Vienna: Dinner at Steirereck: We shared turbot for two. Wine was Rudi Pichler Smaragd Weissen Kirchner Achleiten Riesling 2006. To me, it had a mineral base with fruitiness on top; beautifully blended and still strong after 2 hours. A/A+ This was my wine of the trip.
Stadthaus Eisvogel: Swordfish with Pichler Smaragd Terrassen GV 2007. Started out great, but faded somewhat in the glass after 2 hours. Still, at least a B+; would have been higher if it had lasted better.
Food at both restaurants expertly prepared; Eisvogel about half the price of Steirereck.
Blaufrankisch Hochacker 2008, Mittelburgenland, Paul Lehner. Interesting, but not my favorite red. B.
Budapest: Dinner at Mokka, one of two excellent restaurants we visited in Budapest. Had my second favorite wine here: a 2009 Szepsy Tokaj furmint 2009. A-; Would like to have more of this and the Pichler riesling.
Second restaurant was Tigris. Originally started by a wine club, they are also connected to a wine retailer and a tapas bar called DiVino. We both had saddle of rabbit and Weninger & Gere Villany region pinot noir 2008. The wine was a surprise to me; reminded me of a better Oregon pinot noir. It was not spicy like a Burgundy, but was nevertheless well integrated and tasty. B+
We also stopped by their wine cellar, and even though we did not buy anything to bring home, they gave us a taste of both a 5 puttonos new style Tokaj Aszu and a classical style 6 puttonos. I think they were Demeters, but did not write them down. Both were good, but different stylistically. The 6 was sweeter, but the 5 had more structure.
We also went to the wine bar to try several things by the glass with tapas. Frittman 2010 Irsai Oliver Kunsag region white. I only wrote down a B with no notes. Bolyki 2007 Bikaver red blend, Eger or egri region Villany 2008 Kiss Gabor cabernet sauvignon The former appealed to me more, but the latter to my wife. The cab sauv was soft and drinkable; the Bikaver more tannic. Both were B's to us. Marilyn Morrol 2010 from Mor. Mikoscabi Kiralyeanykla grape. Name parody like Marilyn Merlot, but wine was only fair. Lastly, we each had a glass of Demeter endre 2007 6 Puttonos Tokaj Aszu. I was disappointed; it seemed out of balance toward sweetness, without enough structure, and not in a league with the one tasted at the wine store. Maybe by then our taste buds were jaded.
Prague: We did try 4 different Czech wines just to see what they were like. None was memorable. They were Moravia pinot blanc 2009 pozdni sber Vyskocil, Moravia 2008 riesling pozdni sber Tichy, Moravia Cab Sauv
2009 puzdni sberby Cech, and 2010 Veltkinske zelene gruner veltliner (kabinet) by M. Sedlak.It was fun trying all these wines. Hungary was the biggest surprise. As I mentioned above, the 2 I would like to encounter again are the Pichler riesling and the Szepsy Tokaj furmint.
Don Eagle