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Restaurant Hiakai 20190313_173010

20190313_173010

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Restaurant Hiakai

Enikö Dub July 22, 2019 0

While we were in New Zealand, we were looking for one special place to visit in Wellington,...

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🍇 GRAPE TALK: EPISODE 42: Viognier. The most aroma

🍇 GRAPE TALK: EPISODE 42: Viognier. The most aromatic white grape you might still be overlooking. Let’s break down why this grape is so unique. ⬇️

☝️Save this post for your wine studies and the next time you see Viognier on a wine list!

1️⃣Viognier is most closely linked to the northern Rhône Valley, especially the famous appellation Condrieu, where it is the only permitted grape. But the story almost ended there. By 1965 the variety was nearly extinct — only a handful of vineyards remained. Today it has staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in the wine world and is now planted globally.

2️⃣Viognier is famous for its powerful aromatics, often described as: apricot and ripe peach, honeysuckle and orange blossom, violets and chamomile, sometimes honey or herbs. These aromas come from naturally high levels of aromatic compounds also found in grapes like Muscat and Riesling.

3️⃣Viognier has a reputation among growers for being difficult. Yields are naturally low and unpredictable, and the harvest window is extremely narrow. Pick it too early and the wine loses its famous aromatics. Pick it too late and it becomes oily, alcoholic and flat.

4️⃣Here’s a detail many wine lovers don’t know: in the Côte-Rôtie appellation, Viognier can be co-fermented with Syrah. Even a small percentage can enhance perfume, texture and colour stability in the red wine — a classic Rhône technique used by producers around the world today.

👉 Viognier might be famous in the Rhône, but it’s now grown everywhere from Australia to California to Italy. And in the right hands, it can produce some of the most captivating white wines you’ll ever smell.

What’s your experience with Viognier — love the aromatics or prefer something more restrained?🍷

#GrapeTalk #Viognier #WineEducation #WineKnowledge #WineStudies

FRENCH GRAPE THAT CONQUERED PIEDMONT.🍇 Of course i

FRENCH GRAPE THAT CONQUERED PIEDMONT.🍇 Of course it didn’t take over Barbera or Nebbiolo, but getting it classified as Piemonte Viognier DOC is already a big deal. ⬇️

📍I talked about the tasting notes in the video — and why Viognier🍇 is my favourite international white variety — so here are a few details about this bottle if you’re a wine geek like me.

👉 Lipiai comes from a hill in Vaglio Serra in Alto Monferrato🇮🇹, a plateau historically planted with white grapes. The name itself refers to the traditional gioco della lippa, a simple stick game children used to play there — a small local story that perfectly reflects the spirit of the wine: light, convivial and made to be shared.

☝️The grapes are harvested at the beginning of September, usually in the morning so they reach the winery cool and fresh. Whole bunches are gently pressed and the clear must ferments very slowly in stainless steel at 15–17°C for about 20 days, preserving Viognier’s aromatic intensity. After fermentation the wine rests for five months in concrete, followed by around three months before release.🍾

🍷This isn’t my first bottle from Vinchio Vaglio @vinchiovaglio — and probably not the last either. Every time I taste something from them, I end up curious to see what else they are doing.

Have you ever come across Viognier from Piedmont? 🍷

#italianwine #piemontewine #viognier #winegeek

2015 IN BURGENLAND. 🍷Some vintages you taste once

2015 IN BURGENLAND. 🍷Some vintages you taste once and remember for a long time. ⬇️

Last summer at @rotweinfestival I had the chance to revisit the 2015 vintage in Burgenland together with Christian Zechmeister from @wein_burgenland — and nearly ten years later these wines are still full of life.

☝️The tasting focused mainly on Blaufränkisch and powerful red blends, especially from Mittelburgenland — often called Blaufränkischland for a reason. Warm conditions, perfectly ripe grapes and a calm harvest created wines with deep fruit, vibrant acidity and serious ageing potential.

🍷Some of the wines that really stood out for me:

🔹 ARGO 2015 – Weingut Grenzlandhof Reumann @grenzlandhof_reumann
🔹 Pentagon 2015 – Weingut Pfneisl @weingut.lisa.pfneisl
🔹 Merlot Reserve 2015 – Weingut K+K Kirnbauer @weingut_kk_kirnbauer
🔹 Blaufränkisch Ried Goldberg Reserve 2015 – Weingut Silvia Heinrich @weingutsilviaheinrich
🔹 Blaufränkisch Hochberc 2015 – Weingut Gesellmann @weingutgesellmann

Dark berries, chocolate, peppery spices, powerful tannins — but also freshness and elegance. Exactly the kind of wines that remind you why Blaufränkisch is one of the most exciting red grapes in Central Europe.

👉 I wrote a full article about the 2015 vintage in Burgenland, the story of red wines in the region, and detailed tasting notes from this lineup.

🔗 Read the full article on the blog — link in bio.

#BurgenlandWine #Blaufränkisch #AustrianWine #WineTasting #WineLovers

PHANTOM ENERGY.🍷A cult wine that lives up to the h

PHANTOM ENERGY.🍷A cult wine that lives up to the hype. This is one of those Austrian reds that genuinely earned its reputation — not through marketing, but because it delivers power and personality year after year. ⬇️

☝️Das Phantom is the result of 37 years of care, experimentation, and vision. It has been the flagship of K+K Kirnbauer @weingut_kk_kirnbauer since its first vintage in 1987, when Walter Kirnbauer became the first winemaker in Austria 🇦🇹 to create a red wine cuvée. Back then, blending Blaufränkisch, Cabernet, Merlot, and Syrah in one bottle was bold and unusual. 🍇

📍They’ve been farming around Deutschkreutz in Mittelburgenland for decades, always focused on red wines that show depth and personality. Over the years they’ve built a reputation for blending tradition with modern precision, especially with Blaufränkisch🍇 and a few international varieties.

🍷The 2022 opens deep ruby red. The nose is dark, sweet, and intense: super ripe dark cherries, dark plums, roasted coffee beans, followed by dark chocolate and vanilla. On the palate it’s full-bodied and juicy at the same time, with smooth yet high tannins, ripe fruit, coffee spice, and very good freshness. The 14% alcohol is beautifully integrated.👌

⏳ I tasted it after three days open, and that’s when it truly clicked — perfectly opened, layered, and expressive. Drinking beautifully now, but with clear ageing potential. Give it 5–10 years and it will move confidently into tertiary territory.

🍽️Pair it with steaks, barbeque, or hard cheeses — this is a wine that likes bold company.

👉 Have you ever tasted Das Phantom before — and do you think Austrian reds are still underrated internationally? 🍷

#DasPhantom #Kirnbauer #BurgenlandWine #AustrianWine #AustrianRed

🍇 GRAPE TALK: EPISODE 41: What is a vintage — and

🍇 GRAPE TALK: EPISODE 41: What is a vintage — and why does it matter? Ever noticed how the same wine can taste different from one year to the next? That’s not your imagination. That’s the vintage. ⬇️

☝️Save this post for your wine studies and your next bottle choice!

1️⃣ What “vintage” actually means: A vintage is simply the year the grapes were harvested. So when you see “2025” on the label, it tells you: this wine was made from grapes picked in 2025.

2️⃣ Why the same wine changes every year: Wine is an agricultural product — and nature never repeats itself. Even if the producer, vineyard, grape, and winemaking stay the same, the weather doesn’t. Temperature, rainfall, sunshine, wind, and even one storm at the wrong time can shape the final wine.

3️⃣ What a vintage affects in the glass. The vintage can change:
🔹️how ripe the fruit tastes
🔹️how fresh the wine feels (acidity)
🔹️how much alcohol it has
🔹️how intense the flavours are
🔹️how long it can age

In cooler years, wines often taste lighter and fresher.
In hotter years, wines can be richer, riper, and more powerful.

4️⃣ Why vintages matter more than ever today: Climate change has made vintages less predictable. Harvest dates move earlier. Heat comes in waves. Rain can arrive at the wrong moment.

So the difference between a “good” and “great” vintage often comes down to timing and smart decisions in the vineyard.

That’s why some vintages reward attention — and why 2025 is such an interesting one.

👉 I’ve published a full 2025 vintage overview on my blog, with Austria and Hungary in detail + a global snapshot.

🔗 Link in bio❗️

Do you check the vintage when you buy wine — or do you usually ignore it? 🍷

#WineEducation #WineKnowledge #WineStudies #WineVintage #WineBasics LearnAboutWine

A HOLIDAY WINE THAT JUST WORKED — AND HERE’S WHY.

A HOLIDAY WINE THAT JUST WORKED — AND HERE’S WHY. 🍷Ried Spiegel Grau- & Weißburgunder 2022 by Weingut Bründlmayer. ⬇️

I drank this wine during my last holiday in Tirol, and it slowly became that bottle — the one that kept coming back to the table because it handled everything we ate.

🍷In the glass, medium yellow with a light golden rim. The nose is all about apricot, peach, white blossom and honeysuckle, with a nice little twist of ginger and white pepper. On the palate it’s juicy and really mouth-filling, repeating those apricot and white peach notes, with ginger giving it some lift. Medium-plus body, good freshness, and the lower alcohol makes it very easy to enjoy. The finish is long and clean, driven by stone fruit.

👌 What adds real depth here is the site. Ried Spiegel sits on a sun-exposed hill above Langenlois🇦🇹, with loess soils and great air circulation. This allows Grau- and Weißburgunder 🍇 (Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc) to ripen a bit later, keeping freshness while achieving real flavour ripeness. You can feel that balance in the glass — ripe fruit, but nothing heavy or overdone.

☝️The two varieties are vinified partly in stainless steel and partly in used Austrian and French oak, then matured in large Austrian casks before blending. That’s exactly why the wine has texture and grip without obvious oak — just quiet structure and polish.

🍇 Grau- and Weißburgunder might not be the headline grapes of Kamptal, but for @weingutbruendlmayer they play a key role. They bring versatility, food-friendliness and a Burgundian mindset to the region — and this bottle is a great example of that philosophy.

🍽 We had it with creamy dishes, lighter fish plates and cheeses, and it never missed a step. It’s already drinking beautifully now, but it clearly has ageing potential too.☝️

📍Do you usually reach for one “safe” bottle on holiday — or do you like to change wines every night? 🍷

#AustrianWine #KamptalWine #Bründlmayer #WhiteWineLovers #WineWithFood

WHEN BORDERS MOVE, WINE REMEMBERS. 🍷I’ve already s

WHEN BORDERS MOVE, WINE REMEMBERS. 🍷I’ve already shared Reimagine Pannonia here: the event, the tasting, the atmosphere at Schloss Esterházy — and why it stayed with me. I realised a single post wasn’t enough. ⬇️

🍷 @reimagine.pannonia isn’t just a festival. It’s a tasting built around one question: what happens to a wine region when borders change, but culture doesn’t? Standing in the Haydnsaal, tasting Blaufränkisch🍇 and Furmint🍇 side by side, history wasn’t theoretical — it was in the glass.

☝️ That tasting made things click. These wines aren’t about revival as a trend. They’re about continuity. About Sopron as a lost centre, about Burgenland having to turn west, and about winemakers choosing origin over fashion — slowly and deliberately.

👉 That’s why I went deeper and wrote a full article on the blog. I unpack the event itself, the tasting, the historical breaks, and how Pannonian wine never truly disappeared — it just had to find its voice again.

🔗 The article is now live. Link in bio❗️

📍If you care about why origin still matters — beyond slogans — this one is for you.

#PannoniaReimagined #BurgenlandWine #Blaufränkisch #Furmint #WineAndHistory

A DECADE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING. 🍷2016 is not jus

A DECADE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING. 🍷2016 is not just a trend — for me, it was a crucial milestone that changed everything. ⬇️

🇫🇷 After spending 5 years in France working in hospitality, we have made a decision to move to the UK in London🇬🇧. No plans just to enjoy our freedom and youth.

☝️I have always wanted to learn more about wines and after getting a breakfast supervisor job, I was looking for something to occupy my afternoons. This was my chance.

🍷In October 2016, I have started this path, enrolling to my first wine course by the UK Sommelier Association. This is where all this began.

From there it didn't take long to completely fell in love with the World of Wine and getting my first sommelier job.

😍 I am so greatful to took that step and become the part of the wine industry, met so many amazing people and have continued to learn something new every single day.📚

🤗 Now, I am proud to call this as my full-time job and be able to highlight great wines and winemakers to you.

I hope the next 10 years will be just as exciting and filled with amazing wines than the last 10 years was! 🥂

Thank you for your conitnued support and let's discover more delicious sips together in 2026.🍾

👉 What was your most memorable moment of 2016?

(2016, Throwback, Anniversary, wine trend, 2026, Nostalgia)

#tbt2016 #tbt #2026 #winelife #sommelierlife

WINE FUN FACTS. If you know, you know. 🤷‍♀️ If yo

WINE FUN FACTS. If you know, you know. 🤷‍♀️

If you don't, hit me with a DM and I will explain. 😍

Also, who can relate? 😉

In other words: who is here from the wine trade and see the pain point and who got new informations and hanging here to learn more?

Follow @wine_encsy for more wine education and tasting moments! 🍷

#Sommlife #SommLifestyle #sommeliers #winebusiness #wineindustry WineKnowledge WineStudies winelovers winefacts winefun

GRAPE TALK: EPISODE 40: How sparkling wines are ma

GRAPE TALK: EPISODE 40: How sparkling wines are made?🍾 Where do the bubbles actually come from—and why not all sparklings are made the same way? Let’s break it down. ⬇️

☝️Save this post for your wine studies and your next sparkling wine purchase!

1️⃣ One wine, two fermentations (most of the time)
Sparkling wines usually go through a second fermentation. The first turns grape juice into still wine. The second is where CO₂ is created and trapped—this is what forms the bubbles.

2️⃣ Traditional Method
Used for Champagne, Cava, Crémant, Franciacorta. A dry base wine (cuvée) is bottled with yeast and sugar (tirage). The second fermentation happens inside the bottle, followed by lees ageing, riddling, disgorging, and dosage. This is where texture, complexity, and those brioche notes come from.

3️⃣ Tank Method
Typical for Prosecco and many aromatic styles. The second fermentation happens in a sealed, temperature-controlled tank, not in bottle. The wine is then filtered and bottled. The result is a cleaner, fruit-driven style with minimal autolytic character.

4️⃣ Asti Method
Unlike most sparkling wines, the Asti Method uses only one fermentation. Grape must is kept cold to prevent fermentation, then fermented in a sealed tank. Partway through, the tank is closed to trap CO₂, and the fermentation is stopped early by chilling. The result is a low-alcohol, naturally sweet, highly aromatic sparkling wine—best known through Moscato d’Asti, where freshness and primary fruit take centre stage.

👉 For the full breakdown with all the technical details, I’ve written a detailed article on my blog. Link in stories❗️

Which sparkling style do you reach for most: traditional, tank, or Asti?🥂

PS: getting the hang of this AI photo thing, love this one, what do you think?

#GrapeTalk #SparklingWine #WineEducation #WineKnowledge #WineStudies

FAVOURITE WINES OF DECEMBER 🍷A busy month with bot

FAVOURITE WINES OF DECEMBER 🍷A busy month with bottles that stayed with me — part monthly favourites, part end-of-year reflection. ⬇️

🎄Most of these wines might look familiar because they were already featured here during the Advent giveaway. That wasn’t random. On the blog, I explain in more detail why these bottles made the cut, what they taught me, and how this list ended up reflecting my entire year with wine.🍷

December was full of tastings, events and quick impressions, but these were the wines that made me slow down. Not because they were loud or trendy, but because they made sense in the moment. Easy to understand, well balanced, and strongly connected to where they come from.

☝️This list also sums up my philosophy with @wine_encsy : wine doesn’t need to be complicated or intimidating to be good. You don’t need to speak professional jargon to enjoy it. What matters is balance, place, people, and context — and how a wine fits into real life.

🍷 The wines in this list (swipe through for more info!):

🔹️Domaine Kox – Auxerrois Charta Luxembourg 2020 @domaine_kox (tasted with Corinne at an exclusive winery tasting)
🔹️Kvaszinger Pincészet – Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos 2021 @kvaszingerwinery (tasted at the Aszú Premier press event)
🔹️Winzerfamilie Schup – Cabernet Sauvignon Ried Eichkogel Monopol 2016 @winzerfamilie_schup
🔹️Silvia Heinrich – Angel 2023 @weingutsilviaheinrich
🔹️Michaela Riedmüller – Salt’n’Pepper Grüner Veltliner 2022 @michaelariedmuellerwein
🔹️Weingut Lisa Pfneisl – Shiraz Maria’s Vineyard 2022 @lisa_weingut.pfneisl

📍 On the blog, you’ll find the full article with background stories, simple explanations, and why these Wines of December represent how I want to taste, write about, and share wine going forward. 👉 Link in bio.🔗

Which of these wines would you open first? 🍷

#WinesOfDecember #AustrianWine #Tokaji #WineBlog

2025 RECAP: A quieter year, but a meaningful one.

2025 RECAP: A quieter year, but a meaningful one. ⬇️

Looking back, 2025 slowed me down in ways I didn’t expect — and exactly where I needed it.

🍷 I tasted around 1,100 wines this year. From everyday bottles to truly memorable ones, the focus was depth, not noise.

🌍 I attended Wine Paris🇫🇷 for the first time, a long-time goal finally ticked off. At the same time, this was a year without Italy🇮🇹, and a reminder that not every year has to look the same to be valuable.

📉 I lost two long-lasting clients. That was hard, full stop. But it also created space.

✍️ That space went into my blog and Instagram. I finally had time to write properly, think clearly, and build something more sustainable:

🔹️the subscriber platform launched
🔹️the first large Advent giveaway organised
🔹️started @wine.travel.guide to share more about my wine travels
🔹️more structured, more honest content overall

🇦🇹 2025 was also the year I truly started discovering Austria. Not just visiting, but understanding. Regions, styles, people. Austrian wines surprised me again and again — and some of the best bottles I drank this year came from close to home.

🤗 I met wonderful old and new wine friends, shared great bottles, and had conversations that reminded me why I do this in the first place.

☝️This wasn’t a loud year. But it was grounding, focused, and necessary.

I’m hoping to be more active and travel more in 2026 — with the same curiosity, but a stronger foundation. 😍

📍Thank you for being here, reading, tasting, and following along❗️🤗😍

What would you like to see more of on @wine_encsy next year? ⬇️

#winecreator #winetasting #wineeducation #austrianwine #winecommunity

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