Welcome to Winephabet Street Season 2 Episode 5 E is for Egri Bikaver. Winephabet Street is a monthly series where Lori Budd of Draceana Wines and I work our way through the alphabet exploring wine and wine regions one letter at a time. The show is live on the third Monday at 8pm and is free, but you must register to attend. Put it on your calendar, pour yourself a glass of wine and hang out with us.
This month of February we learned about the Egri Bikaver. Egri Bikaver is from Hungary and better known as Bulls Blood. It is not a grape but a blend of 50% Kekfrankos (which we know as Blaufrankish or Lemberger) and the rest can be Kadarka, Syrah, Merlot, Portugieser, Minoir, Blauburger, Pinot Noir, Zweigelt or Turan. It is quite a funny story how it got its name. The condensed version is in 1552 at the siege of Eger the captain brought red wine to the soldiers. The soldiers drank the red wine and it stained their beards and the Turks thought the soldiers in Eger drak blood from the bull. There are a couple other legends out there as well.
Lori and I had a great time with this topic. I hope you enjoy the podcast or webinar, whichever you choose listen to or watch.
2016 Egervin Egri Bivaker (Bulls Blood) SRP $9.99
I didn’t have much of a choice here at the liquor store. In fact it was the only choice for Bulls Blood. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the wine and I was pleasantly surprised how I liked it. It was not a heavy, big red. It was light on the palate with a lot of character. There were some plum, cherry and blackberry notes with a hint of earthiness. There was a strong sour cherry finish. As the wine opened there was hints of red currant and fennel. It was quite enjoyable.
Learn more about Egri Bikaver (Bulls Blood) and the wines we tasted by listening to the podcast or watch the webinar.
For more episodes of Winephabet Street visit http://winephabetstreet.com/
