Wine expert and critic Stuart Pigott has been tasting Hungarian wines for a long time, and his recent trip to Hungary yielded outstanding results for our winery. Even after his visit, we didn’t know exactly how he had rated our wines. He published his opinion in a separate article on his website, highlighting the 2023 vintage Solus, which he awarded the maximum 100 points and described it by saying “the A.GERE Solus is totally 21st century in the best possible sense.”
Although Stuart Pigott was born in Great Britain, he has lived in Germany for over thirty years. He has been writing about wine since the 1980s, and his studies in cultural history have had a significant influence on his style and approach. He has contributed to German publications such as Feinschmecker, Weingourmet and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as well as international trade magazines ranging from Decanter Magazine to James Suckling’s online platform. He primarily reported on German wines for the latter, before bidding farewell at the end of last year to shift his focus to his own website, stuartpigott.com, which launched in April.
In an article published at the end of May, he wrote the following about the Solus tasting: „When I tasted the A.GERE Solus 2023 with Andrea Gere I was hypnotized by its breathtaking elegance; the energy and filigree at the finish off the scale. And yet it has an enveloping nose of exotic fruits and flowers! And then I realized that it’s a pure Merlot. „I hate Merlot, but this is totally amazing!“ I told Andrea. I didn’t tell her that I’d just given it 100 points, so reading this will be another shock for her. During the tasting she mentioned that when the project started in 2000 the Tuscan Merlot Massetto was the role model. However, it’s such a different wine, much more massive wine…and almost 20 times the price of the A.GERE wine! The fact is that Masseto is a rather traditional great red wine, only the polish and precision being modern, whereas the A.GERE Solus is totally 21st century in the best possible sense.”
And this is how he described the wine: „I love the exotic fruits – mostly passion fruit and mangosteen – and flowers, plus ripe blueberry aromas in the nose of this totally unique wine. How does it manage to have gigantic concentration, yet be breathtaking elegant? The energy and filigree at the finish are off the scale. A pure Merlot from the Kopar vineyard site that was matured for 16 months primarily in 300 liter oak casks.
In addition to Solus, Pigott has also given high scores to several of our other wines.
A.GERE Fekete Járdovány 2024
Leaps out of the glass with aromas of anise, sushi ginger and ripe red berries. The silkiness reminds me of Pinot Noir, but the tannins are closer to Kékfrankos and they give it a self-confidently dry finish. The only commercial production from the Fekete Járdovány grape.
92 points
A.GERE Villányi Franc Csillagvölgy 2023
Very fresh and complex wine with so much energy and a transparency that’s rare in this category. Delicate redcurrant and wild herb aromas with just a hint of fresh fig. Super-fine chalky minerality at the super-long and animating finish. Matured for 16 months in 300 liter oak casks of Hungarian oak.
96 points
A.GERE Villányi Franc Csillagvölgy 2015
A beautiful maturing Cabernet Franc with a wealth of forest berry aromas and a touch of graphite. Excellent balance of full, fine tannins and restrained richness. Creamy texture on the mid-palate, then a long, velvety finish that has a delightful freshness.
94 points
A.GERE Kopar 2022
The leather, roasted meat and graphite aromas make this stand out in the Hungarian context. Also candied orange peel and black plum. Huge fine tannins, but also big maturing blackberry fruit. Extremely long, compact, but plush finish. Although this has just been released it needs many years of further maturation in bottle to reach its peak. A cuvéee of 50% Cabernet franc, 40% merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon matured primarily in 300 liter oak casks for 16 months.
96 points
A.GERE Attila 2015
Very complex balsamic and savoury flavors are wrapped around quite a firm core of fine tannins in a manner that puts a Hungarian twist on an idea that undoubtedly originates in Bordeaux. At just over 10 years old, this is still very structured at the emphatically dry finish. A selection of wines from Bordeaux grapes matured in new 300 liter oak barrels.
95 points
