2 la pahar. Azi, cu Susan Tolson (also in English)

—-In preambulul intalnirii #winelover de la Bucuresti din 24 august, am avut placerea sa o cunosc pe Sue Tolson, venita special pentru aceasta intalnire, dar si sa se documenteze despre vinurile românești și despre winebarurile din capitala noastra pe perioada a 4 zile.
—-Sue Tolson e o englezoaica din Liverpool, absolventa de limbi straine care dupa ce a lucrat in mai multe capitale europene, s-a stabilit in urma cu 3 ani in Budapesta. Pasiune pentu vin a trecut demult de granita simplelor degustari, astfel incat acum studiaza WSET nivelul 4 si traduce, editeaza si scrie in revista on-line Wine Sofa din Ungaria (o revista cu radacini românești, dupa cum veti putea vedea). Sue calatoreste mult, organizeaza degustari si scrie despre vinuri unguresti, dar si despre experientele sale cu vinurile din est. Scrie despre wine pairing, despre gastronomie, despre traditii, stiluri de vinificare si are echidistanta unui venit din capatul celalalt al europei.
—-Am avut la dispozitie suficient timp incat sa viziteze cateva winebaruri din Bucuresti, fiind norocosi sa gasim doar doua inchise duminica la pranz. A degustat cat de mult s-a putut: feteasca regala, cramposie si feteasca neagra la Vinoteca Mea, alte fetesti regale si cramposii, dar si feteasca neagra la Ethic Wine, mustoasa, novac, din nou cramposie, busuioaca, dar si un cabernet de Dragasani, precum si un furmint romanesc la Corcks, dar si un cupaj alb din R. Moldova.
—-Duminica la pranz, ne-a dus intr-un loc din apropierea Curtii Vechi, acolo unde Vlad Tepes e pe toti peretii si se uita la tine… hai sa zicem sobru! Crama Domneasca, unde terasa era intesata de turisti din toata lumea, e perete in perete cu vechea cetate de scaun si unde am analizat o grasa de Cotnari – Colocviu la Moscova 2014.
—-Foarte atenta, Sue a ascultat povestea grasei de Cotnari in ambele variante. Cea care le face placere maghiarilor, dar si varianta cu provenienta grasei de prin zona Alba Iulia. Daca are ceva in comun cu furmintul? Sue, ca o apropiata a vinurilor unguresti, spune ca ar avea ceva, dar se apropie mai mult, ca arome, de mar verde si citrice fiind un vin forte proaspat. Spre satisfactia mea, vinul nu are mineralitatea specifica furmintului, dar amandoi l-am gasit foarte fresh, destul de elegant, usor parfumat si cu tente de alune, echilibrat si mai putin amarui decat furmintul pe final, plasandu-l la +6,5 papioane/8 pe scala mea. Vinul lui Stefan cel Mare ar putea face cariera si in afara Romaniei, dar mai putin in Ungaria, unde piata nu e foarte deschisa pentru importuri, imi spune Sue.
—-Că România e mereu surprinzatoare, si-a dat seama si Sue, care la plecarea din Budapesta spre noi a fost insistent avertizata ca in Bucuresti va fi escrocata de taximetristi si daca scapa de ei, va fi atacata cu siguranta de haitele de caini. In schimb, a dat de multe vinuri noi, multe din ele placandu-i, de strazi si cladiri frumoase, de muzee in care ai ce vedea si de o comunitate de iubitori de vin peste asteptari. Dar asta va fi o alta poveste, de care Sue isi va aduce aminte cu siguranta si care va fi postata cat de curand, poate chiar in blogul sau Budapest Wine Snob.
—-Cu bine Sue!

English version ———————————————————————————-

Two around a glass. Today, with Susan Tolson

—-During the preamble of the #winelover meeting in Bucharest on the 24th of August, I had the pleasure to meet Sue Tolson, who came specially for this event and for some research about Romanian wines and the winebars within our capital for four days as well.
—-Sue Tolson is an English woman born near Liverpool, who graduated in Foreign Languages. After she had worked in many European countries, she settled in Budapest three years ago. Her passion for wine goes beyond just simple wine-tastings. Thus, currently she is studying WSET level 4 and translates, publishes and writes online in Wine Sofa from Hungary (a magazine with Romanian roots, as you can see). Sue travels a lot, organizes tastings and writes about Hungarian wines but also about her own experiences with the wines from Eastern Europe. More like the ones from the other side of the Europe, she is objective when it comes to wine pairing, gastronomy, customs, styles of winemaking.
—-We had plenty of time in order to visit some winebars from Bucharest as we were very lucky to find only two closed on Sunday afternoon. She tasted as much as she could: fetească regala, crampoșie si feteasca neagra la Vinoteca Mea, the same varieties but other wines at Ethic Wine, mustoasa, novac, once again crampoșie, busuioaca, but also a Cabernet from Dragașani, a Romanian furmint at Corcks and a blend from Republic of Moldova.
—-On Sunday afternoon, we were at a place near The Old Court where Vlad Tepes was all over the place watching you…we might say a little bit sober. We tasted a Grasa de Cotnari – Colocviu at Moscow 2014 at the Crama Domnească restaurant. Its terrace was full of tourists from all over the world and it was right next to the old citadel.
—-Sue listens with great interest to the story of Grasa de Cotnari – both versions. The one that the Hungarians prefer and the story of the roots of this variety from the Alba Iulia area. Is there anything in common with furmint? Sue as a lover of the Hungarian wines says that it might actually have something but it tends more to green apple and citrus in terms of flavour and it is a strong fresh wine. As far as I am concerned, there was a lack of minerality specific to the furmint. Still, we both found the wine very fresh, elegant, slightly fragrant with hints of hazelnuts, balanced and less bitter than the furmint on the finish. We evaluate it at +6,5/8 tie-bows, on my scale. The Stephen the Great wine could make a real career abroad, but perhaps not so much in Hungary because of the market which is not so open to imports at the moment, according to Sue.
—-Romania always surprises, Sue notice this too. On her way to Bucharest, she was strongly warned about the taxi drivers’ scams and the packs of dogs which might attack her. In spite of all this, she tasted most new wines – she enjoyed many of them, she saw beautiful streets and buildings, museums where you can actually see something and met a wonderful #winelover community, beyond anyone’s expectations. That will be another story that Sue will remember for sure and will be posted soon, perhaps on her blog: Budapest Wine Snob.
—-See you soon, Sue!