Kadarka
Also known as Gamza, Cadarca
Probably Lake Skadar area, Albania
A pale, spicy, high-acid red of the Balkans and Hungary, once a pillar of Bull's Blood and now being brought back in Szekszárd and Eger.
Sensory profile
Characteristics
Flavor & aroma
At a glance
Production facts
Prevalence
Rare
Climate
Warm climate
Ripening
Late season
Wine styles
Still
Where it's grown
Geography
Shaded areas are the state, province or département(s) containing each region, so they run wider than the appellations themselves.
Hungary
Hungary
Szekszárd
One of the grape's Hungarian strongholds in the south, where growers are reviving it as a varietal wine.
Background
Origin & History
Kadarka's origin is disputed. One theory places it around Lake Skadar, on the Albanian and Montenegrin border, while others point to Hungary or to the Balkans more widely. A recent DNA study reports the Turkish grape Papazkarası as one of its parents, but that result has not been confirmed or extended to the second parent, so no parent line is drawn on the family-tree map. In Bulgaria it is called Gamza, and in Romania Cadarca.
In Hungary it was long a key part of red blends such as Egri Bikavér, the Bull's Blood of Eger, before it declined and was largely replaced by Blaufränkisch (Kékfrankos) and other varieties. It makes pale, spicy, light-bodied red wine, often compared with Pinot Noir; its heartland today is in the south of Hungary, around Szekszárd and Villány.
Lineage
Family tree
Parentage not recorded — Kadarka is an old variety of unknown origin.
No crossings involving Kadarka are documented in the collection yet.