Greetings from Cheesus-
After extensive research and much legwork I've discovered that
authentic, native Hungarian wines make up approximately .0003% of all wines
available in the Eugene-Springfield area.
So, what about substitutions?
Sure, no problem...
Thankfully, one of Hungary's neighbors and home to some awesome wines is
Austria (where I spent a year as an undergrad.) And fortunately Austrian wines edged out Hungarian wines to take
the second to last spot as far as availability in the E-S area... but I
digress. Austria's pride and joy is a
grape known as GRUNER VELTLINER; it takes up almost 1/3 of the total plantings
in Austria. And it might just be the
PERFECT wine for any of the savory dishes.
It has a beautiful sweet pea, grapefruit, and white pepper character that
can take on any amout of paprika you want to throw at it (and will match the predominance
of cabbage in these dishes beautifully.)
Market of Choice at Delta Oaks has about 3 different labels in stock,
the Willamette location has 2, and Sundance also has 2. And yes, they're all moderately priced. Another option would be a dry RIESLING from
Austria. They'd be right next to the
Gruner on the shelves.
One of the Hungarian varieties is called Szurke Barat, aka, PINOT
GRIS. SWEET! We have that all over the place here in Oregon. However, I have to say that Pinot Gris from
Alsace, France is going to be closer to Szurke Barat from Hungary. That would be a big, flabby, honeyed
grayish-gold wine that has the body to stand up to these spiced dishes. It gives the impression of being sweet, but
typically is totally dry with hints of ripe peach and a great nutty
character. Trimbach, Hugel, Domaine
Bott-Geyl, and Kientzler are all big producers of beautiful Alsatian white
wines. - And really, probably any white
from Alsace will pair nicely with the dinner.
As far as reds wines go, you'll want something medium to light bodied,
full of spicy fruit character, and maybe a bit of that Old World Funk. Some ideas:
a Cotes-du-Rhone from the Southern Rhone valley in France;
an Aglianico from Southern Italy;
a domestic Cabernet Franc (the Franklin MOC has a cool one from Wash St.
for $10);
As for dessert, Hungary is home to a famous nectar-of-the-Gods known as
Tokaji (toh-kay.) But I only found a
couple different bottles of this amazing juice around town. Every store had a token bottle, but any of
them would work fine.
Austria has some great dessert wines from the marshy area surrounding
the Neusiedlersee on the border of Hungary.
The most famous of which would have to be KRACHER. I got to meet this guy in Chicago - the joke
is that he only makes intensely honeyed, very sweet and complex dessert
wines because he smokes at least 2
packs a day and that style of wine is the only thing he can taste anymore...
Mostly, have fun picking out a bottle and don't be afraid to try
something new and exciting!
See you at the dinner, bottle(s) in hand!