The inside scoop on the first Ördögkatlan Wine Festival

The first Ördögkatlan Wine Festival was held August 7-9 at four separate locations: Kisharsány, Nagyharsány, Palkonya, and the Szoborpark (Statue Park). Personally, my favorite location was Kisharsány and there, the Vylyan Winery. Art and wine. This type of festival is quite a new conecpt for Vylyan, but in other parts of the world, the pairing of these two together has proven to be quite a match. In Napa Valley, Califonia, for example, it is quite common to see a exhibit or gallery on the grounds of the winery or even a museum where the art of wine making is introduced. And not to mention the music! A stage is set up, tables stand between the rows of grapes set with checkered tableclothes, a bottle of wine, picnickers sit on a blanket in the grass, and mellow jazz plays on stage. Vylyan and Bárka Theater did a wonderful job of bringing this same wonderful ambiance to our wine region. Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! ...

We arrived in Kisharsány at Vylyan's winery on Friday at about half past five. The view was absolutely beautiful from the terace atop Fekete-hegy. Set tables, parasols, and many, many people all clutching their wine glasses listening to the words of György Konrád. On the grounds were painted barrels and in front of them a wooden slab with the artist's name. (Pictures in the Photo Gallery at the top of this page.) On stage performing was the Eszter Takács duo. Vera, Vylyan's export/import distribution manager was kind enough to show us around the winery and host our wine tasting. About half an hour in to our wine tasting, Katlán's "devil" decided to take center stage and the sky turned grey and the torrential downpour began. Many ran for their cars, but we decided to find haven in the winery instead. Things were a bit on end in the beginning, but soon music could be heard rising up from the basement and people listened with enjoyment, drinking their glasses of wine.

After our last glass of wine and headed out for dinner to Fülemüle Csárda. Being the experienced dinner-goer that I am, I figured the place must be packed, and called ahead to reserve a table. Well, I needn't have as we were the only guests there. The waitress began with telling us that duck and goose liver were not on the menu. This disheartened me, but no worries, I next asked for the wine list. On the list were 24 bottles of wine--all very good ones from Villány--and at the bottom of the list read a quote "A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine." How true! I enthusiastically chose a wine from the list and was told that, unfortunately, that wine was out of stock. I chose another, and another, but they didn't have any of the wines I chose and finally, to make the selection easier, I decided to go another route and asked what types of wine had available. The waitress came back with a small piece of paper, on it five wines , from which I chose József Bock's 2006 Cabernet Franc. Now that we had chosen a wine in stock, the problem was that there was no price as the wine wasn't on the wine list. "Only the boss knows the price. He's the wine expert, but he isn't here," is what we were told. "But I'll call and ask him." A little bit later the waitress returned and suggested that we choose a Cabernet Franc from the wine list and price of that bottle will be the price we will be charged. We chose Tamás Lelovits' Franc for 4500 forints and finally our glasses were full! The reason for my telling you this is because it is quite sad that while, on one end, the region is trying to build a positive image of themselves, the other end is doing quite the opposite. Now honestly, why is it that in a popular restaurant on the border of Villány with a the wineries a few kilometers of it that they doesn't have the wines in stock?! But praise should also be given where praise is due. The dinner was good and portions were big.

After dinner we went back to Villány and visited one or two more wineries. Music was playing in the Hordó and we sat in for a glass of wine. I asked for a Mathias Irsai and instead I got a Polgár Reisling. I guess this was going to be just one of those days! We ended the day at Bock's, the only winery in Villány opened late, and then walked to our pension at Gere Tamás & Zsolt. Unfortunately, Villány doesn't have a very high standard when it comes to lodging. One of the city's regulations is that a lodging can have no more than 24 rooms. This is how they are trying to preserve the city's image. As a result, only pensions are available in Villány and, unfortunately, most of them are not high in quality. The rooms where we stayed were very simple, nothing luxurious, but at least there was a bathroom and shower in the room. And air conditioning. Granted, it was a bit loud and built-in under a table. I'm sure it was quite cold there. We paid 13000 forints for the room including breakfast. The next day we went to Palkonya and tried a few of their wines. Their cellars are kept in wonderful condition, perhaps one of Hungary's most beautiful row of cellars.

Back to the Ördögkatlan Festival, I think it is a wonderful idea that the surrounding areas of the Villány were the locations chosen. I hope that they will take on an even bigger role in the future. From what I hear, they plan on organizing this event every year and I wish them all the luck!