Drinking Bull's Blood in Budapest

Egri Bikaver, Bull's Blood of Eger

That title got your attention didn't it? Since it's almost Halloween as I write I thought it was time for some high-grade horror. Now that I have come to publish this post, Halloween is a distant memory. But high-grade horror is always in style, isn't it?

The small town of Eger in Hungary was besieged by the Turks in 1552. The roughly 2000 defenders were lead by Captain Istvan Dobo. The Turks numbered 150,000. To give them strength and courage, the locals opened their wine cellars and drank red wine. The wine spilled onto their armor giving it a red, dark coloring. Rumors spread among the Turks that the locals were drinking bull's blood for strength and fierceness. They were demoralized and eventually repelled after a month of heavy fighting.

The local red wine has become a legend and is offered in most every store (wine stores and grocery stores) in Budapest. Reading about it on the internet, it seems like there's a great variety of quality in this popular wine. We tried two different brands and both were delightful. The wine is dry but flavorful and made us ready to take on seventy-five Turks each.

Learn more about Bull's Blood here.