Drop Shop - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Drop Shop

review by John Szabo MS • May 2, 2019

photo by John Szabo, MS

One of the first wine bars in Budapest, Drop Shop is also among the most serious—a place where you can ask for a “minerally” wine and the staff will give you a knowing wink. Owner Adam Hébenstreit established his shop and importing business in 2010 to capitalize on growing interest in premium wines not typically available in Hungary. It quickly grew to include a wine bar, “so I could pour by the glass what most could not afford by the bottle,” Hébenstreit says. His wide-ranging list is especially strong in Austrian and Italian selections, as well as in small-production Hungarian bottlings. Classics, from furmint to kékfrankos are covered, and Hébenstreit also champions rarities such as csókaszolo, balafánt and feketefájú bajor. He offers a daily-changing selection of 60 wines by the glass, the bottles kept under vacuum seal; his light reds are properly chilled. The limited menu features cheese and charcuterie.

Balassi Bálint utca 27, Budapest, Hungary

Wine Bar

+36.30.345.3739

John Szabo MS

John Szabo MS is the Toronto-based author of Volcanic Wines (Jacqui Small Publishing 2016), co-founder of Volcanic Wines International, and partner and principal critic at WineAlign.com. He’s also part-time grapegrower on the limestones of Prince Edward County, Ontario.

This story appears in the print issue of February 2019.
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TAGS Bars Budapest Hungary Wine Bar

David Paradela
Associate Editor

David joined Wine & Spirits in 2021 after immersing himself in the world of wine at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally from Boston, he graduated from Boston University with a degree in English and completed a master’s degree in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College in 2021. Prior to working at the magazine, he served as an editor and staff writer for the music blog Sound of Boston and worked in scientific publishing. Aside from wine, he loves basketball, arguing about Taylor Swift’s best album, and everything Greta Gerwig touches.

Corey Warren
Tastings Editor

Corey Warren moved to New York in 2015—fifteen years too late to join The Strokes—after earning a degree at Cornell in Comparative Literature. He started polishing glasses at Betony and threw himself into the restaurant world. Later, while a captain at Aquavit, he began working part time in the Wine & Spirits tasting department. Now, in addition to running tastings, he serves as critic for the wines of the Loire, Southern France, Argentina and South Africa. Corey likes almost anything bubbly, from Miller High Life, the Champagne of beers, to Champagne, the Champagne of Champagne, but he’ll drink anything once, and loves finding unique wines.

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Patricio Tapia
Senior Correspondent

After graduating with a degree in journalism from the Universidad de Chile in Santiago, Patricio Tapia attended Bordeaux University in France, where he studied for a diploma in wine tasting and winemaking. Since then, he has visited wine regions around the world and authored several books, including his annual Descorchados, a Chilean wine guide; The Wines of Colchagua Valley; TodoVino and Wines for Great Occasions. Tapia is also the South American correspondent for The Oxford Companion to Wine, The World Atlas of Wine and Oz Clarke’s Pocket Wine Book. For the past three years, he’s been a host on the El Gourmet channel in South America. At Wine & Spirits, Tapia is the critic for the wines of Argentina, Chile and Spain, and regularly contributes articles on these regions.