Eastern Europe/Balkans

Whether you’re curious about oxidative whites or you’re an afficionado, this is the wine for you. Škrlet is an obscure grape native only to the hills of Moslavina and was recently revived by young winemaker Ivan Kosovec. Beautiful complex nuttiness is con

István Bencze left his job as an IT entrepreneur in 2011 in order to make wine on his grandparents' estate, initially just for fun. 10 years later and he’s now one of the most compelling natural winemakers on the Central European scene. The wine sees 10 m

This is a lovely little ‘village wine’ from northeastern Slovenia, somewhat in the tradition of an Austrian Gemischter Satz wine. Light, floral and breezy with clean mineral. Črnko makes a handful of single varietal wines and everything else goes into the

Slightly waxy, with bright herbal aromas, and a focus on orchard fruit and melon. Volcanic soil imparts an intense minerality. This wine is a bit of an outlier for Lenkey; done in stainless steel rather than oak and aged for ”only” 3 years. I guess he wen

Assyrtiko is perhaps best known from the island of Santorini, but it is also divine in the southern mainland of Greece. Fine, bright citrus notes of the nose lead to a bone-dry, supercharged mineral wine with great acidity. Perfect with so many seafood di

Lenkey’s first fully independent vintage as a winemaker was ‘08, but it was a difficult one. He managed to pull together enough healthy grapes to craft just 3,000 bottles of this inimitable wine. Full-on lavender and apricot skin on the nose, with muddled

Juhfark is a smoky, rich white variety that excels on Somlói’s volcanic soils. Juicy, white tropical fruit with an ashy, earthiness and some decided funk.

Péter Benedek is a third generation winemaker, who works his 50 year old vines on volcanic soils. Hárslevelü is an indigenous, Hungarian white that is zesty and fresh with subtle notes of honeyed pear and apricot meeting tangerine with a beautiful, herbal

Chiseled minerality and a hint of smoke characteristic of Welschriesling. The acidity is singing. The Kovács family runs this winery and have a long history of winemaking, owning some of the best vineyards in their tiny village of Csopak just north of Lak

A truly inimitable white wine. Think Greek Retsina but without the pine resin tones. There’s richness and depth, wonderful acidity…it’s a wild ride. The grapes grow on volcanic soil in the single vineyard of Sadowie, and only 845 bottles are produced per

As Slovakian wines continue to enter the NYC market, we find ourselves becoming more and more impressed. The texture is viscous, with fresh earth and characteristic Riesling tones of petrol and minerality. A bit of skin contact lends depth, while maintain

Armenia neighbors Georgia, a country whos wine reputation has quickly blossomed. Production in Armenia is smaller, but the quality of the wines are absolutely on par. This is a lovely, bright white with earthiness and melon fruit on the palate, and spice