This morning we took a little walk around the neighborhood while awaiting our tour guide. The architecture of the city is fantastic. You can see the influence of the Hapsburg dynasty everywhere. Here you can see the Hungarian State Opera House. The impressive part for me was the ceiling of the portico.
The ceiling of the W hotel
Decorative door at the “W”
A beautiful spring bloom in the middle of the city. This street had a theatre and an opera house on it. Plus the building below that was styled like a French mansion. 
Al sitting with the famous Hungarian composer Emmerich Kalyan. He was famous during the 20’s and 30’ even being a favorite of Hitler. Because he was Jewish, he escaped prior to WWII to the US and lived the rest of his life there until old age, then returned to Paris until he died. The flowers and statues are beautiful.
After a nice walk, we met our guide Peter and our friends Steve and Susan for an interesting wine tour of Etyck. This small town 40 minutes outside of Budapest is home to many small wineries. Like many smaller wineries, these wines are sold locally and very rarely make it out of the country. Our guide Peter is a wine maker himself so he had a great insight into the process and the winemakers themselves. 
Driveway leading to a hillside of wineries
Our winemaker Charlie.
The hillside was lined with these doors.Each door was the entrance to another winery.
Through the big wooden doors and down the steps into the winery. Albert followed by Peter our guide
Behind those doors the actual work goes on
The winery tasting room was cozy and warm.Charlie does not speak English but was interpreted by Peter. He was a winemaker in the communist years at the state winery and now makes his own wine for local sale. The region mostly grows grapes for white wines and sparlklings but is now, with climate change, beginning to develop some Pinots. We had several tastings of his wines along with some little snacks . It was a fun event.
Through the big doors and into the barrel room. Charlie is letting us taste straight from the barrel. This is a new wine for him..a Pinot Noir. Due to climate change grapes that make lighter reds are starting to grow in the region and He is trying new wines to the region.
Using a giant Pepeete he pulled wine from the barrel by suction and filled our glasses. While warming it with our hands he encouraged us to try it.
The tasting room
This was a nice winery but we all decided we all liked Charlie’s place the best. The wines were good here but they were certainly made for the local market and were more industrial.
Driveway leading to a hillside of wineries
Our winemaker Charlie.
The hillside was lined with these doors.Each door was the entrance to another winery.
Through the big wooden doors and down the steps into the winery. Albert followed by Peter our guide
Behind those doors the actual work goes on
The winery tasting room was cozy and warm.Charlie does not speak English but was interpreted by Peter. He was a winemaker in the communist years at the state winery and now makes his own wine for local sale. The region mostly grows grapes for white wines and sparlklings but is now, with climate change, beginning to develop some Pinots. We had several tastings of his wines along with some little snacks . It was a fun event.
Through the big doors and into the barrel room. Charlie is letting us taste straight from the barrel. This is a new wine for him..a Pinot Noir. Due to climate change grapes that make lighter reds are starting to grow in the region and He is trying new wines to the region.
Using a giant Pepeete he pulled wine from the barrel by suction and filled our glasses. While warming it with our hands he encouraged us to try it.
Charlie’s keys to his winery
After visiting Charlie’s old school typer of winery we headed to a more modern,production orientated winery. Still a small operation compared to California wineries, but big enough that the winemaker makes his living off his wines. Here life is very modern and we were not able to see the actual process just taste his wines. Along with that, his wife provided us with a delightful lunch of chicken Papriska to complement the wines. This winery reminded me more of the wineries in Northern California but smaller scale. Still friendly but definitely not old school.His son is also making wines and getting his PHD in viticulture.
The tasting room
This was a nice winery but we all decided we all liked Charlie’s place the best. The wines were good here but they were certainly made for the local market and were more industrial.
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