1000 wines to taste today in Budapest
Including Gere Tamás & Zsolt wines from Villány
Borjour Magnum is nn ideal event to get a snapshot of Hungarian winemaking with more than 200 wineries in one place. Ticket holders can taste more than 1000 wines at Novotel Budapest Congress Centre. A “magnum” tasting indeed! A few tickets are still available for the tasting today, afternoon on 17 February.
The organizer team – and a series of smaller and larger scale events – is called Borjour, which obviously rhymes with the French Bonjour, while ‘Bor’ means ‘Wine’ in Hungarian. Borjour launched this event in 2010, which makes it the oldest indoor wine event, and also with the largest indoor wine exhibition.
Borjour Magnum essential info
Date and time: 17 February 2024, 15.00–21.00
Venue: Novotel Budapest Congress Centre, Budapest, Jagelló út 1-3, Hungary
See the list of exhibitors here (‘Következő’ means ‘Next’ to see the next page of exhibitors)
Tickets / person: 20 000 HUF / 52.5 EUR on the spot / 15 900 HUF / 41 EUR online prior to the event
Buy your ticket here (in Hungarian, but google can help).
Some of the exhibitors
Babarczi Vineyard and Winery (Pannonhalma), Borbély Family Winery (Badacsony), Bock Winery (Villány), Dubicz Vineyard and Winery (Mátra), Dúzsi Family Winery (Szekszárd), Fehérvári Wine Estate (Somló), Feind Winery (Balatonfüred–Csopak), Frittmann Winery (Kunság), Garamvári Vineyard (Balatonboglár), Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery (Villány), Heimann Family Estate (Szekszárd), Heumann Winery (Villány), Homola Winery (Balatonfüred–Csopak), Koch Winery (Hajós–Baja / Villány), Kovács Nimród Winery (Eger), Lajver Wine House (Szekszárd), Pannonhalma Archabbey (Pannonhalma), Patricius Winery (Tokaj), Sauska (Tokaj / Villány), Steigler Cellar (Sopron), Szeleshát (Szekszárd), TaschnerWinery and Sparkling Wine House (Sopron), Teleki (Villány), Tóth Ferenc Winery (Eger), Tűzkő Estate (Tolna), Vesztergombi Cellar (Szekszárd), Villa Sandahl (Badacsony), VylyanVineyard and Winery (Villány)
Father & son: together on every label
I participated at the annual Franc & Franc conference in Villány, where Gere Tamás & Zsolt Winery was the host of a side event, a small Villányi Franc tasting for our international professional guests. By entering the room, the first thing that caught my attention was the neat line of bottles with the new labels. So clear, so pleasing to the eye! I did not dislike the old labels, they had simply become old fashioned by now, plus there were too many sub brands that resulted confusion. As Zsolt Takács, the marketing manager of the winery explained, for the customers it was not easy to understand that some wines went under the name of the founder, Tamás Gere, others were associated by the son, Zsolt Gere, while there was a third group, the fruits of their mutual work. Now, on the new labels all the wines go under the names of both, after all it is a family winery with decisions made together.
Golden vineyards
The family coat of arm also appears on the new labels but in a more simplistic way – as Zsolt Takács commented, the origin of the coat of arm is not clear, but the customers are used to it, so they wanted to keep it on the new labels as well.
The third important element on the new labels is the simplistic appearance of the rows of vines at the bottom segment of each label. Each golden spot represents a vine in the vineyard, the fruit, the origin of everything, the most important player in the game.
The new labels are introduced gradually, and at the moment the change affects the classic line only, which is referred to as “estate wine” from now. The renewal of the premium line is the next step.
The recent change is really important in the life of the family winery, since the labels were unchanged for three decades. The dedication and humble attitude to winemaking is now reflected in the graceful, noble design. Also, congratulations to the designer!