Once the toast of European courts, due largely to Tokaj and Somló, Hungarian wine was lost under four decades of communist collectivization that prioritized volume over quality. Since the 1990s, however, a wave of privatization and investment has brought Hungarian wine quality roaring back. It is esoteric, marvelous beauties such as these that are the raison d’être of Kompas Wine Club. Somló (pronounced Shoam-low), Hungary’s smallest appellation and a single extinct volcanic butte of basalt buried under ancient sea sediment, yields concentrated, smoky, mineral-driven whites. At Fekete Pince (Fekete Cellar), the legacy of Béla Fekete, the “Grand Old Man of Somló,” continues after he retired with no heirs. György “Gyuri” Emmert persuaded longtime friends Ákos Dölle and Gábor Riesz to purchase the cellar and carry it forward, and following Emmert’s death in 2017, Gábor, together with his wife Zsófia, now runs the estate as sole proprietors, keeping faith with Fekete’s patient, long élevage house style. The 2019 Fekete Pince “Gold Edition” Hárslevelű (HARSH-leh-veh-loo) spends 10 months in used 1,000L oak, followed by 48 months in tank. Here we have the classic Somló mix of salt-tinged minerality, honeyed depth, and botrytis-kissed tropical inflections. Well paired with roasted root vegetables, smoked fish and richly sauced poultry. With its firm acidity and long aging before release, this is a wine ready for immediate pleasure and further cellaring.