Trip to the Izsák champagne factory

Central Europe's largest winery with processing unit and storage facilities, this factory has seen better days. During the communist years, the factory produced 15-16 million bottles a year, mostly for the Russian market. After the change in regime, ownership changed hands at first belonging to the producers then was bought by a German company, Ecker. Under Ecker they sold the Walton, Pompadour, Claudus, Viola, and the kids champagne brandnames, as well as the recipes, to the German-owned Henkel-Söhnlein who dominates the Hungarian market. ...

After selling the brandnames and recipes, they put the factory up for sale as well. Under the current ownership, they are working on developing new products and introducing them to the market, and it appears, with some success. The factory is truly emormous, and though they let their storage facilities and machines, the usage capacity is very low. The storage capacity is huge at almost 200,000 hektoliters.

The first wine we tasted was the trademarked Aranysárfehér. This variety can only be found here in Izsák. There are tradmarked vineyard areas like Villány and trademarked cuvées like "Bull's Blood", but this is the first Hungarian variety to be trademarked. The trademakred Aranysárfehér is made under very strict regulations. There is a committee checks the wines history--the grapes must be hand-picked--the quality of the grape and even the quality of the wine. Their hand is so strong, in fact, that they can test a bottle of wine already out in the market and remove them from the shelves if necessary.

Tasting notes:

Aranysárfehér 2006
Clean, pale yellow in colour, reflective. First notes of green apple appear with medium intensity. Sharp, high acidity with a short finish. Suggested with grilled foods, pork dishes, and sourkraut. You should try it for yourself, but many cannot image this with the latter. Its alcohol content is low at 11.5%. In my opinion, this is more of a cool thirst quencher on summer day. Suggested serving temperature: 8-10 degrees.

Rajnai Rizling 2007
One hundred twenty hectares of Rhine riesling grow in the area, most of which is processed in the Izsák factory. Primarily exported to Germany and South Korea. Aromas are true to its varietal character, with a sharp acid bite, and, in my opinion, a bit too much carbonation. Aromas promise more than the actual flavor, which is quite simple with an average finish. Newly bottled, it probably needs more time to settle and for the flavors to come together.

Chardonnay Organic Champagne, Extra Dry
The grapes are brought in from Eger and are processed, fermented, and stored here for two years. According to our guide, there is just one other company in Europe that produces organic champagne and that is in Champagne, France. In Hungary, it is difficult to come by organic grapes that are mainly grown in the southern Balaton region. Yellowish-green in color, the carbonation is at first intense and then settles into small, sharp bubbles that leisurely rise to the surface. Charonnay in flavor, dry, with nice acid spine. Suggested as an aperitif. Gold medal winner at the VinAgora.

Aranysárfehér Champagne
Made from 100% Aranysárfehér aged for just one year. Dry, nice acidity, intense, small bubbles, a little lacking in flavor with a short finish.

Champagne fermented from must
Made from must, the alcohol content is quite low at about 6-7%. Flavors of grape, must dominate. More an easy, refreshing drink than a serious champagne.