Trifecta Wines

Trifecta Wines. Trifecta was founded by Pablo Nyarady and his wife Lynanne; Pablo’s winemaking roots in Hungary date back to 1820. Their small winery is located near Tokaji about two hours outside of Budapest. They produce wines from Tokaji in Tokaji and wines from Napa Valley in Napa Valley with winemakers Bill Ballentine and Sam Baxter overseeing their Napa operations. Wines from Napa are shipped to their winery in Tokaji and are available for tasting in their adjoining hospitality space. This is unique for Tokaji, which focuses exclusively on producing and selling wines from white grapes.

Construction started on the winery in 2016 and finished in 2023 due to delays in materials and labor turnover. The first vintage produced at their own winery was in 2017; previously the wines were made in a small cellar built into a hillside on property owned by the Nyarady’s. Operations are very much by hand including using a hand crank crusher.

Agricultural land in Hungary cannot be owned by a company but individuals can own up to 1 hectare of land; if you own more land you must have a special certification. As a result, their grapes are sourced from small parcels owned by individuals or various growers.

They select vineyards based on terroir; varieties are consistent from vintage to vintage but express different characteristics based on site. In terms of geology, the landscape of Tokaji is dotted with more than 400 extinct volcanoes – as a result the soils in the region are often volcanic in origin. Certain vineyards feature white stones, red stones, sand or a mix of soil types. The types of soil play a prominent role in which vineyards they ultimately purchase grapes from.

They experimented between using glass stoppers, screw caps and natural corks for some of their wines. During trials they noted that the use of glass corks resulted in greater oxidation of as the wine aged. They realized that cork ultimately performed better over time. But all have their time and place; they bottle their entry level wines which are meant to be consumed young, with screw caps.

Pablo’s father was born in Romania and moved to Hungary, served in World II and was a Freedom Fighter in Hungary in 1956; with his degree in Engineering, he moved to Venezuela and began working indirectly with the oil industry. His children were sent to Massachusetts for school. After finishing his work in Venezuela he moved to Massachusetts where his friend owned an electronics company. He purchased this company when he was 62 years old. Pablo eventually took over the operations of this company, ECI Transcon Technologies, manufacturers of custom electromagnetic components electronics for numerous industries, and ran it until selling the company in 2021.

Trifecta is named in homage to good things always happening in sets of three or in Latin, omne trium perfectum. In horse racing three winners are always chosen; for Pablo, the number three represents his philosophy in business: a successful business partnership equates to three winners, you, your partners and joint success.

The Trifecta Udvarház, Tállya hotel was built in 2008; during their search for property in the area, the Nyaradys stayed in several hotels but were most impressed by the quality of this hotel. They acquired this property in 2016. Pablo converted/built a winery towards the back of the property in place of already existing buildings. The hotel features 13 rooms, a restaurant, a small wellness center including a sauna and a whirlpool, an outdoor seasonal pool and the use of bicycles. Located in the peaceful village of Tállya, this hotel is within a short drive to a number of wineries in the Tokaji region.

Select Wines
Hungary
The 2017 Trifecta Furmint Karma is deep gold in color; the bouquet offers a waxy character, lanolin, golden delicious apples, honeycomb and glazed pineapple. On the palate there are flavors of dried apricot, peach, yellow nectarine, and pepino melon with a light but lingering warmth of alcohol on the finish. The texture is rounded with a silky mouth feel. This wine is drinking in a sweet spot 7 years post vintage at the time of our tasting. This particular bottling and Furmint in general goes well with a diversity of foods; we recommend pairing this with a cheese and charcuterie plate. 14% alcohol. Aged furmint is dramatically different from youthful furmint; the aged Trifecta furmint shows more sophistication and complexity than younger wines from this variety. The name of this wine, Karma is in homage to how good things generally happen to good people. And Furmint is a Hungarian variety, primarily used in Tokaji dessert wines.

The 2016 Trifecta Furmint Dry, Bomboly Vineyard was made by Hungarian winemaker István Balassa. This wine is medium gold in color; the delicate bouquet offers aromas of honeycomb, honeydew melon, honeysuckle, yellow apples and vanilla. And as the wine evolves in the glass, it opens to a diversity of tropical florals. Brightly lit across the palate, it reveals flavors of honeydew melon, pomelo, guava, apricot, white peach and mandarin orange. It showcases bright acidity with a refreshing, balanced and mouth watering finish. Furmint in particular needs age to fully express itself; for reference we tried this bottling 8 years post vintage. Very much food friendly; pair this with duck or chicken. It is 13% alcohol.

The 2017 Trifecta Hárslevelű (100% varietal) is deep gold in color; the elegant bouquet offers attractive aromas including dried apricot, apple skins, a hint of juniper berry and pineapple. The palate sports flavors of pineapple, baked apples, and citrus including kumquat and tangerine. The mouth feel is rounded and balanced nicely by a bright acidity. It lingers fresh and lively with a light herbal character including lemongrass, with a light but persistent drying character. This is very much a food friendly bottling. The alcohol is 14.3%. Hárslevelű, translates to ‘lime leaf’ in Hungarian; native to this country, it is a thick skinned highly aromatic white variety.

In Tokaji, harvest generally starts in mid to late August for the still wines and runs through November for Aszú wines. Aszú is the Hungarian word that refers to grapes which are infected by the Botrytis cinerea fungus as well as the resulting wines made from these particular grapes.

For Tokaji Aszú, only botrytized grapes are picked by hand leaving non botrytised grapes hanging in the clusters. As a result, several passes are made through the vineyard to pick only the desired grapes. A single worker generally only harvests between 5kg and 10kg of grapes each work day; they are placed in large baskets (puttony) and then transferred to the cellar where the grapes are added to a base wine. A 5 puttonyos wine has at least 120 grams/liter of residual sugar while a 6 puttonyos has at least 150 grams/liter of residual sugar. 3 and 4 putanayos wines were eliminated from most Aszú wines in 2013.

The 2019 Trifecta Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos Lapis Vineyard is deep gold in color; the sweetly fruited and highly aromatic bouquet offers aromas of honey, toasted almond, toasted walnuts, orange marmalade, apricot, peaches in light syrup, caramel and butterscotch. Exceptionally sweet with plenty of residual sugar; the palate offers flavors of dried apricot, caramelized ginger, canned peaches, butterscotch, caramelized sugars and toasted almond. The mouth feel is fleshy with some noticeable viscosity, but its texture is tempered by the rich and bright acidity. This wine lingers intensely flavored, sweet and mouth watering. Beautiful. It is 9.6% alcohol. For reference, we tried this bottling in the handmade special Aszú glass by Halimba Crystal.

Napa Valley
The first vintage of Trifecta Napa Valley was in 1997.

The 2013 Trifecta Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is deep ruby in color; the aromatics smell simultaneously fresh, elegant and fruity. It offers scents of red cherry, red chili spice, dark raspberry, red plum, sweet tobacco spice, red licorice and a note of cinnamon stick and mocha. The oak provides a subtle and complementary character and does not dominate. Ripe and bright on the palate like the bouquet, this wine offers flavors of dark cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, Persian mulberry and raspberry. The tannins are gravelly and grainy with their edges fully rounded by time in the bottle. Lingers savory with a note of tobacco spice, a light dusty character, pink peppercorn and dried herbs including smoked sage. This wine is showing in a sweet spot 11 years post vintage. We would love to pair this with, Mangalica, the Hungarian breed of pig which visually can resemble a sheep with its furry and curly coat of hair. 14.3% alcohol.

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At the 2024 Wine Lovers Wine Awards Competition, Trifecta was awarded the Winery of the Year. In 2023 their Aszú wines were awarded #2 and #5.

Trifecta uses proceeds from wines sold from their Napa Valley production to support a variety of charitable endeavors.

Total production each year of their Napa Valley wines are approximately 250 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon and 100 cases of Pinot Noir. And their Hungarian production maxes out at 2,500 cases annually. The Napa Valley wines can be purchased at www.trifectawines.com and stays or visits to their property in Hungary can be arranged by visiting, www.trifecta.hu