The Dunaj grape is seemingly incongruent between what you smell and what you taste. When we first encountered it, we assumed it was some sort of hybrid or PIWI grape. The Muscat-like aromas, deep Teinturier color, grip, acidity and alcohol didn’t seem possible with low intervention winemaking. As it turns out, it’s a crossing between Muscat Bouchet and Blauer Portugieser which was then crossed with St. Laurent. Its birth dates back to the early 1950s, but it didn’t become officially registered until the late 1990s. Late budding, late ripening, resistant to botrytis and frost, it certainly fits the bill for being applicable in Southern Slovakia.

Today there are roughly 60-70 hectares in Slovakia and it’s the first to sell out at the winery. Spontaneously fermented in 700L vats and then aged on the lees for 11 months in smaller oak barrels, the only addition is SO2.

This is one of those reds that you can’t quite put your finger on so you revisit it incessantly until it’s gone.