our famous lamb chops (possibly an unfair expectation).

Provided information;
Cabernet Franc – Merlot – Lemberger (Blaufränkisch)
A dry, red wine grown in the Eger Wine Region.
Plantation: Guyot method of cultivation, 240 x 100 cm row and root stock width. Clay and mud soil; 5-7% slope; southern and south-western position; light basoid, brown soil. Vintage and production: early budding; dry, warm summer; early harvest.

Wine description: a friendly wine with fine tannins, matured to mellowness. Thanks to the two types of grape, spicy and fruity notes meet and are completed with discrete barrique ageing. Alcohol: 13.5%. Acidity: 4.9 g/l. Recommended at 16-18°C as an accompaniment to grilled meats or game.

Storage: Bottles should be laid flat and kept at a constant temperature in a cool, dry, well-ventilated space, away from sunlight.

This is a dry light bodied wine with a soft mouth feel and light fine tannin structure. The initial sips were a little dry dusty with a hint of cherry and some raspberry flavors and the although the tannins were quite well integrated at first they had a little sharpness. This went away after a few minutes of playing with it in the glass and once the wine was also introduced to salami, smoked Gouda and water crackers it really fell into place. Drinking with the lamb it was perhaps just a little light to be a perfect match but none the less very enjoyable and it held its own quite well.

This wine rates a 6 is **** and a wine we would share with almost anyone and most importantly,
one we would purchase.

Happy Wine Adventures,

Cheers,

WineWalkabout

Kiwi & Koala