Köpcös Tímea Siller 2015
Siller wine is, without any doubt, very particularly Hungarian, and thus, lesser known wine style. Even within the country. It is red wine, and yet it's not; it isn't a rosé - still it's light and fruity, light in tannins and should be enjoyed young. There have been a lot of efforts lately, especially in the Szekszárd region, to bring it back into fashion - with the Fuxli movement - but more and more wine regions start producing it
now. One main reason being, from the winery's perspective, to optimise cash-flow and allow for more concentrated "real" reds by macerating more skins on lesser juice; from the consumer's perspective, because it is ideal with paprika-based dishes, but also on its own because of a pleasant round and very fruit-driven style.
I sell no secret if I say that Köpcös's siller, made of 100% kékfrankos, was the best in class on the Kékfrankos Április event held in Corinthia Grand Hotel, Budapest. One of the exhibitor winemakers came over to taste it and said "I wish my siller was like this, now I know the way to follow". This is probably the best confirmation, apart from at least ten laic consumers who turned up at the table at each-other's recommendation "you should taste this - it's opulent".
Bright, shiny ruby colour, pomegranate-red. A truly happy colour already. Medium plus intensity on the nose, with snapping cherry, fresh sour-cherry and cranberries, plus a hint of raspberries. Packed with sunshine for the summer. Medium plus intensity on the palate, bringing abundant ripe red fruit again, along with vivid acids and almost zero tannin despite three days fermentation on its skins. Hints of spices - cloves - appear in the pleasingly long finish. To me, it overshadows the Sauska that I wrote about here Sauska Siller 2014. One would never think such a wine can come from the sandy soils of Kunság.
