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Kovács Nimród Winery

The Kovács Nimród Winery (KNW) is situated in the Eger Wine Region which is located in Central Europe, Hungary. The Eger region has a cooler climate, which is similar to Burgundy or to Northern Rhone wine regions. Thanks to Eger’s well situated vineyards and unique terroir it is often referred to as the “Hungarian Burgundy”. It has a continental climate and diversed soils which makes it capable of producing both red and white varietals, and the traditional source of Bull's Blood. These varietals include: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, but also traditional Hungarian varietals, such as Furmint and Kékfrankos.

The owner, Nimród Kovács

Nimród had a very adventurous life: at the age of 21 had the strength to leave his native Hungary, and start a new life as a dishwasher in the U.S.A. He did so by swimming the Adriatic to Trieste, spending months in various refugee camps in Italy, finally, ending up in Colorado. Kovács is a former advertising and telecommunications executive, who was the Executive Chairman of UPC Central Europe Group and who introduced, among other channels, HBO to Hungary. He has worked in many locations around the world, and spent half of his life in the U.S. In 2009 he retired from the corporate world to focus on his long time passion, wines. In 2009 bought Nimród Kovács the former Monarchia Winery and planted varietals that feel very much at home in Eger.

The winery and the cellar

The winery is situated in seven continuous cellars on the Verőszala street in the historic part of Eger. Back in the 18th century, there were hundreds of wine press houses in Eger, which were erected above their respective cellars to handle onsite processing of the grapes. From the outside the winery looks like a traditional press house but under the building there is a hundreds of years old cellar carved in stone.  After the grape juice are being gently guided into fine wine with professionalism, the wines are stored in barrels in the cool cellars below.

The Kovács Nimród Winery has three tracts of land in the region: 10 hectares in Nagy-Eged (Eger), 8 hectares in Nyilasmár (Noszvaj) and 12 hectares in Nagyfai (also in Noszvaj). From the three tracts of land the winery produces 100.000 bottles of hand-crafted wine, in 3 product lines. The vast sold in Hungary, the rest is exported to the USA and other parts of the world. At the top of the pyramid, is the Nagy Eged hill with its Grand Cru characteristics where high quality, haute couture, unique, not mass market wines come from, targeting collectors. In the middle of the pyramid are the Estate Selection wines while they also make everyday wines called EGRI for the bottom of the pyramid with purchased grapes that will sell at hypermarkets and large retail outlets. In Budapest, up to 30 restaurants sells Kovács Nimród Wines, including the Michelin star Onyx and Costes. Nimród Kovács was selected the gastro-winemaker of the year by the vast majority of Hungary’s best restaurants in the Best of Budapest & Hungary vote in 2016. The winery is backed by the expertise of the professional team of a Hungarian winemaker (Szerdahelyi Péter) and an American flying wine consultant (Kent Barthman).

Vineyards and varietals

• Nagy-Eged (Eger) 25 acres facing south-southwest, this steep-sloping site sits on a giant limestone rock and is covered by a thin top soil that is less than a meter thick. At this high stress site, we harvest our grapes from 350 to 550 meters above sea level, which when combined with the unique microclimate of this area, produces highly concentrated and mineral rich wines. Nagy-Eged is considered to be the best terroir in the Eger wine region and we are honored to have the only Grand Cru terroir located here. Varietals from this terroir include: Furmint, Kékfrankos, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Merlot

• Nagyfai (Noszvaj) 30 acres consists of gently sloping forest soils interspersed with volcanic rocks. This site produces well balanced and well-rounded wines and the varietals of this terroir include:  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Kékfrankos, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
• Nyilasmar (Noszvaj) 20 acres Blessed with a unique microclimate due to Lake Bogacs, this site has soils rich in minerals that result in distinctive, fresh, and fruit packed wines. This terroir is mainly comprised of granite and volcanic soils with south-southwesterly exposure. Varietals of the terroir include: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Kékfrankos.

Prizes

The Kovács Nimród Wines gained national and international success. More wines from Nagy-Eged were awarded with gold medals at one of the most acknowledged American wine competition, at the Chicago Beverage Testing Institute. Made in a classical Burgundian style, the 2013 Chardonnay Battonage in 2016 was awarded a gold medal at the World Wine Championships. 2011 vintage Syrah got 93 points, not only it proves that Eger can serve as a true home for this international varietal, but no European Syrah has ever before scored so high. 2012 Chardonnay Battonage in 2015 was awarded a gold medal at The Chardonnay du Monde Wine Contest. It is one of the most highly-regarded international competition of Chardonnay wines and champagnes.