Cserszegi Fűszeres – Gál Winery

Cserszegi Fűszeres is the second most widely planted white grape in Hungary, and the most popular variety in the Kunság region, where this wine comes from. This is most likely Hungary’s most difficult to pronounce grape variety, but it’s a very easy wine to enjoy. Like Irsai Olivér, Cserszegi Fűszeres is an aromatic wine, with distinctive aromas of herbs, grass, acacia flowers, and ripe honeydew melon. It’s best when produced in a dry style, like this textbook Cserszegi Fűszeres. Cserszegi Fűszeres is a crossing of Irsai Olivér and Piros Tramini (Savagnin Rosé). It was developed in 1960 by Professor Károly Bakonyi, who aimed to produce an early-ripening variety that would withstand the winter cold. Created in Cserszegtomaj, near Keszthely on the northwestern shore of Lake Balaton, the grape’s name translates as ‘The spice of Cserszeg.’ Cserszegi Fűszeres is more full-bodied than its parent, Irsai Olivér, but is an overall a light and refreshing wine. Its strongest feature is its high acidity, which provides balance to its fruitiness, spiciness, and intense aromas. This wine has an underlying floral character, a vegetal side, and a myriad of flavors: chamomile, green apple, pear, asparagus, freshly cut grass, herbs, and honeydew melon. Its namesake spiciness includes notes of ginger, cloves, allspice, and mint. Aromatic wines such as this one, can be great matches with equally intensely aromatic foods like Thai, Mexican, or Indian. The Gál Winery is a family business, started by Éva and Csaba Gál, and now including their grown children. They cultivate more than 90 hectares of grapes, mostly in the Kunság region, which includes Csepel Island (a large Danube island south of Budapest, where grapes for this wine were grown, and grapes have been growing for centuries). In 2013 Éva Dignisz Gál was the first woman to be named winemaker of the year, a prestigious award given by the Hungarian Wine Academy.