Jasz Laci 'Sagi Narancs' 2021

Press 4 Mix/White • October 2023 Direct Press Selection

The enigmatic Jász Laci is making some of the most uncompromising wines in Somlo. Despite making some of the most exciting expressions of the region's intense volcanic terroir, his wines never get the Somlo designation. This is because Hungary's wine bureaucracy is even more hardheaded and antagonistic to natural wines than France's. Even though he bottles under the most basic Hungarian wine classification, the government still forces him to add sulfur to the wines, though he does the minimum and there is zero free sulfur in the end.

'Sagi Narancs' is Olaszrizling (aka Welchsriesling—not related to Riesling) that comes from a vineyard known as the 'Valley of the Fairies.' It spends three months on the skins and is a clear nod to the Georgian winemaking methods that Jász looks to for inspiration, though it ages in steel instead of clay amphora. Briny sea spray, orange pekoe tea, apricot and cumin notes all come together in a way that has a beautiful clarity. The texture and tannins are so fine-tuned, creating a delicious tension between the earthy, spicy elements and the expressive primary fruit. The mix of freshness and complexity found here is really on another level, much like Jász himself. Jonathan Kemp