{"id":14994,"date":"2013-08-18T17:01:43","date_gmt":"2013-08-18T15:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/?p=14994"},"modified":"2018-06-06T10:21:37","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T08:21:37","slug":"long-weekend-wine-peppers-hungarian-villany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/18\/long-weekend-wine-peppers-hungarian-villany\/","title":{"rendered":"Long weekend with wine and peppers \u2013 Hungarian Villany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here we are in Hungary<\/b>! An ideal destination for a long weekend car trip. Prices are affordable, the distance possible to do in one or two days (depending on the driver\u2019s and car\u2019s stamina). We already knew Hungary, mainly from our wine trips to\u00a0\u00a0Eger<\/a>\u00a0and Tokaj.\u00a0Last time, while I was pregnant and Maks was to be born in two months\u2019 time, we also flew to Budapest \u2013 Lot airlines had great connections to our \u201ccousins\u201d as the Polish proverb says \u2014 departure on Friday after work, flight back on Sunday evening! Check if they still offer such connections!<\/p>\n

This time we decided to go to the southern Hungary. A small city of Villany<\/b> (2,500 inhabitants) close to the Croatian border<\/b> is the best place to stay. It\u2019s 1,100 km from Warsaw and it took us 8 hours to drive there. We arrived at the destination around 3 am on Thursday night\u2026 What welcomed us, was a sleeping town and keys to our rooms, left hidden in a desk on the patio of Polgar Panzio<\/b> guesthouse.<\/p>\n

On Thursday morning we welcomed Villany, a centre of the surrounding wine region<\/b>. The region is one of the most valued in Hungary, even though it\u2019s not too big (30 km). It is famous for its red wines<\/b>. Their quality comes from the great climate (the hottest region of Hungary), from 350 years of tradition and from great winemakers. Even though Villany is quite small, you\u2019ll find many wineries in charming little houses and dozens of amazingly good restaurants.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Villany,<\/a><\/dt>\n
cellars in Villany<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Villany,<\/a><\/dt>\n
cellars<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Villany<\/b> is surrounded in beautiful green areas with kilometres of grapes growing everywhere. The best way to see the views is to take a \u201cnot so legal\u201d walk through the vineyards. A bit risky, but the views are remarkable!<\/p>\n

The history of winemaking in Villany dates back to 1740, <\/b>when the German settlers came there. In the 19th<\/sup> century, wines of Villany were already famous among European aristocracy. Unfortunately, the communism times (as you can imagine) weren\u2019t gracious for the winemakers \u2013 the Germans were expelled from Hungary and the authorities cared more about quantity than quality and they planted the grapes so they can be cultivated using machinery. The renaissance of winemaking came in 1990 thanks to producers such as Bock, Polgar, Tiffan<\/b> and Gere<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"winnice,<\/a><\/dt>\n
greenness of the local vineyards<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Villany,<\/a><\/dt>\n
an afternoon in the grapevines<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Villany,<\/a><\/dt>\n
the neighbourhood of Villany<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Knowing the wine character of the Villany<\/b> area, we settled in a vineyard \u2013\u00a0Polgar Panzio,\u00a0<\/a>owned\u00a0by Zoltan Polgar<\/b>, one of the top winemakers. Polgar, who won the title of Hungarian Winemaker of the year in 1996, runs the vineyard with his wife Katalin.<\/p>\n

The guesthouse (this label is more adequate than a hotel) offers cosy rooms with a decent breakfast. Even though this time we came here without Maks, we noticed a small playground and a nice kids\u2019 corner.<\/p>\n

Being there, we just had to see amazingly spacious cellar full of large old barrels with maturing wine\u2026 It\u2019s good to listen to a local guide and taste some wines from Mr Polgar\u2019s cellar. If you\u2019re lucky, you may meet one the most awarded winemakers in Hungary during your visit or while having a dinner later on\u2026 We did! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Polgar<\/a><\/dt>\n
Polgar Pinceszet<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"wino,<\/a><\/dt>\n
wine maturing<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"piwnica<\/a><\/dt>\n
tradition and modernity – as they say: a necessary combination to stay on the wine market<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Villany,<\/a><\/dt>\n
meet the owners: Zoltan Polgar and his wife Katalin<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Other winemakers worth remembering are Attila Gere <\/b>and J\u00f3zsef Bock.<\/b><\/p>\n

Gere<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>same\u00a0as Polgar, is not only a vineyard but also a hotel and Mandula<\/b> restaurant \u2013 this one\u2019s very high quality, not far from the culinary top in French Saint Emilion<\/b>. The duck\u2019s liver is mind blowing and we\u2019ll talk more about other specialties served in Mandula in our next posts.<\/p>\n

J\u00f3zsef Bock\u00a0and his wines seem to be the most popular. <\/b>You\u2019ll find them in the restaurants in the area and in Hungarian restaurants in Poland. His wines are worth trying and same goes for his\u00a0<\/strong>restaurant.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
Bock – a vineyard, restaurant and hotel – all in one<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

The culinary level of Villany came to us as a surprise. Most of the places we visited in Hungary before, were serving tasty, yet very simple and homespun food. Villany was on the other hand exquisite, stylish and elegant. What we liked most,<\/b> was Bock\u2019s cuisine \u2013 delicious<\/b>, Hungarian and exquisite at the same time. We spent two nights there \u2013 it was enjoyable, tasty and obviously with lots of great wine.<\/p>\n

When it comes to starters, marinated peppers served with cottage cheese<\/b> is one of the best shots. Just perfect on a hot day. Also a typical Hungarian meal \u2013 goose liver<\/b> \u2013 served cold, in a small pot that reminded us of grandma\u2019s kitchen\u2026<\/p>\n

One other interesting idea was little pearls, called the \u201cwine caviar\u201d<\/b> served with a salmon. It wasn\u2019t as good as the amazing peppers or liver though.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
remarkable flavour of a light snack on a hot evening<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Villany,<\/a><\/dt>\n
goose liver served cold – \u0141ukasz’s favourite<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
salmon with “wine” caviar<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
borscht with cream<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

We chose a selection of diverse main courses. I liked both the venison goulash with peppers galuska<\/b>, a meal that brings back my memories about Hungarian cuisine, and when it comes to a smaller hunger, I went mad for the goat\u2019s cheese with spicy potatoes<\/b>. An unusual combination, yet very simple and tasty.<\/p>\n

\u0141ukasz liked the Mangalitsa-chop<\/i><\/b> <\/i>in particular, a pork chop from Mangalica pigs from preventive breeding, popular in Hungary, served with spicy baked peppers sauce. He didn\u2019t like the veal with xerocomus mushrooms that much, but the potato and spinach pur\u00e9e made it quite a special meal.<\/p>\n

The menu also includes white meat, lamb, a variety of steaks (staring with little ones \u2013 10o grams and ending with giant ones weighing as much as 1 kg!) and fish. Something for everybody with all meals being the same high quality.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
venison goulash in red wine with peppers homemade galuska<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
veal with xerocomus mushrooms…<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
best served with potato and spinach puree<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Villany,<\/a><\/dt>\n
goose, duck and chicken with potato puree and cherry sauce<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
Mangalica pork chop, peppers sauce and homemade pasta<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
goat’s cheese and spicy potatoes – my favourite!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
a steak – the smallest of all served in Bock<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

And now, the desserts<\/b>\u2026\u00a0 You can go for something classic and \u201cmine\u201d such as chocolate souffl\u00e9 with raspberry sauce <\/b>or something more original such as cottage cheese dumpling with chocolate cream and blueberry sauce<\/b>. The cheese ball in crispy breading was an absolute bull\u2019s eye and we all loved it! What\u2019s weird is that it was even better than the souffl\u00e9! A combination of delicate and a bit sour cheese, crispy and sweet breading, Nutella-like chocolate and blueberry sauce really blew us away!<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
an absolute star of the evening!<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Bock,<\/a><\/dt>\n
a classic: chocolate souffle with raspberry sauce<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Apart from culinary pleasures, Bock<\/b> obviously offers lots of wines. Here you\u2019ll find both some intriguing rose wines as well as delicious red ones. These are worth trying and taking back to Warsaw as the prices are quite good \u2013 starting with PLN 20 for a bottle. There\u2019s something for real connoisseurs as well \u2013 bottles that cost PLN 300 each. The prices of food range from HUF 900 to 4000, which is around PLN 14, (e.g. for delicious marinated peppers) to PLN 60. The desserts cost around HUF 700 \u2013 800 which is around PLN 12. Is it worth it? For sure!<\/p>\n

Southern Hungary is of course not only Villany\u2026 some other places in the area are worth visiting, but we\u2019ll get to that next time. Now we\u2019re saying \u201cgood night!\u201d and recharging our batteries before the trip Villany-Warsaw with stops on the way in Eger and Tokaj!<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re saying “Egeszsegedre!<\/b>” which means \u201cCheers!<\/b>\u201d!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here we are in Hungary! An ideal destination for a long weekend car trip. Prices are affordable, the distance possible to do in one or two days (depending on the driver\u2019s and car\u2019s stamina). We already knew Hungary, mainly from our wine trips to\u00a0\u00a0Eger\u00a0and Tokaj.\u00a0Last time, while I was pregnant and Maks was to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2982,2996,2981],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLong weekend with wine and peppers \u2013 Hungarian Villany<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For this long weekend, we decided to go to Hungary. 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