Tom Hill: who's growing Green Hungarian these days?

[Jenise]

Wente was the original, or at least the popular one, decades ago. But I know you've mentioned a few lately among those brave California vintners who are reviving old grapes.

Wente was the original, or at least the popular one, decades ago. But I know you've mentioned a few lately among those brave California vintners who are reviving old grapes.

Well, Jenise....good question. The Wente was probably the best of a sorry lot way back then. Gus Sebastiani also made it, in his
typical unthrilling style. Probably the most famous of the GH producers was Fred Weibel up in Mendocino Cnty. To my knowledge, none of those folks still have it planted.
MattRorick/ForlornHope was very interested in the variety & making an old-timey GH. He tracked down a few remaining vines in the Library Vnyd, behind the Library in St.Helena. He took cuttings and convinced Roger King/King-Andrews Estate, to plant a few rows for him. He harvested it & made some GH but was never happy w/ the resulting wine. So he always blended it away. The pure GH had a pretty screechy acidity to it, even when harvested late.
Whether Roger still has his GH in the ground or not, I really don't know. I would guess, after Matt left the area, he grafted it over.
But, to my knowledge, no GH is being made in Calif.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

I thought Tegan had been toying with it for Sandlands.

I thought Tegan had been toying with it for Sandlands.

Don't know, David, but wouldn't be surprised.
Tom

Jenise, what prompted your question?

[Jenise]

Steve, I popped into a local wine store on Friday. Was there to pick up something else but they were preparing for a 'green in-store tasting'--I joked that if they weren't pouring Green Hungarian, I wasn't sticking around.

Which got me and the proprietor wondering whatever happened to Green Hungarian. It was the first wine ever recommended to me--I was maybe 19 or 20, and a man I worked for said that if I ever got into wine, I needed to try winery-with-a-W-name Green Hungarian, probably Weibel not Wente now that I think back on it. Said proprietor that he'd been wondering about that himself earlier that day and hadn't had time yet to investigate--I knew Tom would know, so I asked here.

Jenise, what prompted your question?

Well, Steve....sounds like Jenise is wandering down the same rat hole that swallowed me
up yrs ago.
Now that you mention it, I'm not sure Wente ever made a GH that I can recall. If they did, it
would be the best one around. Fred Weibel's GH was kinda boring.
Tom

Sebastiani made one that was easy to drink, though not compelling. Best really cold

Jenise, what prompted your question?

Well, Steve....sounds like Jenise is wandering down the same rat hole that swallowed me
up yrs ago.
Now that you mention it, I'm not sure Wente ever made a GH that I can recall. If they did, it
would be the best one around. Fred Weibel's GH was kinda boring.
Tom

And I believe that it came in a Beaujolais pot btl.
And I recall it was advertised by a dippy little song that stuck in your mind. Extra credit to Jenise if she can sing it for us.
Tom

[Jenise]

Guess what? There's still a Weibel Family Winery!

From the retailer friend mentioned above (who used to be a wine rep):

"I remember going to this winery with the wholesale company I worked for represented the brand. The entire time we were at the winery, I kept wondering why the hell are we here? The remaining appointments we had were all at highly acclaimed wineries in Napa and Sonoma. It was very odd."

Yes they still make Green Hungarian. Also peach and almond wine.

https://weibel.com/wine-sparkling