If you follow my wine journey for a while, I don’t have to introduce the Thummerer winery and my love of their wines to you. If this is your first time here, I have to tell you that the Thummerer winery is one of the most successful and best producer of Hungary which is located in the historic wine region of Eger.
Eger made its fame of the popular red wine blend called the Bull’s Blood which has even risen to World fame. I have already wrote an article about this iconic blend and its story with the permitted varieties, so please click here if you are interested.
Vilmos Thummerer (aka. Vili Papa) was the founder and heart of the winery, he has bought only 7 hectares of vineyards in 1984 when it has all started. Now the winery owns around a 100 hectares and Vilmos has earned lots of awards and recognitions in his life. He was “Wine Producer of the year” in Hungary in 1994 and the winery got the prestigious „Wine Cellar of the year in Hungary” award in 2011 just to mention a few.
Unfortunately Mr. Thummerer passed away in late December 2021 due to his long illness. His funeral was just about a month ago and in his memory, I have decided to have a glass of the their most prestigous cuvée dedicated to him. Vili Papa Cuvée is a Bordeaux blend with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in the bottle. A wine with complexity, full-body and the personality that describes the best how skilled Vilmos Thummerer was in its profession of winemaking.
This wine is only made in the best vintages and 2011 was an excellent year to produce this Cuvée. “Thanks to the fall of 2011, we could pick our grapes with a true phenological ripening. After the harvest, we fermented and soaked the grapes on its skin, which released nice tannins, that could give the wine an even longer potential.” says the Thummerer winery about the making of this vintage.
I had the chance to taste this wine already a couple of times and now I would like to share my personal tasting notes from the last time I have tried it:
A deep ruby red color with garnet hue and a high viscosity on the edge of the glass. Intense nose of ripe forest fruits, spices like pepper and cinnamon, dried herbs, dark chocolate, vanilla, cigar and coffee beans.
We are having a dry wine here with medium plus acidity, very smooth medium plus tannins and high alcohol. A very well balanced wine with flavours identical with the aromas on the nose and a complex, very long finish on the palate.
An excellent quality wine that you can still keep in the cellar for a couple of years, however I have already very much enjoyed now too. Pair it with BBQ, lamb, stews and hard cheeses during a meal or have it after dinner with great company!
I am very proud to be an ambassador of this winery and I am sure Vili Papa will be eternally missed by his family and friends just as well on the Hungarian wine scene as he was a true icon to lots of producers in- and outside of the country. Now let’s have a toast to his memory!
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