The Fekete járdovány (fekete means black and járdovány means járdovány – so we don’t know) is an ancient Carpathian Basin grape variety, which was widespread in the territory of then Hungary in the pre-Philoxera times.
This Hungarian red wine‘s color is deeper than the average, youngish. Hue turns purple with carmine reflexes. Its nose is spicy with blackberries, and very lively. In its taste: mainly coffee, sour cherry, redcurrant, and white pepper appear. When tasted pleasant acids matched with firm tannins. It ends with a flavoury, long-lasting fruity sip.
The A. Gere Winery has brought it back into the public consciousness through a varietal study. It is a rare, almost extinct variety preserved in the gene bank of the Research Institute of Viticulture and Enology of the University of Pécs. The institute is well known in Hungary for keeping ancient Hungarian and Central European wine grape varieties that would have become extinct without its efforts.
Andrea Gere says the following about the variety and the experiment:
“In 2004 we brought seven ancient Hungarian varieties from the Research Institute of Viticulture and Enology of the University of Pécs. At that time, we received Bakator, Balafánt, Purcsin, Feketefájú Bajor, Kék Bajor, Csókaszőlő, and Fekete Járdovány. As an experiment, we first started with 2-2 rows of each of these as a trial planting near the winery building.
Since we did not have the opportunity to taste them as varietal wines at the Research Institute, and because of the small quantities, we did not make wine from each of them individually, we based our conclusions on the character of the grapes and bunches and their disease resistance. It was an exciting experience. The two runners-up were Csókaszőlő and Fekete járdovány, and in the end, we decided to stick with Fekete Járdovány grapes. This is now in the Ördögárok and Csillagvölgy vineyards, but we keep planting more because it works.
It is not a variety called a “typical Villány wine.” The variety produces a more delicate, spicy, fruity wine that is more acidic than alcoholic or tannic. If I had to compare it to other grape varieties, I would say the pinot noir-kadarka–kékfrankos style is close. Few people are familiar with Fekete járdoványt, in fact, most people think it’s a fancy name on a label when it’s not. It’s the name of the grape variety.
It prefers cooler vintages when the fruitiness dominates and the weather gives it its character. In the warmer vintages, the spiciness takes a back seat and the characteristics of the wine region come to the fore. The first vintage was in 2009.
The wine is matured in larger, 300-500 litre, second-fill barrels for 10-12 months, depending on the vintage, to preserve its fruitiness, playfulness and varied, vibrant spiciness that has made us love this variety. Only a few bottles are available at the moment.”
Not much is known about the origin and history of the Fekete járdovány variety. A book published in 1829 mentions that it was widely planted and that it probably originated in West Ukraine (which would have been part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the time), east of Tokaj, near the Ukrainian-Slovak-Hungarian border, in the triangular area between the cities of Beregszász (Ukrainian: Berehovo), Uzhhorod (Ukrainian: Uzhhorod) and Mukachevo (Ukrainian: Mukachevo).
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