A millionaire winemaker with an adventurous life

A millionaire winemaker – it sounds paradox, doesn’t it? As in the old story, one man asks the winemaker how he gained a million. ’Well, I had two millions, and I lost one quickly’.

Nimród Kovács with his wife, Dorottya, and the former president of the USA, Bill Clinton

Nimród Kovács wasn’t always rich, he worked hard to become a successful businessman, and now, when he could get retired, he works probably even harder to fulfill his dream: to get international ackowledgement of his wines, the wines of Kovács Nimród Winery. A recently published book tells the wholse story of his adventurous life: he left Hungary in 1971 – he escaped from Hungary by swimming from former Jugoslavia beach to Italy! –, then after an Italian refugee camp he travelled to the USA, where he settled down. First he worked as a waiter daytime and studied marketing in the evening at the university, then he got a job in a New York advertising agency, and after that he built a career in the world of cable televisions. He travelled the world, became successful and after the system of the regime he returned Hungary. He was the one who created HBO, the first movie television channel in Hungary.

With his wife and with actor Paul Newman, with whom they met during charity action. Paul Newman is founder of The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, and Nimród Kovács is a supporter of the project

At the age of 60 he decided to devote all his time to his winery in Eger wine region, and soon his devotion was rewarded. He believes in local grape varieties, but he believes that the international grape varieties are important tools to communicate with winelovers who do not know Hunagrian gapes yet. „The essence of fine wine is rooted in the unique terroir, where the grapes are raised. We are fortunate enough to have three of the top terroirs in the Eger wine growing region. Since Eger is a cool climate region, similar to Burgundy or cooler climates of California, we planted varieties that feel very much at home, and are capable of producing world class wines. In addition to these international varietals which include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, we also proudly feature traditional Hungarian varietals, such as Furmint and Kékfrankos.We farm these grapes using sustainable practices and every year we hand harvest these healthy and happy grapes which are being gently guided into fine wines.”

The book and Nimród Kovács with the author of the biography, Ágnes László

The book is available only in Hungarian language at the moment, but hopefully soon it will be published in English as well. The author of the book is a well known journalist, Ágnes László, who wrote an easy-to-read, exciting biography of a man with great philosophy. Though the book is not available yet in English, the marvellous wines of Kovács Nimród Winery are available in several countries (USA, UK, China, Germany, Poland). The USA is the second biggest market for KNW wines after Hungary. In the USA and Hungary all KNW wines are available online.

Start tasting with his Monopole Battonage Chardonnay, you must not miss his Monopole Rhapsody Bikavér (Bull’s Blood), Grand Bleu (Kékfrankos) is a wine you must try before you die, and his flagship wine, NJK is the diamond in his crown, the full stop of the sentence.