Hungarian Wine via Budapest

When my friend Sarah asked me to join her in Budapest, Hungary at the tail end of a work trip, I said yes! She wanted to visit a wine region or two, and I was game for pretty much anything. I had heard about Hungarian wine but hadn’t tried it until she gave me a couple bottles from a prior trip. So yeah…of course I said yes. I own two VinGardeValise Petite wine suitcases (each holds 8 bottles) and for this trip, she borrowed one and I brought the other. [Read: How I Pack My VinGardeValise Wine Suitcase]

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And off I went on an adventure! Usually when I travel I try to only drink local wine. For me it’s just part of the experience of exploring a new city or country. So during the long holiday weekend in Budapest, we only drank Hungarian wine at cafes, restaurants, a short half-day trip to Szentendre, and even made a long day trip to the Egar wine region. So what if I can’t pronounce the grape varietals or the wineries, wine is a universal language of deliciousness!

At cafes and restaurants, we found the Hungarian wine selection to be plentiful enough to pair familiar flavors usually enjoyed at home with the local food in Budapest. We enjoyed a dry sparkling wine with espresso in a small cafe in Buda Castle, a lovely dry white wine in a restaurant in Central Market Hall, a stellar dry red wine in an Italian restaurant on the River Danube, and a delicious dry sparkling rose at a hotel bar. [See Gulash/Gulyas recipe below]

In Szentendre, up river from Budapest, we enjoyed shopping, a light lunch, pistachio gelato (I mean, how could I not?!), and happened upon the National Wine Museum like we knew what we were doing. The underground cellar contained both wine history and displays and full racks of wine for sale. Of course I picked up some Hungarian sparkling wine to take home to Houston.

The real treat was taking a day trip to Egar and visiting Gal Tibor. It was the winery Sarah really wanted to visit, and I happily obliged. We spent several hours in this gorgeous winery, tasted the full suite, enjoyed cheese plates and espresso, and bought nearly two cases of wine between the two of us to bring home.

We then walked around Egar a bit, made our way to Valley of the Beautiful Woman for more wine, and visited a couple spas for a soak. What a gorgeous region!

Sarah and I both managed to fill each of our Petites with 8 bottles of Hungarian wine, and we even had 2-3 bottles in each of our regular suitcases snuggled tightly between clothes (so glad they made it back unscathed!). I think this was the most wine I’ve ever brought home from a trip abroad, and as my husband and I enjoy each bottle, I fondly remember the spontaneous and exhausting trip to Budapest with Sarah. Wine may be liquid sunshine, but it is also memories in a bottle…