Wine Ghosts

In the 5th episode of the Balaton Upland series, I interviewed Lilla Laposa, the youngest member of the Laposa winery family, from the Badacsony Hill. You will learn how Lake Balaton, paired with the volcanic basalt soil, creates a truly unmatchable microclimate on the Badacsony Hill. Lilla gives reasons why the Olaszrizling has become their flagship variety, and how diverse it can become. She als...

This week, you can hear Hungary’s Sommelier Champion, Victoria Evans, who joined me for an exciting conversation. Victoria changed her career from the Hungarian army to later become the head sommelier of the first-ever Hungarian Michelin Star Restaurant and then the first woman to become the sommelier champion of Hungary. Nowadays, she lives in Budapest and works as the executive head sommelier at...

The Nikolaihof is one of the benchmark estates worldwide if you are looking for great, age-worthy white wines with character. This is the oldest estate in Austria, lying on the right bank of the River Danube in Mautern, in the beautiful Wachau. The estate is led by the Saahs family for more than 120 years now and working biodynamically since the 70s already. They still use a more than 350 years ol...

In this episode, you can hear a particularly inspiring conversation with Heidi Mäkinen, Master of Wine from Finland. In addition to earning her MW title in 2019, she is also the president of the Finnish Sommelier Association, working as a wine ambassador and educates students and wine enthusiasts all over the world. During our conversation, Heidi shared her former experiences working as a female s...

Today’s guest is Simon Gattinger, a 22-year old winemaker from the Wachau Valley, Austria. He inherited precious vineyard sites on the Eastern side of the valley and took the courage to establish his own wine label a couple of years ago. He shared his plans and main considerations behind his new plantings, revealed some secrets about the precious soil compositions of the Wachau, and emphasized the...

Today’s guest is Johannes Schellhorn, Sommelier and the co-owner of the ‘Freundschaft’ wine bar in Berlin. Johannes’s philosophy about the duties of a sommelier tells you everything how open-minded he is when it comes to various gastronomic products: “To think about everything you put in your mouth”. He also shared a drop of his widespread knowledge about fruit wines and his approach to natural wi...

In this episode, you can hear Armin Tement from the Tement winery, Styria, Austria. Winery Tement is a must-know if you are a lover of Sauvignon Blanc and want to have one the best expression of the Styrian wine world. Their vineyards are flourishing on various rocks and top soils near the Slovenian border in Styria. The winery specializes in elegant white wines that could bring the best out of th...

Wine Ghosts contact: Instagram:@wineghosts | e-mail: infowineghosts@gmail.com This is the second 'Ghost/Blind Tasting' episode, and this time I chose the variety: Sauvignon Blanc. This one of the most planted and most favoured grape varieties on the planet. You can find this variety in multiple different styles from Chile to the Loire Valley. I've picked these two wines, from the Western part of H...

“Welcome to the new old world!” This suggestive sentence greets the visitors of my next guest’s, Athena Bochanis, website. Athena is a New York-based importer of fine Hungarian wines. She is a former law student who fell in love with the Hungarian world and started her own import company under the name of Palinkerie about six years ago. Athena shares her insights into the beverage world’s current...

“Natural wine is like jumping in the dark without a safety net, but if you have the knowledge, you can solve it. … But you have to sit down and think.” |  Another unique face in the Balaton Upland series: István Bencze. István is a first-generation winemaker, who got inspired by the Tuscan lifestyle and natural wines, so he decided to leave his successful IT career behind and establish his family-...

Tasting starts at 9:30 | e-mail: infowineghosts@gmail.com  | @wineghosts on Instagram | The first blind tasting or as I like to call it ghost tasting episode is up in the air! This more casual series will not only cover my tasting impressions and slurping, but I’ll try to give some simple guidelines to trace the stories in the glass and link them to the rather hard facts about the specific grape v...

Third episode from the Balaton Upland series and the second one from the Saint George Mountain. I went back to the Saint George Mountain to visit Róbert Gilvesy, the founder and leader of the Gilvesy Winery, in Hegymagas. Róbert is Canadian-Hungarian, and these roots have a profound effect on the philosophy behind the Gilvesy wines. As the winery itself is turning more and more towards indigenous...

This is the second episode from the Balaton Uplands series. After the Somló Hill, we go south and I sat down with the young Endre Szászi on the Saint George Hill. Endre is a second-generation winemaker at the Szászi Winery, which has been making wine organically since its beginnings. Endre tells us about organic farming methods and its peculiarities on their parcels, and introduces us to their spe...

Tamás, the man behind the 'Somlói Vándor' wines, welcomed us in his tasting room built from rocks of the volcanic hill and portrayed the philosophy behind winemaking on this unique “Witness Mountain”. We tasted three impressive whites from his cellar together, which have proved the special character of the hill as well as its flagship variety, the Juhfark! Furthermore, you can hear the legend of t...

Guest: Viola Albrecht from the Albrecht Kiessling Winery, Heilbronn, Württemberg, Germany Viola represents the new generation of German winemakers who introduces you to a gorgeous wine region in Southern Germany around Heilbronn, that deserves more fame and recognition than it gets nowadays. In the conversation: terroir mapping with historical dimensions, live wine tasting with bold German red win...

Guest: Kristian Kielmayer / Wine educator & consultant & tour guide This episode is full of inspirational stories, educational lessons and great take-aways. Kristian has a very colorful career in the wine world: knowledgable and communicative wine educator, consultant at many establishments, former wine merchant, trip organiser, photographer, and after all, a truly cheerful and friendly guy. In th...

This time, I spoke to Sebastian Giraldo, Columbian Sommelier, who shared his recent experiences about taking the Advanced Sommelier exam in the U.S., using different techniques to expand one’s wine knowledge, helping tourists to understand different terroirs as a sommelier and wine educator, and the reasons why Hungarian oak is such a unique tool in international winemakers’ pocket. | Wine Ghosts'...

Florian Zaruba, the German CEO behind one of the most innovative Hungarian wineries: the Kristinus Wine Estate from Kéthely. Florian went deep on the importance of turning the winery into a biodynamic one, on his views about Hungarian wines, his experiences as an international wine tourist and much more. |   Wine Ghosts Instagram: @wineghosts | E-Mail: info@wineghosts.com Florian's Instagram: @flo...

In this episode, I talked to Gvantsa Sekhniashvili, a Georgian wine professional, sharing her passion for wine in Hungary. We’ve been talking about her unique tasting experiences featuring Georgian and Hungarian wines, the unique terroirs of Georgia, wine as a pivotal part of Georgia’s history and everyday life, wine pairings, as well as the important role of wine tourism and wine marketing in let...