Before we came to Hungary we had no idea Hungarian wine was even a thing - which is insane because Hungary has some of the best wine we've ever tasted. Since we first tried Hungarian wine we've been addicted - and have been on quite a few Hungarian wine tastings since.
But it's not just Hungarian wine tastings we've been on - we've been on lots of wine tastings across the globe, from Canada to Slovenia to Japan and Italy.
Never though, have we been on a wine tasting quite like the one we went to the other day at CultiVini.
What was so special about it? Read on to find out!
But it's not just Hungarian wine tastings we've been on - we've been on lots of wine tastings across the globe, from Canada to Slovenia to Japan and Italy.
Never though, have we been on a wine tasting quite like the one we went to the other day at CultiVini.
What was so special about it? Read on to find out!
CultiVini - the perfect way to try Hungarian wine
CultiVini has all the usual things you'd expect from a good wine tasting - nice & knowledgable staff, excellent range of good quality wines, snacks and water to go with the wine, classy setting and centrally located (right off popular Váci St).
But where CultiVini really stands a step above the rest is with their system:
Generally with wine tastings, you are shown around three to eight wines. Whilst you often have a small say in what type of wines you'd like, there's not too much flexibility when it comes to how much you'd like, when you'd like them, what order you'd like them in, how much you'd like etc etc.
CultiVini isn't like that because they have an ingenious system:
Firstly, you are shown to your table where you get your 'credit card' and tablet:
The card is pre-paid (by you) but can be topped up at any time. The tablet is to give you extra information and help you choose your wines.
Next you are shown the fridges:
Basically, you insert your card into the slot, and then choose which wine you'd like to try. You can go for a half, a quarter or just a smidge - and of course you can go back for more.
I absolutely loved the independence we had with this system: we could pick which wines we wanted to try, in any order we liked. We could decide how much we wanted to try, we chose when we were ready for the next one, it was all up to us.
We still went for the usual white wine, rose, red wine, sweet wine path that is typical of all wine tastings, but as I don't like rose, I skipped the rose wine and had another white - it was so cool to be able to do this!!
As for the members of staff, they were absolutely perfect when it came to getting the balance right between giving us recommendations and information, but also letting us discover things ourselves - I do like to know a little bit about the wines I'm tasting, but often on wine tastings it can be a bit of an information over-load for me.
The CultiVini staff aren't like that at all and really made us feel comfortable - I felt like I could ask them questions at any time, and that they knew what they were talking about, but equally I didn't feel like they said too much (although I believe they definitely would if that is your kind of thing).
Another great thing was that there's no fixed time limit - you could stay as long or as short as you wanted to (but you should note, they often have large bookings, so it's probably worth you emailing or calling before hand to reserve your spot).
The wines at CultiVini
There is an excellent range of good quality Hungarian wines at CultiVini.
I particularly liked the Tornai Pinceszet Grófi Juhfark and the Páva - both of which were recommended to us by one of the members of staff.
But the absolute créme de la créme came at the end of the tasting - we tried out the best sweet Tokaji wine I've ever tasted:
Hungary is (quite rightfully) famous for it's beautiful sweet Tokaji wines. We've tried a few over the past year, all great, but there are definitely some that are better than others. This one was by far the best we'd ever had.
It was an Infusio from 2015, 14.5% and a bottle cost a whopping 119 900 forint (£350)! It tasted like the elixir of angels, and some say if you sip it every day you stay young forever. I'd sip it everyday just because it tastes amazing.
It was served to us in the coolest looking cup we'd ever seen!
Conclusion
If you're looking for a Hungarian wine tasting in Hungary, look no further than CultiVini, they truly have it all - and so much more! Check out their website and find them on Facebook!
Disclaimer: Travelling Weasels were invited as guests of CultiVini, but as always all opinions are our own - we would never recommend anything we haven't personally tried out and loved, because that's not cool and we want to be cool.
ABOUTME
We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.
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