WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
Hungary & Croatia:
Food and Wine tour
October 2 – October 12, 2023
Experience, taste and discover the wine and culinary traditions from two Central European countries that should be high on any foodies’ list’ Hungary and Croatia. This is 10 day small-group tour (12 people max) starts in Hungary before heading to Croatia. Along the way we will experience a variety of terroirs, taste dozens of different wines (the vast majority of which are not available in the US), nosh on an array of local dishes & flavors and meet the hospitable and passionate people who make all of this happen.
Hungary’s Culinary culture has many layers to discover—from the hearty home-cooking in the countryside and the Jewish kitchen (which has contributed so much to the flavor of the country’s cuisine), to the decadent baking traditions, and more recently, the contemporary Hungarian restaurants which are spicing up the dining scene in Budapest. There’s definitely lots more to Hungarian cuisine than paprika (though we will also taste plenty of dishes which rely on this quintessential Hungarian spice), and the excellent hand-crafted wines are still under-appreciated outside of the country. We’ll spend a few days in Tokaj, where we will meet winemakers, tour their labyrinth-like cellars, and taste their wines—both sweet and dry. Sample dry Furmints (the region’s signature grape), Hárslevelű (another indigenous varietal), and Aszú, the sweet wine for which the region is most famous. It’s an exceedingly special wine with a long-lingering finish and the potential to age for decades, even centuries.
At a geographic, cultural and culinary intersection of Mediterranean, Slavic, German and Central European influences is Croatia. Since our tour is not on Croatia’s famous Dalmatian coast, we will take in many smaller, wonderful gastro spots that far off the beaten path. Graševina, Blaufränkisch/Frankovka and some exceptional Pinot Noirs await you in the smaller towns along the Danube, frontiers and low-rising hills in the country’s eastern regions.
Join us on this intimate travel experience that will inspire you to delve even deeper into this fascinating region filled with thousand-year-old traditions, delicious food and wine, scenic vistas and charming towns. But this tour is more than just a fabulous collection of wine tastings and dining on delicious local culinary delights. Each day presents a special opportunity for guests to sit down, talk with and learn from a myriad of friendly local producers, wine makers and chefs in their cellars, houses, kitchens and vineyards.
Tour leader Gabor
Day One
Overnight: Budapest, Hungary
Welcome to Budapest
Your Taste Hungary driver and guide will meet you at the airport. Check in at a centrally located 4-star hotel. Take a four-hour long walking tour covering the major sights on the Pest side. Taste Hungary’s private wine cellar and restaurant in the heart of Budapest will introduce you to the Hungarian kitchen with a casual cooking class and wine tasting dinner. Enjoy such Hungarian specialties as chicken paprikás with spätzle (nokedli), cucumber salad, fruit soup, which guests can help make, and Hungarian pancakes (palacsinta) for dessert.
Next Day
Day Two
Overnight: Budapest, Hungary
Central Market foodie by day, ruin bars by night
Central Market for a four-hour walk exploring Hungary’s culinary culture. The tour will include tastings at the market, a traditional lunch at a butcher, and cakes and coffee at a traditional coffeehouse. Mid-afternoon at leisure.
Meet your guide for an evening of beer, wine and ruin bar walk with snacks. Ruin bars are unique Budapest institutions. They started popping up in the late 90’s in the former Jewish district’s abandoned buildings serving cheap boose and some bar food to students. We will try a little bit of everything. Craft beer, pálinka, spritzer, maybe add a couple of local liqueurs. We will order some light, local bar food and have fun. Get ready for the trip to Tokaj.
Next Day
Day Three
Overnight: Tokaj wine region, Hungary
Discover Tokaj wines in Hungary’s famed wine region
Tokaj was the world’s first delimited wine region, and some of the world’s finest dessert wines are produced in this little corner of Hungary. We will start with a morning tasting at one of the most renowned estates of Tokaj, the Spanish-Hungarian Oremus Winery, which has one of the most amazing cellar systems in the region, dug deep into the rhyolite tuff, formed from volcanic ash. We usually start with dry, lighter furmints then move on to heavier dry wines, sometimes vineyard selected. Along midway we will jump into the sweet side of Tokaj starting with szamorodni, then move on to different aszús and finish with eszencia, the most expensive wine in the world, wherever we can.
Lunch at a traditional family owned cellar. They have their own farm, raise their own animals and make the full spectrum of Tokaj wines! Visit the castle of Sárospatak. It sits right on the Bodrog river and is a landmark that made it to many historic wine labels. It ha’s been nicely renovated and is a beautiful example of a medieval Hungarian fortress. Check into hotel located in the middle of endless vineyards and right by the side of the Teresia hill, it is also a great place for walks in our off time. The restaurant and its huge garden with ancient trees is also makes it a really pleasant place. Dinner at the hotel.
Next Day
Day Four
Overnight: Tokaj wine region, Hungary
Barrel making and Jewish heritage in Tokaj
Visit a Synagogue in town of Mád which dates back to 1795. Situated on a hill overlooking the majestic vineyards of this wine region, it is one of the oldest surviving synagogues in Hungary. Enjoy traditional beef goulash (gulyás) cooked over a fire by a local winemaker. Head to Erdöbénye, a lovely village which has a long tradition of cooperage. Visit a cooper in his workshop and have a demonstration of handmade traditional Hungarian oak barrels (the oak comes from the nearby Zemplén forests).
Walk off the wine and food with an easy hike around the beautiful wine country. Enjoy a farewell dinner with a wine maker couple who will welcome us in their home.
Next Day
Day Five
Overnight: Overnight: Budapest, Hungary
Buda castle and Danube river cruise
Drive back to Budapest. Cross over to the Buda side of the city and discover the Buda castle/Royal Palace with your guide. It houses both the Budapest History Museum and the Hungarian National Gallery. Lunch with your guide at a traditional restaurant. Private Danube boat ride with sparkling pezsgő wine. Spend the evening on your own and get ready for the trip to Villány.
.
Next Day
Day Six
Overnight: Villány, Hungary
Bold reds in old cellars
Villány is Hungary’s southernmost wine-producing region, and is well-known for producing Hungary’s boldest red wines, particularly Bordeaux blends and Cabernet Franc. We’ll start with a tasting and cellar visit with Csaba Malatinszky, a winemaker with a long vision, and a focus on ageing his wines (something that most winemakers in Hungary don’t do). Take a walk along Villány’s main street, full of picturesque Swabian cellars. We’ll have a traditional home-cooked meal in one of Villány’s cellars. After lunch, we’ll take a walk in the prime Kopar vineyard, and visit another winery. Dinner will be a home-cooked meal prepared by a family with a small restaurant and cheese manufactory.
Next Day
Day Seven
Overnight: Slavonia region, Croatia
First Taste of eastern Croatia: Kulen and Slavonski čobanac
We say ‘viszontlátásra’ (goodbye) to Hungary and cross over into Croatia’s Baranja region. Hearty soups, roasted game, cured meats and fish paprika soup await us there. We’ll pop into some small cellars for a late morning wine tasting before meeting with a local entrepreneur that specializes in curating Kulen, the must-have paprika-infused salami of eastern Croatia.
Dinner will be čobanac, a rustic beef stew using a special breed of local cattle and coloured red by paprika and cherry peppers (if you like it hot), served along side home made pasta with farmers cheese and fried bacon.
Next Day
Day Eight
Overnight: Slavonia region, Croatia
Grasevina, wine cellars and historic cities
We will go wine tasting in a small town just a few kilometers from the Serbian border along the Danube. Tiny Ilok has ancient cellars and some great small scale producers making Grasevina, the most classic white wine of Croatia.
Our local guide will tell us about the recent histories of Osijek and Vukovar, which was badly damaged in the 1990’s homeland war. Dinner at rustic farm so you know what that means? A light meal including freshly made goat cheese, fall-off-the-bone roasted pork in vegetable sauce and roasted turkey baked over layers of pasta.
Next Day
Day Nine
Overnight: Zagreb, Croatia
Capital City
We depart the Baranja/Slavonia region and head to Croatia’s capital city. But first we will stop for a wine tasting in the Kutjevo region of Croatia. Cistercian Monks arrived in Kutjevo in 1232 making cellars here the oldest in the country. Arrive into the capital city of Zagreb. Afternoon walking tour of the upper and lower town with evening free to try some craft beers and have dinner on your own.
Next Day
Day Ten
Overnight: Zagreb, Croatia
City by day, village farewell dinner by night
First half of day at leisure to enjoy and explore the capital. Don’t miss out on a wholy unique museum, the Museum of Broken Relationships. A mere 45 minutes west of Zagreb brings us to the area of Jastrebarsko, best known for its Plešivica Wine Road. Some great sparkling and Pinot Noirs can be tasted here. We will enjoy some amber/skin contact wines at a boutique winery before cozying up in a rural family home for farewell dinner paired with wines.
Price: $4300 (Air not included). Single Supplement is $850. We welcome singles and can try to pair you with another single to room with, but the single supplement will be required if we can’t.
Tour price includes 8 dinners, 7 lunches, 10 nights lodging at hotels and B&Bs, ten wine tastings, transport, private guide, transfers to/from airport.
Tour begins afternoon of October 2nd in Budapest, Hungary (BUD airport code). Tour ends in Zagreb, Croatia (ZAG airport code)