Hapsburg Hidden Treasures
11/15/2024
It's that wonderful time of the year when we receive our allocation of Moric's Hidden Treasures. One of Austria, and Europe's, most influential winemakers, Roland Velich (seen in the picture above) from Moric fame has wowed us with his interesting Hidden Treasures from neighboring Hungary. A collaboration initially with Attila Homona from Tokaj, Hidden Treasures has expanded to other winemakers and regions in Hungary. The aim? So that more people might get to experience the rare, dry, elegant white wines these winemakers craft so meticulously. As my colleague Eben Lillie so eloquently summed up in a previous article: " This project is truly noteworthy, as there is a wealth of history in the wine making regions of Hungary that has been forgotten in today's wine world. As Velich says in an interview, the area where his family's vines are was in Hungary until the 1920s, and the wines of Hungary were at one point the most famous in the world (usually 2 or 3 times more expensive than the finest Burgundy or Chateau Margaux!). Moreover, it is admirable to see him raising up the profile of up and coming winemakers in Hungary, who are following a similar philosophy as Roland, preserving local varieties and producing wines with indigenous yeast and minimal intervention." We are thrilled to offer you older vintages of these treasures including the 2017 Somlo with Tamas Kis and the 2021 Balaton with Philipp Oser of Villa Tolnay.
Meanwhile on the Austrian side of the border, Velich has partnered with several rising star young winemakers that Chambers has also been championing. The first is Hannes Schuster from Weingut Rosi Schuster whose St Laurent (a cousin of Pinot Noir) set the bar for Burgundian elegance. With Velich, they created a project called Jagini from a very old vineyard on the Hungarian border. We are pleased as punch to offer the 2017 vintage of this blockbuster Blaufrankisch.
The second is Stefan Wellanschitz of Kolfok. Kolfok means an unconventional thinker and Stefan's wines are no exceptions to that title, deviating from his family's more traditional style towards natural winemaking that highlights the terroir from his incredible high altitude vineyards on the Hungarian border. Unfortunately, their Hidden Treasures #5 hasn't arrived, so we are offering Stefan's Intracellular Orange Wine and his field blend of red and white grapes called All The Universe Together. KOLFOK INDEED!
-Giselle Hamburg
