Do you ever have one of those nights where you look around the kitchen and realize you have the most random ingredients and no idea what to do with them? This was one of those nights. However, I happened to get an Eating Well magazine in the mail that day and while I was flipping through it, I found a recipe for acorn squash with cranberry compote and feta. Thanks to Thanksgiving and a random assortment of leftovers, I had exactly what I needed to make this dish and I had just the wine to pair it with.
Last week, I tried a Hidden Vineyards red wine from Austria. This week was another Hidden Vineyards wine, but it was a white from Hungary. While last week didn’t work out very well, I still had high hopes for this week. I’d also never tried a Zenit or a wine from Hungary. Turning what I thought was nothing in the fridge into a gourmet dish had me very excited.
Hungary suffered terribly from the plague, phylloxera. Then, Hungary was plagued with other tragedies. Hungary suffered greatly throughout both world wars and was then left under communist rule. Not being able to choose what you grow, can really hinder production, innovation, and renovation. Now, Hungary is working on making a comeback. So, stay tuned to your local wine store shelves for new offerings from this country and it’s 22 wine regions.
This wine was from Sapron, Hungary and sampled on December 2, 2019. I was listening to “Last Ones” by Lauryn Hill. The color was a very light gold and it struck me as very festive. I smelled honey and white flowers out of the glass. The body was on the heavier side, especially for a white, but the tannins were low. The tastes of lychee, melon, and tropical fruits rang true. It was very refreshing against the comfort food style of the leftover Thanksgiving dish. It was nice and light after the heaviness of the previous days.
I gave this wine a rating of 4. It really hit the spot after so much heavy wine and food from the preceding few days. I look forward to seeing more from Hungary!
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