Recommendation: Outstanding Slovakian red wine.
Winery/Producer: Strekov 1075, Slovakia.
Grape Variety: Blaufränkisch.
Geographic Region, Appellation: Južnoslovenská region, Slovakia.
Vintage: 2013
Price: 14 euros (about $15.75 dollars)
Purchased From: Wine shop in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Paired With: Pseudo beef Wellington (The pastry was cooked separately from the beef and combined when served).
Tasting:
He said: Deep, dark, opaque brownish purple color with a slightly lighter rim. Intense mushroom and damp earth aromas. Dry, juicy dark current taste with an unusual ripe tangy fruit and smoky, mushroom flavored long finish. WOW,WOW, WOW this was a wine I didn’t expect much from that turned out to be REALY great. Only medium body, but TREMENDOUS spicy fruit taste, lots of mineral and a huge flavor change from mid-palate to the end. Complex fruit and an earthiness from start to finish. This was paired with pseudo-beef Wellington and it was fantastic. We’re not familiar with the grape but in a blind tasting I would have said it’s most like a Cab-Franc. This was our second Slovakian wine and it gets an unqualified recommendation.
She said: Purple red color, opaque, with lots of zippy irregular thin legs. The dinner was the climax presentation for a Rhine-Danube River Cruise. The salmon,soup, and shrimp with fennel were consumed with the ship’s Gruner Velliner which I found very adequate. The beef Wellington; however, called for a different wine,and we had Slovakian wine native to the area that we had bought from a local shop. What a success! The wine had a very pleasing aroma of deep red berry with a touch of tartness even after sitting a while. On the palate the wine was dry, smooth, and with a flavor that burst into bloom at mid-palate. The flavors last into the long finish with soft tannins rounding out the tasting experience. The wine was delicious with both the dinner and a poppy seed pastry we purchased from the wine shop. It is no wonder that wines such as this are all consumed in Slovakia where they are made and not exported. Sorry, but you probably will never see this on United States shelves. Our Slovakian guide was very complementary about Slovakian wines and I can see why if this one is a typical example.
Comments: We took a walking tour around Bratislava and our guide (who was an economics professor, and admitted to being a wine drinker) told us about a shop that sold only Slovakian wines and that we could get great local wines for about six euros, but if we spent 12 or 14 could get wines that were better than the French produce. So needless to say we couldn’t resist his recommendation and bought the best two bottles the shop owner recommend…and we were not disappointed!!!
Alcohol: NA
Bar code: NA
Imported by: NA