Pollux Membership May 2024: School’s Out
Winemaker Levente Major, standing at the famous Anna chapel on Matra Sar mountain, Matra region, Hungary.
“School’s Out”
Levente R.V.T.L. Cibike Olasrizling, Matra, Hungary 2016
Levente Kekfrankos, Pusztaparlag, Matra, Hungary 2015
Picture in your mind a small provincial schoolhouse in a town of 2,600 people. A class of elementary-age children are gathering outside, lining up rank and file for a field trip excursion. Instead of a school or tour bus, however, this journey is on foot-and the youngsters’ walk will cover less than two blocks to a concrete building in the center of town. On the wall is a plaque marking the particular trade practiced here, but currently that bronze square with a mythical-looking stork holding a bunch of grapes is obscured by the school’s assistant principal, who is also one of their subject teachers. Looking more like a Viking myth than academic paradigm, the tall man sports long light brown hair, a rock band t-shirt under his jacket, and a tremendous full beard that, try as it might, cannot contain his stadium-show wattage smile.
As the children walk past him, eyes aglow, he fist-bumps their smaller hands with his giant fist and throws bear hugs around like they are going out of the proverbial style. The assistant principal knows the premises well, because he has another job when school’s out, one for which he is gaining recognition on an international level, despite the tiny output of product coming from the concrete building with the bronze plaque. The class field trip will consist of a tour, an explanation of the hard work that goes into the produce leaving the building and, perhaps at the visit’s conclusion, a school block party where the children’s parents can sample the goods, for this field trip has been made to a wine cellar, and the bearded rocker assistant principal is a town native who has turned his own unique path into a devotion: to his people, his village, and his land. Meet Levente Major.
Levente Major standing in one of his tiny estate vineyards, which measure just 6 hectares in total.
There is a camp of educator that comes to that vocational path precisely because their own scholastic upbringing was torturous. Although he attended an excellent school, Levente Major comments in multiple interviews on the strict Franciscan teachings and environment he and his classmates endured over their tenure at the 6-day-per-week institution. As he got older, the repression and constant supervision caused an equal and opposite reaction from Levente, and he would spend the few hours of each week that he wasn’t being monitored letting loose, with alcohol being a prime factor-Levente points out that they were drinking to one end, and cheap beer and cheaper, terribly made liquor were the order of the day. When Levente went to university, he finally sampled a real, authentic table wine from his home province of Matra in northern Hungary (the region abuts the famous Eger zone, where the Egri Bikaver “Bull’s Blood” red blends are produced) and thought of his father and grandfather, making miniscule amounts of wine each year and consuming them with friends and family. Finally, he understood-school may have been out, but Levente’s education was just beginning.
In 2004, Levente Major purchased his first vineyard in the Matra PDO, and followed that up with several smaller plots. Building on his childhood memories with his father and grandfather, and yearning to produce wines that captured the spirit of both his homeland and his own heart, Levente began to experiment: with traditional winemaking techniques, biodynamic vineyard management, and low to nonexistent sulphur usage. By 2013, he and his best friend Kornel endeavored to go beyond winemaking for personal and family use and create a winery, producing high-quality, small-production bottlings that hold a mirror to the terroir of their youth.
The single-vineyard site of Cibike, in Sar-Hegy, Matra PDO-home of Levente’s plantings of Olaszrizling.
With an AC/DC hat and his trademark smile, Levente Major the headmaster and headbanging winemaker set out to change the way his region was perceived. Matra PDO is the second-largest wine region in Hungary, but the vast majority of what was being produced in these plains below the Matra mountain range was commercialized and unremarkable (in the 1980s, Matra gave the world 40% of Hungary’s total wine export). Levente and Kornel went the other way, taking advantage of the beautiful volcanic soil (similar to their neighbor Tokaj to the east) and working with old varietals like the two featured here, the white Olaszrizling and the red Kekfrankos. Produced from incredible 60 year old vines, the Olaszrizling is treated with the utmost care and aged in the cellar, so that the 2016 vintage is just one year off of Levente’s current offering. Minimal sulphur and native yeast fermentation sound like techniques employed by a winemaker seeking the funky, “unfinished” side of natural winemaking, but the Olaszrizling is a stunner, sporting a freshness of fruit and the exact right side of honey and golden cereal grains on the palate. The Kekfrankos grape is a synonym for what is known as Blaufrankisch in Austria and elsewhere, but the resemblance ends there: in Levente’s hands, the grape is a heady, aromatic mix of fruit, herbs, and acid that reminds one of a fine Nebbiolo, with an even more drinkable 11% abv. Here again, the 2015 vintage (in which conditions were such that Levente did not need to use sulphur at all during production) is the current release, one that amounted to all of 84 cases. With approximately 200 cases made of the Olaszrizling, this is the smallest combined Pollux Member drop in terms of case production we’ve yet seen, and what a rarity, indeed, to savor the artistry of a man who, thankfully, continues to educate us all on what his home is capable of-even if, as far as rules and limits are concerned, school for Levente Major is definitely out-D.
Levente R.V.T.L. Olaszrizling, Matra, 2016
Country of Origin: Hungary.
Places and People: Levente Major grew up around wine (his father and grandfather both made small amounts each year for friends and family), but it wasn’t until after his strict Franciscan schooling (where he spent his few free hours exploding against repression via cheap beer and cheaper shots) that he understood his own path lead back to wine: tasting an honest table wine at university, Levente became infatuated with the potential of his home province of Matra, situated north and east of the Hungarian capital Budapest. Purchasing his first vineyard in 2004, Levente slowly experimented and cultivated the style that now makes him one of the most respected producers in the appellation, and in 2013 began (with best friend Kornel) a commercial project. The Olasrizling comes from a single vineyard in Sar-Hegy called Cibike; the vines are 60 years old.
Soil: Volcanic.
Grape Varieties: 100% Olaszrizling (known as Grasevina in Croatia and Olaszrizling in Hungary, this late-ripening varietal hailing from either Croatia or the Danube basin originally is the most planted white grape in Hungary and preserves its acidity well despite the aforementioned long hang times).
Winemaking: The 2016 Olaszrizling grapes were hand-harvested and gently pressed manually, with sediment allowed to settle naturally rather than any stirring process. Fermentation with native yeasts ensues in older wooden barrels, and the wine is then moved crucially to stainless steel to settle, preserving the freshness in this aged-for-us wine.
Aging: The 2016 Olaszrizling is bottled unfined and unfiltered with the minimal sulphur added, and rests in bottle for six months prior to release. Only 200 cases were made.
Flavors and Foods: “Good as gold” is an abstract phrase, but the color of the 2016 Olasrizling defines it. From the skin contact and bottle age on this wine, the color of the Levente is indeed of a golden hue, but the first clue as to the wine’s soundness is in the brightness of that rich yellow, and the crystalline clarity of the wine, from center to the rim of your glass. Far from being oxidative and full of bruised fruit on the nose, the Levente keeps the fun and ditches the funk: yellow apple, honeyed oats and cereal grain, fresh cut hay, fresh thyme, and a saline element all feature on the nose. The palate brings the yellow apple along for the ride and adds lemon curd to the fruits, while the herbaeceous qualities are almost an equal, showing the aforementioned thyme, fresh dill, and a delicious chive note. Stewed citrus fruits are also present on the mid-palate and finish (orange, quince, marmalade), without any hint of bitterness or amaro to those, which adds great complexity without fatiguing the palate. The earthiness of the Olasrizling is again expressed in the form of grains: oats, spelt, and bran, like some kind of vinous version of Wheaties or Heritage Flakes that would immediately take the mantle of “best breakfast cereal ever”. I have tasted “natural” white wines that give some of these characteristics (the oats and hay, the yellow apple) but two things stand out about the Levente: the wine feels texturally complete (clean and fresh without a yeast or trapped gas that suggests its still under construction) and the broader food compatibility. Unlike many natural white wines that seem tethered to a tasting menu to find just the right (and often only) application, this wine would be delicious with a butter sauced fish (as an alternative to a mature Chardonnay), a bowl of roasted asparagus and Hollandaise (as a richer take on the Austrian Gruner Veltliner), or-my personal favorite-a simple meal of antipasti: washed-rind cheeses, a variety of pastes and n0n-dark jams, and a crusty loaf of herbed bread.
Service and Cellar: The 2016 Levente Olasrizling deserves both a white wine cellar serving temperature (48-52 degrees F) and a nice aeration in a decanter (the wine carries no sediment to speak of). You can achieve this by refrigerating the bottle and letting it warm to cellar temp in the decanter, or by placing the decanter in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so if you have the space. There are tastes of the Olasrizling where it seems indestructible due to its non-interventionist production, but I would still recommend enjoying it this year.
Levente Kekfrankos, Pusztaparlag, Matra, 2015
Country of Origin: Hungary (The Kekfrankos comes from a small single vineyard called Pusztaparlag; vine age is 40 years).
Soil: Volcanic.
Grape Varieties: 100% Kekfrankos (the Hungarian direct translation for Austria’s Blaufranksich, Kekfrankos is considered one of the country’s best red varieties, with dynamic potential for quality and ageworthiness).
Winemaking: Hand harvested grapes are manually pressed and sediment/yeasts settle naturally after. Fermentation occurs on the grape skins for one month with native yeast, bringing excellent extraction of flavors.
Aging: The 2015 Kekfrankos is matured in old Hungarian oak barrels (large capacity) for two years, after which it is bottled unfined and unfiltered. The 2015 vintage saw Levente being able to avoid sulphur use during any part of the winemaking process. Only 84 cases were produced.
Flavors and Foods: What an introduction to both the terroir of northern Hungary and their version of the Blaufrankisch grape, Kekfrankos! The nose of Levente Major’s 2015 Kekfrankos is heady, full of opulent dark fruits (plums, cassis, black cherries) aromatics (violets, sage, potpourri), and earth (porcini mushroom, leather, cigar wrapper, potting soil). The palate sees this complexity and raises it: indeed, the best compliment I might be able to give the Levente 2015 is that for a Kekfrankos, it’s a darn good Nebbiolo. While I don’t normally like to compare grape varietals and let them speak for themselves, there’s no question that this wine’s macerated fruits (more red than black on the palate, though) soft tea-like tannin structure and beautiful acidity evoke Piemonte’s signature grape. Winemakers who espouse producing “natural” wine, take note: the 2015 Kekfrankos is proof that you can produce a clean, complete bottling that appeals to a broader taste. Every complex sip has me salivating for a variety of dishes: grilled swordfish in a Provencale sauce with tomatoes and olives, pasta puttanesca, wood-fired octopus, risotto with rabbit and wild Italian black rice, or grilled sausages heavy on the use of carraway seed, served with whole grain mustard and black pumpernickel bread.
Service and Cellar: The 2015 Levente Kekfrankos is sitting firmly in its prime, suitable for drinking now but also capable of showing aging potential to the end of this decade. Serve at red wine cellar temperature (56-62 degrees F) and feel free to decant, although honestly my first sips from a freshly opened bottle showed surprising resolution of tannins-this wine is in a “plug and play” spot right now; enjoy!