Explore More UK Winter 2020-2021

DISCOVERY
overshadowed by their European
neighbours, but they are by no
means the only wine regions to
be discovered floating down the
Danube. The Danube is the second
longest river in Europe. It flows out
into the Black Sea after springing
to life west of Munich in Germany,
flowing lazily eastward through
nine other countries; Austria,
Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia,
Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and
Ukraine, all of which are known
for their winemaking, and many
of which have vineyards based on
the riverbanks.
Little did I know at the age of
seven that I would be writing fifty
years later about my experiences
on the Danube for Viking’s Explore
More magazine and hosting Wine
Wednesdays, the popular Viking.TV
series, in which we feature the
lovely wines of Erich Machherndl
in Wachau, in our third episode.
And perhaps this
childhood experience
the start of my interest
in this country and its
production. Austria’s
Wachau can claim the
crown, along with Tokaji, as the
other best-known wine region
within all the wine producing
countries through which the
Danube flows. Sadly it would be
impossible, in a short article, to
articulate the incredible diversity
of the wines grown along the great
river Danube, and in the countries
through which it meanders. They
The Hungarian wine regions await
discovery and are oft overshadowed by
their European neighbours
are mostly unknown regions, even
within the wine trade, but await
discovery for anyone with a wine
interest and fortunate enough to
take a cruise along the river.
In February of 2021, my sister,
Lady Emma Arbuthnot, Chief
Magistrate Judge of England and
Wales, is being elevated to the
High Court. I wonder what she
would say to parents who
abandoned their children
for a day, leaving them
alone, in a hostile foreign
country? No doubt she’d
be most disapproving.
But one glass of Tokaji Aszú
Essencia would make any great
wine-lover more understanding of
my parents’ decision back then. It
was a pilgrimage of sorts.
Clockwise,
from top right:
Hungary’s
expansive
vineyards;
Bartholomew
Broadbent enjoys
a Hungarian red;
a bottle of Tokaji
from the Tokaji
wine district
in Hungary;
winding rows
of vineyards in
Wachau valley
64 VIKINGCRUISES.CO.UK | WINTER 2020/21
WINTER 2020/21 | VIKINGCRUISES.CO.UK 65