‘The younger generation doesn’t think along appellation lines’

Importers are wising up to the fluid appeal of rule-breaking wines from Central and Eastern Europe, including Hungary, Romania, Moldova and more, writes Gabriel Stone.

Wine is best deployed as a soothing antidote to global politics. And yet just like a political party – although admittedly with rather less at stake – a successful wine list must evolve without losing identity or descending into unprincipled populism. For a number of buyers, one solution lies in that clutch of wine regions that are dotted across Central and Eastern Europe.

In terms of international renown, these regions feel a world away from the traditionalist’s paradise of Burgundy, Germany and Piedmont. That tight trio has built UK importer Howard Ripley a loyal trade and private customer following over the decades. A few of these customers have almost certainly raised an eyebrow at the recent appendix of countries including Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary and Czechia (Czech Republic) that has been added to the company’s portfolio in recent years.

Scenic detour

“It was a bit of a dilution of our brand,” admits trade sales account manager Ziggy Grinbergs, who has navigated this scenic detour for the merchant. So why take the risk?

“We felt there were more and more of these wine bars in east London – and not just there – where a bit more of a free spirit reigns,” he explains. “They have younger drinkers whose horizons are more open to these wines. We also felt that our classic Burgundy and Germany list was not quite reaching them in the way we wanted.”

Cramele Recaș is putting Romania on the wine map

Despite this move to engage a very different, increasingly significant demographic, Grinbergs emphasises the complementary fit of these recent additions to the core Howard Ripley stable. “They’re united by this artisanal, low-intervention approach,” he observes. “We always focus on native varieties or grapes that have been there for hundreds of years, small producers and being true to the character of the grape.”

Today Grinbergs is confident that these criteria can be met just as well by Frankovka Modrá (aka Blaufränkisch) from Nitra in Slovakia as by Pinot Noir from the Côte d’Or, or Mosel Riesling.

Entire focus

For another UK importer, Central and Eastern Europe isn’t just an expanding niche; it’s the entire focus. Jirí Majerik and his wife Zainab set up Basket Press Wines in 2017, compiling a portfolio of smaller producers from Czechia, Slovakia, Germany, Slovenia, Hungary and Georgia. While the fact that Majerik is Czech provides a helpful link, that patriotism is backed by a similar view to Howard Ripley of the UK market’s evolution.

“We feel that there’s a younger generation of drinkers who don’t think along appellation lines,” remarks Majerik.

Citing the natural wine scene as a particularly strong example, he suggests that, in this arena, “it can actually be an advantage to be from somewhere more unusual”.

If you’re looking for something different, then Majerik points to the main Czechia winemaking region of Moravia, just across the border from Austria’s Weinviertel. “Even the smallest winery will work with, say, 10 different varieties; it creates an amazing array of styles to choose from,” he enthuses. “It’s not a classic wine region in the French sense; it’s more free.”

‘Ginger’ wine

One style that epitomises this sense of freedom is Ryšák. Translated as the colour “ginger”, it’s a wine made from co-fermented red and white varieties, but there the rules peter out. “It can be any ratio, any grape,” explains Majerik, who notes that Ryšák originally evolved as a field blend in an era before monovarietal planting became the norm. “Some can be almost like white wine, or they can be more red,” he outlines. “Lots are half-and-half, and they’re often the most interesting, somewhere in between red, white and orange wines. It’s a very fluid category, very exciting.”

Moravia in Czechia has an “amazing array of wine styles”

There’s a risk of creating the impression that wines from this part of the world are solely of interest to Hackney hipsters. This wealth of alternative styles shouldn’t be allowed to mask the equally broad array of more traditional expressions made from internationally respected grape varieties.

“Pinot Noir has been in the Czech Republic since the 14th century,” observes Majerik. “It’s one of the ways we get on wine lists in more classic-focused restaurants. Good Pinot Noir from Moravia can really compete on a quality-to-price ratio with Burgundy.”

Common theme

Anyone seeking a common theme across this disparate collection of wine regions in Central and Eastern Europe might want to latch onto the aristocratic red grape that crops up in so many corners of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Depending on which corner, it might go by the alias of Kékfrankos, Lemberger, Frankovká Modra or Modra Frankinja, but thanks to the particularly high-quality, export-focused efforts of Austrian producers, this variety is best-known as Blaufränkisch.

One producer using this variety to put Hungary on the international fine wine map for more than just Tokaji is Zoltán Heimann. Those who assume that this country’s red wines are limited to a muscular, Bull’s Blood-inspired stereotype should seek out the lissom Kékfrankos – and indeed Kadarka – that Heimann produces down in the southern Hungarian region of Szekszárd. From improved clonal selection in the vineyard to vinification using native yeasts and whole-bunch fermentation, then maturation in older barrels or even clay amphorae, this is a producer that prizes nuance and finesse over oak-clad power.

Terroirs as ‘untrustworthy’

“My aim is to emphasise the vibrant, fresh fruit-driven aromatic character of Kadarka and Kékfrankos,” explains Heimann. When it comes to finding a market for these wines, Heimann has a clear strategy. He draws an important distinction between “traditional fine wine drinkers, who generally see unknown terroirs as untrustworthy” and “curious customers, who are overall open-minded to try out new wines”. It is the latter group, especially in export markets, who form his primary target.

Despite some promising export partnerships, Heimann cites a “very limited” generic budget and “extremely dividing” Hungarian government behaviour as obstacles to real progress. “I have the feeling that we haven’t reached the point of conviction in most markets,” he concedes.

Hungary’s Zoltán Heimann prizes nuance and finesse in his wines

Next door in Romania, one company has taken a clear lead on the export front. Pick up a bottle of Romanian wine in the UK, either from the supermarket shelves or at an independent specialist, and the chances are that it was made by Cramele Recaș.

The winery’s English co-owner and commercial director Philip Cox cites particular export success with local white variety Fetească Regală, which he reports has started to grow at a “very fast pace” in the UK over the last couple of years. This performance has confirmed Cox’s belief that “once commercial clients get the courage to try it, the wine is very popular with consumers”.

Expansion path

The producer recently invested more than €11 million to expand its production capacity, including the addition of sparkling wines, which it says will boost sales to 50 million bottles per year.

Although Cramele Recaș is also well-placed to meet the current thirst for wallet-friendly Pinot Noir, Cox is keen to focus on Romania’s USPs.

“I think in the longer term we need to promote our local varieties, which offer both a point of difference in a crowded market, and enable our customers to work with full-margin price points rather than constantly battling with the same varieties from many different countries,” he reasons.

Prestige Blanc

This spotlight on local heroes has gained a fresh angle with the company’s 2024 investment in Tenuta Mosconi, a 6m-litre capacity winery in eastern Romania, which boasts a brand-new sparkling wine production line. One of this winery’s first expressions to reach the UK is a traditional method brut “Prestige Blanc” with 24 months’ lees ageing, made from Fetească Regală.

“We are looking to expand our business with sparkling over the next couple of years,” confirms Cox. “It’s one of the few areas of the wine industry which has any growth.”

Alongside higher-value, bottle-fermented styles, he reveals a plan for “commercial-level sparkling wines made in the Charmat method starting from 2027”. Despite Romania’s appeal for buyers seeking keenly-priced, entry-level options, Cramele Recaș is working hard to demonstrate that the country represents far more than a source of cheap wine. Cox acknowledges the challenge of shifting perceptions.

“Buyers are extremely reticent to try wines at higher prices,” he reports. What’s more, “in this respect, the UK is under-performing compared to many other countries where we manage to sell much more premium wines, such as Japan, South Korea, Hungary, Germany and, of course, our home market in Romania.”.

Moldova is a “great source for on-trade wines from major grapes”

Off-piste nations

One notable UK supporter of higher-end wine from Romania – and indeed other off-piste nations in Central and Eastern Europe – is Shrewsbury-based merchant Tanners. “I don’t like the term Eastern Europe,” begins managing director James Tanner. “Bit too ‘Eastern Bloc’ for me.” Instead he classifies Romania and any neighbours at a similar or higher latitude as “Northern Europe”. After all, reasons Tanner, “my theory is that, north of that, latitude is similar to Piedmont and Beaujolais, so finer, fresher styles are easier”.

Once again, he points to a split in appeal between these countries’ international grapes and niche local varieties.

“Romania and Moldova, for example, are great sources for on-trade wines from the major grapes – the few that average consumers can remember and rarely ask where they are from,” comments Tanner. Meanwhile, experience has taught him that “indigenous grapes are great for wine tastings and more adventurous consumers, but they’re a hand-sell”.

Creating a splash

One sign of growing momentum among wines from this part of the world is the birthing of the Ultimate Central & Eastern European Wine Fair, the second edition of which takes place on 9 June at St John’s, Waterloo in London. With 71 exhibitors expected from 17 countries in attendance, organiser Caroline Gilby MW has used her personal passion for these countries – and no little expertise in their diverse wine output – to create a convenient one-stop shop for the UK trade. She sets out her mission “to create a real splash and noise about what’s going on, and showcase the complete revolution in wine quality”.

For Gilby, this group of countries represent “the last undiscovered part of the wine world, where buyers can find exciting new stories, but built on deep, authentic wine roots”.

That’s very much the appeal that has enabled these wines from Central and Eastern Europe to slot into more conservative portfolios. As Howard Ripley prepares to welcome a new Polish addition this autumn, Grinbergs continues to keep his eyes peeled for fresh opportunities in the east.

“Chablis and Bordeaux didn’t start from nothing,” he observes of the equally deep viticultural roots to be found in Slovakia’s Nitra and Czechia’s Moravia. “Maybe it’s time for a new classic.”