Where to get wine and liquor from CEE/fSU countries
by Matthew Singer

All CEU alumni are keenly aware of a great division in Europe, an ancient split between the two halves which seems to define each of our homelands: I refer, of course, to the divide between the “wine belt” of countries in the south, and the “beer belt” in the north. Since the CEUDC wine and cheese party is coming up in just a few weeks, I thought it would be nice to bring “ethnically correct” wines to the party, i.e. wines from the “wine belt” countries of CEE/FSU. To help accomplish this goal, I will write where you can find these wines in the greater D.C. area.

Widely available wines

Sadly, for many decades now, only cheap, generic wines from our region(s) have been imported into the U.S.: since cheap, reasonable wines from Latin America gained popularity, they have driven out a lot of CEE/FSU wines. Still wines – some mediocre, some distinctive and high quality – are available in the D.C. area from many countries of our region, including (but not limited to): Hungary, Georgia, Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria. Some better wines are now becoming available in a few select stores (more on that in 3 paragraphs). But if one wants cheap ($4-$6), generic wine anyway, the following can be found at many wine and liquor stores, especially bigger ones like Total Beverage (multiple locations in VA and MD), Chevy Chase Liquors, and Calvert Woodley liquors, the last two both in D.C.

From Hungary, Egri Bikaver is, sadly, by far the most widely available Hungarian wine. Undistinguished bottles of this mediocre wine can be found in so many places I won’t bother to list them all, usually at $6 a bottle. Of note, however, is the store Trader Joe’s (locations in Rockville, MD, and Fairfax and Falls Church, VA). They sell a ’97 Bikaver of the Vitavin label for $4.50, which wins the price contest hands down. They also carry a Vitavin ’97 Egri Merlot, which – while not distinguished – I find fractionally better than the Bikaver. Trader Joe’s also has a nice cheese selection.

Also available in many liquor stores, especially the big ones, are merlots and chardonnays from the Duna label at $4.00 or so a bottle. Do not be fooled by the “Duna” name: this is good old Balaton Boglar, the official crappy wine of every CEU student party ever given. I probably will bring a bottle of this swill to the CEUDC party for old time’s sake – it’s also fine for a spritzer (fröcs) as we near the warmer months.

Worthy of mention, though it’s not cheap, is Tokaji Aszu dessert wine. This Hungarian wine is actually pretty widely available, from several labels (particularly Oremus and Royal Tokaji Wine Co.), though you’ll be hard pressed to find a half-litre bottle for less than $25. At some stores which stock the Oremus label I used to see two great bargains from Oremus, each at around $10: a ’94 off-dry Tokaji furmint, and a ’97 dry Mandulas Tokaji furmint: the ’94 is a bit earthier, and the ’97 is a bit crisper. Sadly, I can’t find them anymore, but I’m sure they’re still around somewhere.

From Romania, various wines under the Premiat label are widely available in the $5 range. And that’s about it for the widely available wines one can find from CEE/FSU. There are many generic wines from Bulgaria and Moldova that pop up randomly, especially in the bigger stores: at Total Beverage I’ve seen a sparkling red Moldovan wine, and I’ve even heard rumours of Croatian wine in D.C. However, these generic wines tend to disappear off of the shelves suddenly, as there’s no great interest from the buying public, which would make stores stock them regularly.

Stores with wider selections

However, there are a few stores in the area where one can find much more, and on a regular basis. The first I’ll mention is Rodman’s, located at 5100 Wisconsin Avenue NW (about 2 blocks south of Friendship Heights Metro stop on the Red Line). The wine man at Rodman’s has tasted all of the wines he sells, so even though I haven’t tried all of these, they come with a good recommendation.

By far the country that is best represented at Rodman’s is Romania. All of Rodman’s Romanian wines are imported under the “Romanian Legacy” and “Aura” labels. The best selling among Romanian people, I’m told, is the Romanian Legacy ’95 Grasa de Cotnari. The cotnari variety is a nice white dessert wine, and at $6.99 this one is worth a try. Another $6.99 dessert wine is the Romanian Legacy ’97 Tamaioasa Pietroasa, a late harvest wine from the Dealul Mare region.

The rest of the Romanian wines at Rodman’s cover a wide spectrum of varieties, all at $5.99 a bottle, and almost all from the Dealul Mare or Mufatlar regions not far from the Black Sea coast. They are of ’94, ’97, and ’98 vintage, and the varieties represented are Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Feteasca (a Romanian grape with which I’m not familiar), Chardonnay, and Merlot. Again, I’ve tried none of these, but I intend to soon, as some look like nice bargains.

Also at Rodman’s are two Ukrainian sparkling wines: Krimskoye white (semi-dry) and red (semi-sweet), no vintage given, at $9.99 each. I saw one Bulgarian wine, the ’95 Gamza Pleven Merlot, at $5.99. There are also a couple of semi-sweet red Moldovan wines, all in half-litre bottles, all at $8.99: an interesting looking one was of the “lidie” or “lidia” grape, a semi-sweet grape native to Moldova.

However, if you’re interested in Moldovan wines, you should probably go to Potomac Wine and Spirits, at 31^st street and M street, in the heart of Georgetown. This shop has a good selection of Moldovan and Georgian wines, plus a few Hungarian and Ukrainian selections. However, the greatest finds at PWS are the CEE/FSU hard liquors: in about 2 paragraphs I’ll provide a summary if you’d like to skip ahead.

As with Rodman’s, the Moldovan wines here come in half-litre bottles, and all are on sale as of this writing for about $8.99. Most are dessert or sweet wines. Most are under the Black Monk or Garling labels. Varieties include lidia, kagor ciumai (red dessert from cabernet grapes), and some off-dry whites from aligote, fetskaya, and rkatsiteli grapes which look interesting, as I’ve never had wines from those grapes. Potomac W&S also has a selection of Crimean wines under the Tsarskaya Dacha label, all dessert wines: the chances of me trying these are slim, because they’re all $31.99 a bottle.

Potomac also stocks a lot of Georgian wines, too many to list them all: I counted 10 or so, ranging from $5.99 to $13.99, and are red and white, though there is a preponderance of sweet and sparkling wines. I simply don’t know anything about Georgian wines, and I don’t recognize any of the varieties. I’m told that these wines, along with Ukrainian and Moldovan wines, are often available in certain Russian food stores along Rockville Pike in Maryland (try the one at the corner of Montrose Road and the Pike).

Potomac stocks three kosher Hungarian wines for $10.99: stay away from the Rashi Tokaji furmint (it’s oxidizing rapidly), though the Langer Reserve ’98 Tokaji furmint and ’98 semi-sweet Erlou Red Founain (a blend of kékporto and merlot) are reputed to be fine. But, as I wrote earlier, the real gems at Potomac Wine and Spirits – if you’ll pardon me this digression from wines – are their hard liquors from CEE/fSU.

Hard liquors

From Hungary, they have Unicum in the 750ML bottles for $20. They’ve got Vilmos Körte palinka, the same one stocked at every bar in Budapest, for $15.99; barack palinka at $16.95; and Zwack 3 year kosher szilva at $16.99. There are two slivovices at $19.99: Jelinek, from the Czech Republic, and Marska, from Croatia (before the embargo they had Monastir from Yugoslavia, but my friend snatched the last bottle). Also from Croatia is Maraska liquor, at $13.99 a bottle. From Latvia they have something called Rigas Melnais Balzams, at $26.99 for a jug, though I have no clue what this stuff is. And while I’m on the subject: if you want Becherovka liquor, you can tell the folks at Potomac to call George Oliphant of the Carol Collection at (443) 994-0982, to order some. Or you can go to the Georgetown Wine Cellar or Schneider’s, both in D.C., and they might have it on hand, or they can order it for you from the same number given above.

Other wines

I have two last notes. The first is on wines from the never-communist countries of our region. There is quite a bit of Austrian wine on the market; for all of you who’ve ever said “Solun je naš” (and you know who you are), wines from Greece are also easy to find, including those from (Greek) Macedonia. I recommend the Domaine Hatzimichalis Naoussa Alexandros ’97, at about $8 a bottle, made from a red Macedonian grape variety called (in Greek) xynomavro: while probably too acidic or tannic to be drunk on its own, it makes a good accompaniment to Balkan food.

Beer

My final note is addressed to our brethren in the Beer Belt. If you go to the Brickskeller pub near Dupont Circle (where the first CEUDC event was held), you will find beers from Czech Republic: the justly famous Pilsner Urquell; Starobrno; and Budvar Samson sold under the name “Crystal.” Crystal is excellent, Starobrno is worth missing. Other beers represented are: Karlovacko (from Croatia); Saku Pilsner and Porter (from Estonia); Utenos Alus and Gerimai lager (from Lithuania); Tyskie, Okocim, and Zywiec from Poland; Ostanskoye from Russia, with another Russian beer as well (I haven’t got the name); and Topvar Dark and Zlatny Bazant (sold as Golden Pheasant) from Slovakia. Of these, only the Pilsner Urquell is widely available in stores. Though not carried by Brickskeller, Staropramen is available at some stores with a wide beer selection (try Chevy Chase liquors, or even the Fresh Fields/Whole Food chain), as are Okocim and Zywiec (as well as Krakus, not carried by the Brickskeller).

I hope this article has been of some help, if not interest, to you. If you have more information on the subject, please let me know by e-mailing me at: mattsinger1@yahoo.com.

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(This page last updated April 24, 2001)