Kadarka

The origin of Kadarka is unresolved, though it almost certainly lies within the Balkan and Pannonian area. Hungarian tradition holds that it arrived from the south, carried either by Serbian settlers or by the Ottoman Turks, and both ideas are reflected in its names: Skadarka in Croatia and Serbia echoes Lake Skadar on the Albanian and Montenegrin border, while Törökszőlő means Turkish grape. Bulgarians regard Gamza as native to their country, and Romanians point to Miniş near Arad, where a sweet red wine made from shrivelled berries is recorded in 1744. A supposed origin in Asia Minor is sometimes repeated, but no evidence supports it.

Gamza, Kallmet and Cadarcă are accepted as local names for the same variety, so Kadarka is a single grape spread across several countries rather than a family of look-alikes. Its own parentage has not been established by DNA, and genotyping work in the Western Balkans has already overturned several pedigrees once proposed for varieties carrying the Kadarka name, so older claims about its relatives deserve caution.

Kadarka has also served as a parent in Hungarian breeding programmes. Bíborkadarka, Probus and Rubintos are crosses derived from it.

Kadarka is a productive vine that buds late and ripens late, so cool or short growing seasons suit it poorly. Its tight clusters hold medium-sized berries, and that compactness leaves it prone to botrytis bunch rot, above all in wet autumns. Drought causes it little trouble, but low winter temperatures do, and frost damage is a repeated threat on continental sites. The variety has traditionally done best on loess soils, trained as bush vines. Its colour is usually pale rather than deep, and bringing the fruit to full ripeness can be hard. Work on clones that give healthier planting material is a priority, notably in Szekszárd. Some vineyards a century old or more, one of them in northern Serbia, resist disease better than younger plantings and yield wines with greater richness.

Most Kadarka is dry red of medium body, pale to medium ruby in colour, with gentle tannins, bright acidity and aromas of red cherry, strawberry and white pepper. The grape is also regarded as very good for rosé. In Hungary it appears both as a varietal wine, above all in Szekszárd, and as a component of Bikavér (Bull's Blood). Szekszárdi Bikavér must be a blend of at least four varieties with a minimum of 45 percent Kékfrankos and at least 5 percent Kadarka, and it must spend a minimum of one year in wood. In Bulgaria Gamza is mostly made as a fresh, fruity red, although some producers use oak. Banat and Miniş have a history of sweet red wine from shrivelled berries, a style that is now rare.