Kadarka

Kadarka was once the most important red grape of central Europe and is now a minority interest, which is a reversal worth understanding. It was the historic backbone of Egri Bikavér — Bull's Blood — the Hungarian red blend that was for a long time the region's most famous wine, and it was planted across Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania in enormous quantity.

It fell out of favour for practical reasons. Kadarka ripens late, is highly susceptible to rot in a wet autumn, and gives thin, pale, disappointing wine if it is cropped at the yields state-era agriculture demanded. Kékfrankos — Blaufränkisch — did everything more reliably, and by the late twentieth century it had largely replaced Kadarka in Bikavér and elsewhere.

What was lost is a particular kind of lightness. Kadarka at its best is pale to medium ruby, fragrant and spicy, with sour cherry, red plum, white pepper and paprika, fine light tannin and bright acidity. It is a red of aroma and lift rather than weight, and the paprika note in particular is unusual and distinctive.

Its revival has been driven by a small number of growers in Szekszárd and Eger who kept old plantings, and by a broader shift in taste towards lighter, fresher reds that finally plays to the grape's strengths. In Bulgaria it is Gamza, in Serbia Skadarka, and small quantities are still made in both.

The natural comparison is with a peppery, light-bodied Blaufränkisch or a very savoury Gamay, though neither quite catches the spice.