Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Degenfeld Wines and Hotel

We had a lunch on the terrace at Hotel Tokaj with a marvelous view of the river. There were hundreds of song birds singing and lots of martins and swallows zipping through the air. A swallow on the beams on the terrace.

The menu was fantastic and not over priced. They have many delicious local dishes and specialize in fish.
Stunning ancient acacia tree on the grounds to the front.

We then went on to our next stop Gróf Degenfeld. The wine production is directly behind the manor house which has been converted to a fine and luxurious hotel. My friends had booked an appointment for the delux wine tasting on line. Although there was a mix-up with the on-line booking, we were seated in a comfortable and opulent front room with views to the manicured grounds and made very comfortable.This man (possibly the head waiter) spent a great deal of time discussing the wines on offer during the tasting. The presentation was entirely in Hungarian, but thankfully I was with two people who speak fluent Hungarian and English. They were perfect translators! At one point in the proceedings, the general manager of the hotel came through and introduced himself and hoped we were enjoying the wines.This establishment produces a marvelous white Muscat wine (Gróf Degenfeld Muscat Lunel). It is semi-sweet and smells of elderflowers. I just love it.
Half way throught the wine tasting the chef came through with a plate piled high with just-out-of-the-oven pastries. They were made with puff pastry and filled with local plum jam. At first, the pastries were a bit too hot and we had to blow on them a bit. We were greedy and couldn't wait for them to cool. The pastries were as luxurious as our surroundings!

Again, I could not buy any wines as I was restricted by airline regulations. Fortunately for me, once I was through security and waiting to board my flight, I discovered they sell Gróf Degenfeld Muscat Lunel at duty free!!! I was able to take a bottle home to share with The Man of the Place.

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