2016 Kékfrankos Better Late Than Never
Eger, Hungary
Welcome to our 25th label anniversary!!!
(Yeahhhhhh…haha)
For our special anniversary label we wanted to offer something truly badass. Something that would further define how special Kitten Swish really is. We have over the years introduced new wines to the portfolio and for this anniversary release we wanted to offer you something truly rare. Something that would quicken the heart beat and ultimately find itself in the special part of the cellar…
…the swishy part.
For this special bottling of Kitten Swish I traveled to Hungary to meet up with friend and Master Sommelier John Szabo to taste a range of Kékfrankos from his vineyard on the fabled hill of Eged. Nothing less would do…obviously.
I’ve known John for years and ever since I can remember I’ve subtly, and not so subtly, suggested we work on a project with Kitten Swish and John’s J&J label. We both love the Kék. The time came in 2017 when a well-timed trip to Italy allowed for a splendid stopover in Eger. Close companion and fellow wine judge Michael Godel joined us. It was a marvelous two day adventure roaming the slopes of the Bükk mountains in search of mind-blowing Kékfrankos.
John’s partner Dr. Janos Stumpf and his son Peter gave us a killer tasting of prospect wines. A particularly robust barrel of 2016 old vine hit the mark; showing sirenic Syrah like spice, a very fresh rip of acid and bony knuckles of tannin…perfect for
magnums. The wine stems from Stumpf’s vineyard situated in the middle of the south facing hill of Eged (Corton like…kinda). The rolling hills were formed from ancient volcanoes and are comprised of various bits of rhyolite tufa, limestone and heavy clay. The vineyards are dry farmed, hand harvested with vine ages of around 45 years. Natural yeasts in the winery with no fining or filtration.
The label for this gloriously rare bottle (75 magnums…it almost doesn’t exist!) was inspired by a whole host of things. At the time the label was required the mustard fields were high and ripe and we were in the middle of a lovely summer. My girlfriend Makina also happened to be 25 at the time and didn’t fight too hard when I asked her to be my model. She was a trooper as I made her stand on dusty back roads smoking cigarettes (something she hates) while farmers rubbernecked as they drove by.
The name of the wine is attributed to the fact that we have released labels 26, 27, 28 and soon to be 29 before releasing our 25th anniversary label. Amazing. I often say the only thing that happens fast in wine is the drinking. There were numerous delays in getting this project completed, all of them reasonable and simply put it just took this much time to get done; roughly 3 years from initial planning. Sometimes you have to wait…better late than never.
For those of you who like to take your time…
Stay the course…keep steady…
Better late than never.
For allocation requests or a list of available retailers please contact us.